Escape to Oakbrook Farm: A wonderfully uplifting romantic comedy (Hope Cove Book 2)

by Hannah Ellis

  It was another half hour before customers began to arrive.

  Sam was amused when Josie told him off for selling the tea set too cheaply – just a measly two pounds. Then he sold a nice little set of drawers for six pounds and a set of two stools for a tenner. Every time he sold something, she chastised him for letting it go too cheaply.

  “It’s a car boot sale!” He casually draped an arm around her shoulders as they watched the couple walk away with the stools. “People want cheap stuff.”

  “That’s not true.” She leaned into him, enjoying the weight of his arm around her. “They want a bargain. There’s a big difference.”

  “You can go and have a wander around,” Sam said when he caught her looking up and down the row. “You don’t need to stay here.”

  She set off to explore with a smile on her face. “Just don’t give everything away for free while I’m gone.”

  He shook his head in amusement and she turned her attention to the other sellers nearby. When she got a whiff of hotdogs she felt a pang of hunger. Then she thought of Annette cooking a roast dinner and decided she’d better wait.

  She hadn’t gone far when she glanced back in Sam’s direction. He was leaning casually against the van. He had half an eye on the middle-aged couple who were having a good look at Brendan’s table. Sam really was a terrible salesman, she thought to herself. She probably ought to go back and help him out.

  It only took a moment to retrace her steps, and she stopped abruptly beside the couple, who were quietly discussing the table while Sam continued to hang back. They shuffled aside when Josie invaded their personal space. She acted as though she hadn’t even noticed them.

  “You are going to save this for me, aren’t you?” she said sharply. She laid a protective hand on the table and glared at Sam.

  He nodded dumbly.

  “I just need to find my boyfriend to carry it, but I’m definitely coming back for it.”

  “Okay,” he said, bemused.

  “And you said fifty quid, didn’t you? We agreed?”

  He nodded again.

  Josie lowered her voice as she finally acknowledged the couple. “I saw one identical in the shops the other day. Four hundred quid! I was gonna go back and buy it next week.” She pointed at the table. “You can’t beat a good bargain, can you?”

  They shook their heads vaguely and Josie waltzed away again. “I’ll be back soon,” she shouted loudly.

  It was a couple of minutes later when she finally glanced back. Sam was deep in conversation with the couple but looked up long enough to catch her eye. She shot him a quick wink. How on earth could he say it was boring?

  Twenty minutes later she ambled slowly towards Sam again. Now and again she glanced over her shoulder at the portly, balding man following close behind her. She didn’t really need to look to check she hadn’t lost him – his breathing was loud enough. He’d waved her away when she’d offered to help carry the armchair. It was a quirky old thing with a high back and blue velvet cushioning. As soon as she’d seen it she knew she had to get it for the kennels. She hadn’t realised quite how far she’d ventured when she asked him to carry it back for her.

  He was huffing and puffing when she finally directed him to put it down beside Sam’s van.

  “Thanks so much.” She hoped he wasn’t about to have a heart attack.

  He nodded and forced a toothy grin.

  Josie took out her purse. “Four pounds,” she said, handing over the cash. “Thanks!”

  He nodded again, still unable to speak through his ragged breathing, and set off back the way they’d come.

  Sam draped an arm over the back of the chair when she flopped into it. “You just paid the guy four quid for this and got him to carry it for you too?”

  “Yep,” she said proudly.

  He beamed down at her. “It must be nice being so pretty!”

  “I notice Brendan’s table has gone,” she said. “I hope you got a good price?”

  He grinned. “They gave me fifty-five.”

  “It was a bit cheeky of them, really, when they knew how much I wanted it!”

  “Excuse me,” a guy cut in. He was a tall, well-dressed older gentleman. “I’ll give you ten pounds for this nest of tables.”

