Love Heart Lane

by Christie Barlow

  ‘I’m sorry, I really am … yes I took the video, but I didn’t upload it.’ Felicity attempted to smooth the way.

  ‘Then who did?’

  Felicity didn’t know what to say. She wasn’t a hundred percent sure who had uploaded it, even though she had her suspicions. There had only been Esme left in the living room with her phone.

  Felicity just stood there.

  ‘And what gives you the right to think you can even video Esme without my permission?’

  Felicity knew Fergus had every right to be mad with her. She’d just got carried away in the moment and hadn’t thought about the consequences for him or Esme.

  ‘Don’t think of doing anything like this again, you are not her mother, Flick.’

  The words cut through the air and Felicity held onto her tears. She was shocked that Fergus could say something so cruel to her, but before she could reply, the kitchen door burst open.

  ‘Why are you shouting at Felicity?’

  They both spun round to find a wide-eyed frightened looking Esme standing in the doorway. She looked like she was on the verge of tears and she stared at them both before turning around and fleeing.

  ‘Now see what you’ve done, just stay away from us,’ Fergus growled as he turned away, disappearing after Esme. Felicity felt utterly deflated as she wiped a frustrated tear from her eye. She hadn’t set out to hurt Fergus, or upset him, but clearly she had. She felt she’d bonded with Esme and would never have uploaded the video without asking Fergus’s permission first, but she should have been more careful.

  She walked into the living room and slumped into the chair and flicked on to her phone. She didn’t know what to do as her finger hovered over the uploaded video. Should she delete it? But now it had that many shares and comments, it had taken on a life of its own. Esme was the star of the show and donations were still flooding in.

  And now Esme was upset because she’d seen them arguing. For the hundredth time since she came back to Heartcross, Felicity wished that she could turn back time. She wiped away the tears with the back of her hand feeling completely drained.

  Chapter 21

  Felicity climbed out of bed and pulled back the curtains.

  She’d barely slept a wink and had tossed and turned all night with thoughts of upsetting Fergus firmly on her mind. She’d made her mind up to hot-foot it over to the farm after breakfast and try and put things right as best she could. She was hoping Fergus had calmed down a little after he’d slept on it.

  Rona was already up making breakfast. ‘We are on the last of the bread but there’s enough for a wee bacon sandwich if you fancy it,’ she said, rolling up her sleeves before tying on her pinny.

  ‘That’ll be good,’ replied Felicity in rather a subdued tone.

  ‘Are you still worrying about Fergus?’ Rona asked, throwing the bacon in the frying pan and placing it on top of the Aga.

  ‘A little … in fact a lot,’ she admitted.

  ‘He will have calmed down now. It would just be a shock finding out and receiving all those calls asking for an interview when he knew nothing about it all.’

  ‘I hope you’re right.’

  ‘And how is the campaign going today?’

  ‘I’ve no idea, in fact I daren’t even look.’

  Felicity had left her iPad charging in the living room overnight and after grabbing a mug of tea, she sat down and took a deep breath. First, she checked her emails. Yesterday, before Fergus had arrived at the teashop, Felicity had taken great pleasure in emailing Councillor Smith and informing him that the #SaveHeartcross fundraising page had been set up and donations were already pouring into the pot. But now she felt quite disappointed. Sitting in her inbox was an out of office reply for Councillor Smith, announcing he would be out of the office for two weeks.

  Surely not? Who was going to organise the rebuilding of the temporary bridge now?

  ‘He’s not in the office for two weeks,’ shouted Felicity to her mum who was still beavering about in the kitchen.

  Rona appeared in the doorway, drying her hands on a tea towel, ‘Who, Fergus?’

  ‘No, Councillor Smith. How can anyone take a holiday now when Heartcross needs their bridge? Who’s going to manage the project?’

  ‘Well, superwoman, that’ll be down to you then,’ joked Rona before she disappeared back into the kitchen, unaware that Felicity had a bee in her bonnet about something.

  She clicked on the Facebook app and once more her notifications nearly exploded. She stared at the video and couldn’t believe how many times it had been shared; her jaw dropped open. The number of comments from the general public was unbelievable. Felicity began to read through them. All of them were in support of Heartcross and reuniting Esme with her grandma and clearly Esme had become the main focus of the campaign. When Fergus logged on to Facebook this morning and saw this, she knew his anger would only be reignited.

  The nation had begun to fall in love with his little girl and wanted to see the temporary bridge rebuilt immediately. Felicity clicked on the link that took her through to the fundraising page.

  ‘Christ on a bike!’ she screeched as Rona immediately appeared in the doorway once more.

  ‘What’s up with you now?’

