The House at Hope Corner: The perfect feel good holiday romance novel

by Emma Davies

  ‘Oh…’ Flora could have kicked herself. Hannah had very kindly managed to keep the scathing tone from her voice, but Flora was sure it had been a struggle. Everybody knew about chickens and foxes, didn’t they? She followed Hannah back across the garden, trying to think of some way to redeem herself.

  ‘I’m sure it won’t take me long to get the hang of it,’ she said. ‘And then, before you know it, I’ll be helping to milk the cows.’

  Hannah gave her a sideways look. ‘I don’t think so, dear.’ She took in a long breath. ‘Now, we’ll have some tea first, I think,’ she said, as she walked, but then fell silent herself. Whatever was coming next was obviously going to remain a mystery for now.

  Quarter of an hour later, with mugs of tea in front of them, and a digestive biscuit each, Hannah cleared her throat.

  ‘I’ve been thinking,’ she began.

  Flora braced herself.

  ‘And I want to apologise also,’ she added. ‘What must you have thought of us yesterday? I didn’t stop talking at you the whole day…’ She paused, breaking her biscuit in half. ‘I was a little nervous…’

  ‘You and me both,’ said Flora, dunking her biscuit in her tea and only just managing to get it to her mouth in one piece. But then she grinned. ‘I was probably hugely insensitive too, so I’m sorry if I was a pain. I didn’t think what it must feel like to have me come barging in as if I owned the place, scattering stuff left, right and centre. I’m not a very tidy person, I’m afraid…’

  ‘But I had no right to go around clearing up after you either. You must have felt very unwelcome. And as for putting all your things away, I really didn’t think… I’ve always done it, you see.’

  Flora flinched, inwardly praying that Hannah hadn’t been in their bedroom this morning and seen all her previously carefully folded clothes now strewn around the room. She made a non-committal noise in her throat.

  ‘You have some lovely things though…’ added Hannah.

  Surprised, Flora looked up.

  ‘I’ve never had the confidence to wear things like that, all those colours clashing together. Even when I was your age and had the chance to wear things that were a little more… modern, I didn’t really. Not much cause for it on the farm, I suppose.’ She ran her eye over what Flora was wearing. ‘It’s not at all conventional, is it? But somehow it suits you.’

  ‘Thank you.’ Flora blushed at Hannah’s unexpected words. ‘They’re probably completely impractical for life on a farm, but I’ve worn things like this for so long now, I’m not sure I’d be comfortable wearing anything different.’

  It was the first time Flora had even considered what Hannah wore. For the most part they were practical clothes, designed to be warm and comfortable, but now that she thought about it, they hid Hannah’s shape and personality like a blanket. She had no idea how old Hannah was, but the dark drab colours and unflattering cut of the things in her wardrobe probably added ten years to her age. Maybe at some point in the future there might be an occasion when Flora could suggest some changes – if Hannah wanted to, that was.

  The two women smiled at one another, their tentative start at friendship settling between them. Flora drank a mouthful of tea and this time she was the one who looked at her watch.

  ‘Right,’ she said. ‘What can I help you with first?’

  Hannah looked a little nervous. ‘Actually, I wondered if I might ask you a favour?’ she replied. ‘I really do need to go into town to pick up a few things I can’t get locally and it’s a visit I’ve been putting off, never quite being able to justify the time to do it. So I wondered if you’d be all right here by yourself? There’s the bread to make, and the men will need their breakfast, but I’m sure you’re very capable of doing that, and I’d be back in time to help serve lunch…’

  Flora’s head was already nodding. ‘Of course, you must go, I’ll be absolutely fine.’

  ‘And I thought it might be quite nice for you to have the run of the house,’ added Hannah. ‘Without me standing over you telling you what to do.’

  ‘Well, I think I need a bit of standing over,’ replied Flora. ‘I’ve got a lot to learn, but thank you, that’s a very kind thought. And if it helps you out too, then so much the better.’

  Hannah opened her mouth to reply, but then hesitated and instead, with a shake of her head, got to her feet. She gave a warm smile.

  ‘In that case, I’ll just go and powder my nose,’ she said.