  “No way!” Josie called before Sam could get a word in. She swung her legs over the arm of her new chair and shuffled to get comfy. “They’re worth way more.” She shook her head and looked pointedly at Sam, then nodded at the nest of three mahogany side tables. They had leaves carved down the legs and looked very fancy. “I told you not to bring them here. You’ll never get anything close to what they’re worth. I saw some very similar on the Antiques Roadshow last week and they valued them at six hundred pounds.”

  “I’ll give you twenty,” the man said.

  “No, sorry,” Josie said before her gaze drifted back to Sam. “Put them back in the van, darling. I’ll take them to auction next week and get a decent price.”

  “Forty!” the gentleman said when Sam moved towards the tables.

  Josie curled her lip. “Fifty.”

  He looked the tables over once more before taking out his wallet.

  After the man had left with the tables, Sam went back over to Josie. “I feel like I’m hanging out with a con artist!”

  “I’m not conning anyone,” she said. “I’m just making sure people see what things are really worth. They still got a good deal.”

  “You know what I really can’t understand?” Sam said, amused. “How your acting career didn’t take off. I think your acting abilities are amazing.”

  She chuckled. “I think this chair helps too. I feel like the queen, sitting here giving out orders!”

  “The queen of the car boot!” Sam teased.

  “’Scuse me, love!” a burly-looking guy called out. “Are you selling that chair?”

  “I wasn’t planning on it. But feel free to make me an offer!” If she could make a quick profit she might just force herself to part with it.

  “Twenty quid?”

  She stroked the soft velvet as she mulled it over. Sixteen pounds profit with absolutely no effort sounded okay.

  “Twenty-five?” he said, clearly taking the pause to be indecision.

  “Go on then,” she said, jumping up from her throne.

  When the guy lumbered away with the chair, she caught Sam gazing at her intensely. She looped her arms around his neck. “What’s that look for?”

  His eyes never left hers. “I love you.”

  Her silly smirk fell away. “I love you too.”

  Chapter 29

  They were still laughing about their afternoon adventure when they pulled onto Annette’s driveway a couple of hours later.

  “Is someone else coming for dinner?” Sam asked, looking at the car parked next to Max’s in front of the house.

  Josie’s stomach lurched and Sam looked at her questioningly. She stared in confusion. “It’s Jack’s car.”

  In the kitchen, Jack looked about as awkward as Josie felt. He was sitting at the table with Max and Lizzie while Annette bustled around, setting yet more food on the already well-laden table.

  “You’re late,” Annette said. “I told you dinner would be at five.”

  “Sorry,” Josie said. She was fairly sure it was only five minutes past but being late for dinner was really the least of her problems.

  “Jack’s here,” Lizzie said, glaring at Josie.

  “I can see that!” Josie gave him a puzzled look and sat in the chair beside him. “What’s going on?”

  “I’ve been waiting for you for hours,” he said pointedly.

  “It’s nice to put a face to the name,” Annette said. “We’ve been getting to know each other.”

  “Josie told me you’re a great cook,” Jack said to Annette. “Smells like she was right.”

  Sam quietly took a seat at the end of the table, and Josie rubbed her sweaty hands on her jeans. What on earth was going on?

  “It�
��s lovely to see you, Jack,” she said. “But why exactly are you here? You could’ve called first.”

  “I tried,” he said with an undertone of annoyance “You weren’t answering your phone.” Of course. She’d completely forgotten about calling him back.

  Annette joined them at the table. “Tuck in before it gets cold!” There was a roast chicken and all the trimmings. It was Josie’s favourite meal, but her appetite had vanished. She looked at Jack, waiting for more of an explanation. If only she’d remembered to call him back.

  “I thought it’d be good to finally see this place too after I’ve heard so much about it.” He casually piled food onto his plate and then turned his attention to Sam. To be fair, Sam had been glaring at him fairly ferociously since they walked in and it was hard to ignore. “Sorry,” Jack said. “We’ve not been introduced. I’m Jack. Josie’s boyfriend.”

  For the briefest moment Josie closed her eyes with the vague hope that she might open them to find this had all just been a very weird dream. No such luck. “Ex-boyfriend,” she said quickly. “Remember?”