  ‘The fundraising page has exploded, donations are coming in from all over the world and there’s twenty thousand pounds in the pot.’

  ‘Really, are you sure?’ asked Rona, in utter amazement as Felicity turned the iPad towards her. She let out a low whistle. ‘That’s not bad going at all. In fact, that’s incredible. I’m proud of you,’ she said, switching on the TV and sitting down with her breakfast.

  Felicity texted Allie. ‘Have you seen the fundraising page?’

  Almost immediately a text pinged back and Felicity swiped the screen.

  ‘Yes! Are you watching the news?’

  Felicity read the message out and Rona quickly switched channels. There was Aidy Redfern the news reporter standing by the collapsed bridge in Glensheil with a huddle of people standing behind him with placards.

  Felicity squinted at the screen and drew a sharp breath. ‘O-M-G! Can you read those?’

  Rona grabbed her spectacles from the table and took a closer look at the TV.

  ‘Save Heartcross … Reunite Esme with her grandma … Support Felicity Simons’ fundraising page.’

  ‘Fergus is going to hit the roof,’ muttered a horrified Felicity, knowing full well he would clock the news at some point today. Her heart was in her mouth as she watched Aidy Redfern live on the screen.

  ‘As the Environmental Minister Annie Boyd deemed the temporary bridge a must, local resident Felicity Simons has taken matters into her own hands to reunite Esme Campbell, age 6, with her grandma, Aggie Campbell. Aggie was rushed to St. Mary’s hospital, here in Glensheil, the night before Heartcross Bridge collapsed, leaving her isolated from her family in a time of need.

  We are led to believe the estimated cost of building a temporary bridge over the river to reunite the community is in the region of two hundred and fifty thousand pounds according to sources. The reconstruction of the original bridge could take years according to the department of national heritage.

  Councillor Smith who was put in charge of the project is unfortunately unavailable to comment.’

  ‘He picks his moments to be unavailable,’ said a disgruntled Felicity under her breath.

  ‘A video posted to a Facebook page that the local residents had set up to keep everyone informed of the construction of the temporary bridge has gone viral with donations to the fundraising page now flooding in.’

  Aidy Redfern turned towards the group of people standing behind him holding the placards. He held the microphone towards a lady.

  ‘What brings you here today?’

  ‘We came across the video on Facebook and Esme stole our heart. She’s a gorgeous little girl and everyone is hoping the temporary bridge is constructed sooner rather than later, not only to reunite the community with the outsi
de world but so Esme can visit her poorly grandmother in hospital.’

  ‘Save Heartcross!’ The rest of the group shouted.

  ‘We will keep you updated on developments. This is Aidy Redfern reporting for BBC Scotland.’

  Felicity and Rona just stared at each other, speechless for a minute before Felicity broke the silence. ‘If Fergus wasn’t mad at me before he will be now with Esme’s name plastered all over the news. What am I going to do?’

  Ping … ping … ping … ping … ping…

  ‘What the heck is going on?’ Felicity looked down at her phone and swiped the screen. ‘It’s Facebook again, even more people are donating to the page.’

  ‘That’ll be down to the news. Are you sure you don’t want the councillor’s job? I reckon you could have those funds by this time tomorrow.’ Rona smiled at her daughter while finishing her breakfast.

  ‘I’m actually going to telephone the council this morning, in fact now. We need to know who has taken over the project and who our first point of call is. They can’t just leave us stranded.’

  Rona stood up. ‘You make your call but I need you in that kitchen as soon as. These meals aren’t going to cook themselves. Drew transported all the food needed today from Hamish’s at 5 a.m. this morning, so we are all ready.’

  Rona walked into the kitchen leaving Felicity dialling the number for the council. Slowly losing her cool, it took her nearly ten minutes to be transferred to the right department.

  ‘Hi, this is Felicity Simons,’ she said in her best telephone voice. ‘I’m the spokeswoman for the residents of Heartcross.’

  ‘What can I do for you today?’ the voice asked on the other end.

  ‘Councillor Smith was put in charge of funding and organising the temporary bridge between Glensheil and Heartcross but I’ve received an email this morning stating he is out of the office for two weeks.’ Felicity took a breath.

  There was a hushed silence. ‘I’m afraid Councillor Smith is no longer working for this department.’

  Felicity made a puffy sound through her lips as she was taken by surprise. According to her email and the news report there was no evidence he had left the council.

  ‘Who is in charge of the project now?’

  There was a long pause and she could hear the woman on the other end shuffling some papers.

  ‘No one has been appointed yet,’ she said.

  ‘But someone needs to be appointed ASAP. What about the organisation of the new bridge?’