  Flora watched as Hannah carried her mug over to the sink, patted her hips as if checking her pockets for something, and then turned to walk from the room. She had almost got to the door, when she half-turned, tutting, before turning back.

  ‘Is everything okay?’ asked Flora.

  ‘I just wondered… well, before I go…’

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘I told you where everything was, didn’t I?’

  Flora made a show of thinking for a minute. ‘Yes, you did…’ She paused, looking about the kitchen. And then, ‘Yes, I’m sure you did. But don’t worry, I’ll do exactly what you did yesterday, so go and enjoy yourself. And take your time, there’s no need to hurry back.’

  A final nod of the head and Hannah was gone.

  Flora sat at the table for a few minutes more, watching the play of sunlight across the floor. The morning hadn’t turned out the way she had expected at all, and she acknowledged how difficult it must have been for Hannah to relinquish her kitchen to her. Whether the trip to town was really necessary or not didn’t matter, it was a kind thing to do, and Flora felt heartened by the turn of events. Whatever happened now, she mustn’t let Hannah down.

  She got to her feet and refilled the kettle, quickly washing up both mugs and leaving them to drain. Then she pulled open the pantry door and stood looking at the array of stored ingredients with pursed lips. First on the list of jobs to do was make the bread, which sounded easy enough, except she had absolutely no idea how to do it…

  Swearing didn’t seem to help, and neither did pulling all the dough off her fingers and looking at it, but Flora tried both of these things, several times. The sticky mess she had made was either in the bowl or all over her and nothing she tried seemed to make any difference. She eyed the bowl sternly and, with a deep intake of breath, began to turn out the mixture onto the floured table top. The instructions she had looked at on the Internet told her that the dough required a thorough kneading so perhaps this was the key. She’d give it one last go, but this time she’d show it who was boss.

  Five minutes later and all that had happened was that the goo was now spread in a wide uneven circle on the table. Flora gave a frustrated groan and banged her hand on the table, raising a cloud of white around her. She caught Brodie’s eye as he watched her balefully from beside the Aga.

  ‘Don’t look at me like that,’ she said. ‘I thought this was supposed to be easy. I don’t suppose you have any tips for me, do you?’ She tipped her head to one side. ‘No, I thought not… Well, you’re no use at all…’ She rubbed at an itch on the side of her nose with the back of her hand. ‘I’ve a good mind to throw the whole bloody lot in the bin; they can have shop-bought bread for a change, it won’t kill them…’

  ‘Oh dear, that doesn’t sound too good.’

  Flora whirled around to see Caroline standing just inside the back door. How long she had been there, she didn’t know, and she blushed bright red.

  Caroline was looking as fresh as a daisy; jodhpurs again today, but a pale blue shirt instead of the pink. Cornflower blue, thought Flora, as she rearranged her face into a smile.

  ‘Oh, hello, I didn’t know you were coming over today.’

  Caroline broke into a broad smile as she came into the room. ‘Oh, don’t mind me, I sort of have a standing invitation.’

  There was a gentle woof and Brodie thumped his tail lazily against the floor. Traitor, thought Flora.

  ‘Is the coast clear?’ asked Caroline, coming to stand beside her. ‘I wasn’t sure if Hannah would actually
go.’

  Flora gave her a puzzled look. ‘I’m sorry, I’m not sure I follow.’

  ‘I had a devil of a job to persuade her to go out today,’ replied Caroline. ‘But I didn’t think you’d be able to stand another day like yesterday, with Hannah looking over your shoulder every five minutes. She means well, I know, but I couldn’t let you suffer that again. You’d be packing your bags by the end of the week.’ She gave a conspiratorial smile. ‘Shall I put the kettle on?’ she added with a wink.

  Flora stared at her. ‘But I thought…’ She broke off, not quite sure what to say. She’d had no idea that Caroline had intervened on her behalf and, while she was grateful, she couldn’t help wondering how on earth Hannah had felt about the suggestion.