  “It’s hard to keep track,” he said with a boyish smile. She knew he was joking. It was Jack’s sort of humour. She didn’t really appreciate it at that moment.

  Josie finally glanced at Sam. He looked blankly back at her, clearly not enjoying the joke either.

  “How’s work, Jack?” Max asked. Josie was grateful for the change of subject and dutifully put some food on her plate, even though she was fairly sure she couldn’t eat a thing.

  “Good thanks,” Jack said through a mouthful of food. He pointed his fork at Josie. “I need to talk to you about work. Something happened …” He glanced around and shook his head. “I’ll tell you later.”

  “Are you still at the mobile phone shop?” Lizzie asked.

  He nodded. “Seems like I’m quite good at sales. The staff are all nice. It’s a good place to work.”

  Lizzie nodded benignly before Max moved the conversation on once again, asking Sam about the car boot sale. Conversation floated around Josie and she nodded and smiled in what she hoped were appropriate places. It was hard to concentrate. How on earth had her lovely day with Sam ended with the world’s most awkward meal with her boyfriend and her ex-boyfriend?

  “Hurry up and eat, Jack,” she said finally. “I’ve got to feed the dogs. I’ll show you around the kennels.”

  ***

  “What on earth are you doing here?” she hissed as soon as she was alone with Jack.

  “You weren’t answering my calls. I was worried about you.”

  “Sorry,” she said weakly. “I’ve been busy the last few days. I can’t believe you just turned up here.”

  “It’s great here,” he said as they wandered towards the barn. “I can see why you like it.”

  She nodded and looked around; everything had become so familiar to her that she forgot how beautiful her surroundings were. So many shades of green. The grass was dotted with delicate daisies and buttercups.

  “Annette’s really sweet,” he added. “And it seems like it didn’t take you long to get over our break-up!”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “The guy who looked like he might punch me when I said I was your boyfriend … I presume there’s something going on with you two?”

  She wasn’t sure what to say and opened and closed her mouth like a goldfish. She couldn’t lie to Jack. “It’s early days.”

  “So you’re all settled?”

  “Yeah,” she said as she opened the barn door. “I think I am.”

  Conversation was interrupted by barking dogs, and Josie told Jack all about her new job as she fed the dogs. It was good to catch up with him. She only wished she’d known he was coming. No doubt she’d have some explaining to do to Sam.

  After they left the barn, they automatically migrated towards Jack’s car. “I’m sorry you drove all the way here,” Josie said. “I promise to keep in touch better in future.”

  “There was a reason I was trying to get hold of you,” he said. “But now that I see how happy you are it seems a bit irrelevant.”

  “I don’t want to get back together with you,” she said instinctively. “I’m sorry but—”

  “That’s not what I wanted to talk to you about.” He reached into his car. “I brought your mail.”

  Josie shook her head. Trust Jack to change the subject when things got awkward. “Thanks. But what did you want to talk about so urgently?” As soon as he passed the stack of post, she saw the familiar logo on the first envelope.

  “What’s this?” The logo was from the acting agency.

  “I got one too,” Jack said. “The TV show finally got commissioned. Filming starts in a few weeks. They’re offering all the extras their jobs again.”

  “Wow.” She fingered the envelope, shocked. “Are you going to do it?”

  “I don’t think so. I like where I’m at now and this would probably only be a temporary gig. They need an answer soon, that’s why I was trying to get hold of you. I thought you’d be interested and didn’t want you to miss the chance. But now I’ve seen this place, I can’t imagine you’d want to move to London.”

  She walked away, needing to move.

  “You’re not interested in it, are you?” he asked, following her. She walked until she reached the fence and climbed up to sit on it.

  “I don’t know. Is it for real? They’re definitely doing it?”

  “Twelve episodes for definite. Then they review again.”

  She frowned. It sounded good. A few months ago she’d have been over the moon and snapped it up. Now she felt completely confused.

  “I couldn’t leave Annette,” she mused.