  ‘I love Hannah to bits,’ said Caroline, her back to Flora while she filled the kettle. ‘She’s like a second mother to me, I suppose, and has a heart of pure gold. But…’ She leaned heavily into the word, ‘but… she lives, eats, breathes this place. She hardly ever goes out. It’s not healthy. I know it, Ned knows it, Fraser knows it, but there’s no telling Hannah. Consequently, the only time she feels comfortable is when everything is just so… Over the years we’ve all just fallen in with it and try to make sure it stays that way.’

  ‘Oh…’

  Caroline turned at the tone in her voice.

  ‘Shit, I’m sorry, that just all rather poured out, didn’t it? I didn’t mean it to.’ She smiled at Flora’s shocked face. ‘I really do love Hannah, and I’m not being disloyal, honestly. I can just see how difficult it must be for you coming into a strange house. I grew up with Ned and I’ve never seen him so happy as he is now. He finally meets the love of his life and if we’re not careful Hannah will chase her off again. You won’t leave, will you?’

  Flora blushed again, taken aback by Caroline’s words. Today was turning out to be full of surprises.

  ‘Well, I wasn’t planning to… but I admit, yesterday was a little tough. It can’t be easy for Hannah, though, having a strange woman arrive in your house.’

  ‘And Hannah knows that, really she does. Which is testament to how lovely a person she is. She doesn’t want to make things difficult for you, so whatever she said to you this morning would have been absolutely genuine but, nonetheless, she’s going to need a little… encouragement, shall we say, to embrace the change. I’ve known her all my life so I can say these things, whereas you can’t, and I told her that Ned’s future happiness depends on you being here. Therefore, if she wants to ensure that continues, she’s going to have to adjust, however hard.’ She turned back to the kettle. ‘Do you have sugar in your tea?’

  ‘Er, no. No thank you, just milk.’ Flora stared at Caroline’s face, looking for any trace of subterfuge, but it was entirely without guile. ‘It must have been a bit of a shock for you all though,’ she added. ‘Me suddenly coming along, I mean.’

  ‘I suppose it was, a little. But that’s Ned all over for you. He’s always kept things rather close to his chest, even as a child, so the fact he was hiding a girlfriend was a surprise, yes, but not unusual. Anyway, now that you’re here, I think it’s the best thing that’s happened in a long time.’

  Caroline came to stand beside the table, where she stared down at the mess Flora had made.

  ‘And while homemade bread is lovely, I really don’t see why occasionally Hannah can’t unchain herself from the kitchen and let everyone eat shop-bought bread instead. The village store sells it wonderfully fresh from a local bakery.’

  Flora stared at her hands. ‘I seem to have made a bit of a dog’s dinner of it,’ she said. ‘I rather foolishly said I knew how to make bread yesterday, which was rather rash seeing as how everyone is going to expect to be eating it today.’

  ‘No problem,’ replied Caroline. ‘I’ll finish it if you like. No one will ever know it wasn’t you that made it. And I’m certainly not about to tell them…’

  Flora didn’t know what to say. It was an extraordinarily generous thing to do. ‘It might be beyond repair. I’ve been faffing with it for quite a while.’

  Caroline grinned and peered at the dough. ‘Do you want to finish off making the tea and I’ll give it a go? I doubt it’s ruined; I just don’t think you’ve kneaded it enough. That’s why it’s so sticky.’

  Flora didn’t need to be asked twice, escaping to the sink and finally pulling off the bits of dough from her fingers that had begun to harden around them like concrete.

  ‘I really can’t thank you enough,’ Flora said, once her hands were clean and she’d brought the mugs of tea over to the table. She watched as Caroline expertly scooped up the mess she had made and somehow pulled it all together into a ball, whereupon she began to knead it so fast it was almost a blur. Within a few moments Flora could see that it was changing consistency.

  ‘This is what you get for living in the country,’ said Caroline, continuing the motion. ‘While everyone my age in the city knows the ingredients and exact measurements for the perfect cosmopolitan, all I learnt was how to make bread and suet puddings. Oh, and ride of course, that goes without saying.’

  Flora giggled. ‘I’ve never even been on horse,’ she said.

  Caroline stared at her. ‘No, really? You’ve never been on a horse before? Well, we’ll have to change all that.’ She cocked her head to one side. ‘I tell you what, why don’t you come over and meet Samson soon. He’s an absolute darling and Hannah would love it if you were able to ride. Everyone around here does.’