  Jack sat beside her on the fence. “It seems like she relies on you.”

  “She does.”

  “So you’re a country girl now?” he said with amusement. “I never thought this would end up being a permanent thing.”

  “Neither did I,” she said.

  “But you can imagine staying here long term?”

  “I don’t know.” She shrugged and her eyes roamed her surroundings before landing back on the letters in her hand and the logo with the stars. “Why did this have to come now?” she said, irritated. “All those auditions I went to and all that time I spent on the phone to Michaela begging her to find me a job. And now I get this! I’d completely given up on it.”

  “Sorry,” he said. “I feel like I shouldn’t have brought it. You could just throw it in the bin …”

  “I probably should.” She inhaled deeply, taking in the wonderfully fresh air.

  “I think I’ll get going,” Jack said. “We’ll talk soon?”

  “Yeah.” She headed back to the car with him. “Thanks for coming. It was sweet of you.”

  “It would’ve been much easier if you’d just answered your phone.”

  “Sorry,” she said sheepishly.

  “There’s still some of your stuff at my place,” Jack said. “I should’ve brought it. I didn’t even think.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll pick it up next time I’m in Oxford.”

  “Okay. Tell everyone I said bye.” He kissed her on the cheek before getting in his car. “And let me know what you decide about the job.”

  She watched him drive away and then headed back to the house, taking a deep breath before she walked in.

  “What’ve you done with Jack?” Annette asked when she joined them in the living room.

  “He had to get back.”

  “What’s going on?” Lizzie said. “Why did he just turn up without warning you?”

  Josie held up the envelopes in her hand, discreetly shifting the one from StarSearch to the middle of the pack before dumping them on the stairs. “He brought my post, that’s all.”

  “A four-hour drive just to bring your mail?” Max said. “Surely he could’ve posted it to you?”

  “He could,” Josie said. “But he didn’t. Anyone want a drink?”

 
Since everyone else had coffee, she went into the kitchen to get one for herself.

  “Everything okay?” Sam asked, joining her.

  “Yeah. Sorry. I had no idea he was going to turn up. It was slightly awkward.”

  “A little bit,” he agreed, leaning on the work surface. “Was there a reason for his visit? Other than bringing your post.”

  “Not really.” She busied herself making coffee and tried hard to ignore the guilt that crept in when she thought about why Jack had really come. No doubt he had expected Josie to be thrilled by the news about the TV show. He probably thought she’d have started packing as soon as she heard. She really couldn’t leave Annette, though. Sam reached for her hand. She couldn’t leave him either.

  “Are you sure everything’s okay?” he asked.

  “Yes!” She gave him a hasty kiss before moving back towards the living room. “Come on.”

  “I’ve got something to show you,” Lizzie said, when Josie sat beside her. She reached into her handbag and then casually held up an ultrasound picture.

  The smile spread slowly across Josie’s face, and she beamed at Lizzie, who looked like she was about to explode from excitement.

  “What is it?” Annette asked, squinting to see.

  “A scan picture of a baby!” Josie told her.

  “That’s not quite true,” Lizzie said, handing the black and white picture to her for a better look.

  Josie gasped and her hand shot to her mouth. “No?”

  “Two babies!” Max said.

  “Oh my goodness!” Annette’s eyes filled with tears and she stood to hug Max and Lizzie.

  “Twins?” Josie said, not quite believing it.

  Lizzie’s eyes filled with tears as she nodded. “I was terrified enough at the thought of one baby! Then we found out it’s twins.”

  “Oh my God!” Josie squealed, wrapping her in a big hug. “Congratulations!”

  “Are you crying?” Max asked when she hugged him.

  She wiped at her eyes. “I’m just emotional. It’s so exciting.”

  Sam looked almost as emotional as her, and she automatically hugged him too.

  “You owe me a fiver!” he whispered in her ear. She gave him a friendly jab in the ribs then perched on the arm of the chair when he sat down. He ran a finger over the small of her back until she shuffled and swatted him away. She was far too ticklish.