  ‘Samson?’ echoed Flora. ‘He doesn’t sound like a darling…’

  ‘The name’s ironic, I promise you. He’s a big softy really, and he’ll take good care of you.’ She looked down at the table. ‘Now look at this wonderful loaf you’ve whipped up. Hannah will be very impressed…’

  Chapter Four

  The village shop, if Hannah were to be believed, was a treasure trove for local produce and, as such, frequently visited. This at least was something that Flora approved of and she was interested to explore it herself. Besides, it was high time she started to get out and about and an abundance of eggs gave her the perfect excuse.

  To her delight, as soon as she mentioned her intention at lunchtime, Ned announced that he would accompany her. He had a couple of hours before the afternoon milking and he would enjoy showing her off in the village.

  ‘There’s someone I want you to meet,’ he added, tapping the side of his nose and refusing to say any more.

  ‘You’ve got work to do, lad,’ said Fraser, gruffly, looking up. ‘And it won’t get done if you’re off gallivanting around the village.’

  Flora’s heart sank and she was about to say that she would go by herself when Ned got up from the table.

  ‘I’ll be an hour and a half at most, Dad. There’s nothing that I can’t see to when I get back. And I want to show Flora around. She lives here now, it’s important that she gets a feel for the place.’

  There was a long pause. ‘Aye, well don’t make a habit of it. Sneaking off in the middle of the day. I know what you young ones are like.’

  ‘Like I’m ever going to get the chance,’ Ned retorted, holding out his hand to Flora. ‘Come on. Let’s get going. The sooner we go, the sooner I can get my nose back on the grindstone.’ He was smiling, but Flora still felt distinctly uncomfortable.

  It wasn’t a particularly long walk into the village, but the day was fresh and, along with the cold, the thoughts whistling around Flora’s head stirred her to walk faster and faster. Even so, Ned’s stride was long and lolloping and she had a job to keep up with him. He slowed when he reached the place where the track from the farm met the bend in the road.

  ‘Hope Corner,’ he said, grinning. ‘You’ll never find a finer place.’

  Flora looked across at him, his cheeks florid from the wind, his eyes shining. ‘You really do mean that, don’t you?’

  Ned held his arms up in an expansive gesture. ‘I know every inch of every field, lane, and hedgerow for miles around,’ he said. ‘Wher
e the best place to see the first snowdrops is, the spot the sun never reaches and is always icy, and where the wild honeysuckle grows so vigorously you can smell it on the wind come the summer. And there’ – he pointed to the sweep of fields away to their right – ‘are our cows. Holstein Friesians, like ninety per cent of all the dairy cattle in the UK…’ He grinned at her. ‘The black and white ones?’ he added. ‘And I love every single one of them. They’re all I’ve ever known, Flora. I can’t even begin to think of a life without them in it, and now that you’re here too, everything is perfect.’

  Flora couldn’t help pulling a face. ‘I’m not sure your mum and dad think that way.’

  He took hold of her hand. ‘Don’t take any notice of what my dad says, it’s just bluff and bluster. He’s soft as muck really.’ He regarded her for a moment before dropping her hand and pulling her woolly hat down further over her ears, tucking her hair under it a little. ‘Are you warm enough?’ he asked.

  She nodded and took hold of his hand again. ‘Come on.’

  It was good to be outside, though, and Flora enjoyed the feeling of the wind snatching at her hair and burnishing her cheeks. It wasn’t just her head that was feeling cooped up, her muscles were too, and she picked up her pace even more, lengthening her stride as she rounded the bend of Hope Corner before turning and looking back towards the farmhouse. Despite Fraser’s harsh words of earlier, she couldn’t help but feel a flush of happiness. It was beautiful and she couldn’t wait to see the seasons changing the landscape as spring deepened and turned to summer.

  They followed the long slow hill up into the village, which left her panting slightly, before crossing into the main road. They were heading for the one and only shop which lay at the far end and, despite still looking very much like the house it obviously had once been, it apparently sold anything and everything. Ned pushed open the door for her and ushered her inside, the basket of eggs held in front of her.