  ‘They are currently looking into it,’ she replied, even more non-committal.

  ‘Who are “they”?’ queried Felicity, not in the least impressed with the lack of information.

  ‘The committee.’

  Again, there was a long pause.

  ‘There really isn’t anything else I can tell you at this time.’ She now sounded huffy as Felicity hung up the call and let out a frustrated squeal.

  Standing up, she flounced into the teashop and sniffed. ‘There’s no one in charge. The committee are appointing someone but they have no idea when or who.’

  Rona could see the annoyance written all over Felicity’s face. ‘That doesn’t sound good in the slightest. The community needs some answers, worry isn’t good for anyone.’

  ‘If you want a job doing, do it yourself.’

  ‘Exactly,’ said Rona, waving the potato peeler in the air. ‘I’m trying to make lunch for the masses, are you going to give me a hand anytime soon?’

  Felicity didn’t hear her mum’s words as her mind was turning over her own words. ‘If you want a job doing, do it yourself.’

  She stared at her mum, then flicked on her mobile phone once more; the donations were increasing by the second.

  An idea leapt into Felicity’s head.

  ‘I’m going to take matters into my own hands,’ she declared.

  ‘I’ll be happy if you take a potato peeler into your hand,’ teased Rona, but with a stern undertone.

  ‘Mum, I’m being serious. With this amount of money already flooding in, I’m going to contact Annie Boyd and tell her I’m going to hire a contractor to get this show on the road.’

  ‘And I’m serious … get peeling.’

  Felicity took the peeler from her mum’s hand thinking about the temporary bridge and the donations. The community couldn’t wait for the project to be allocated to someone else – that could take days and they could all lose precious time. Every day they were stranded in the village, the businesses were losing their livelihood. Someone had to do something to get the ball rolling and Felicity decided it was going to be her.

  Chapter 22

  After spending the morning helping her mum to peel what seemed like every perishable vegetable left in the village, Felicity’s hands were red raw, but for the past hour she had been quiet whilst Meredith, Allie and her mum had been happily chatting amongst themselves and singing along to the radio.

  Jessica had arrived at the teashop with the news that the primary school was to remain shut for the time being.

  Unfortunately the headmistress and the majority of the teachers lived over in Glensheil and it was impossible for them to cross the river. The secondary school was also situated across the river which meant the older children were stranded in Heartcross too.

  ‘Which means I’m an extra pair of hands if anyone needs any help? Chief dishwasher, tea maker?’

  Immediately, Rona threw her a tea towel and nodded towards the pots that needed drying. ‘Welcome to the team!’

  They began to work side by side, but within seconds Jessica had noticed Felicity wasn’t her usual self and assumed her slumped mood was something to do with Fergus. ‘He’ll get over it, you know. He’s just a little over protective,’ she said, sympathetically, throwing an arm around Felicity and giving her a squeeze.

  Felicity heaved a sigh, but with the video now being shared on the news too, she was certain Fergus was definitely not going to be happy.

  Meredith gave her a tentative smile and rubbed her arm gently. ‘Jessica is right. He is a little over protective but that’s his right. He does the job of two parents and Esme is his world … give it time, he’ll come round.’

  The news report wasn’t sitting well with Felicity. In fact, the churning feeling in the pit of her stomach was making her feel queasy. She had no clue whether Fergus had seen the news but her gut feeling was telling her to go and tell him even if it meant having another argument.

  ‘Have you seen him this morning?’ Felicity turned towards Jessica.

  ‘Yes, he was a little subdued when he left for the farm. He’s taken Esme to play with Finn. Don’t worry about it … look at the donations that are flooding in. The public love Esme and that cheeky little smile is wooing people to donate.’

  ‘Did he see the news this morning by any chance?’ Felicity’s heart sped up waiting for the answer.

  ‘The news? No, why?’

  ‘Because the latest news report was all about reuniting Esme with her grandmother.’

  Jessica’s eyes widened at the information.

  ‘Maybe it’s a good idea to go and see him now? Before everyone begins to arrive for the first sitting?’ Rona took a quick glance up at the clock. ‘You’ll have time, if you go now.’

  Felicity wasn’t relishing the idea of another confrontation with Fergus but after his reaction to the video yesterday, she knew she needed to go and see him. Slipping her arms inside her coat she took a deep breath. She walked down Love Heart Lane towards the farm, her shoulders slumped, her face unhappy knowing that she needed to grovel like her life depended on it. Even though it was for a good cause and the donations were flooding in, she knew for whatever reason Fergus didn’t quite see it like that.

  Reaching Foxglove Farm, she heard banging from the far barn echoing all around. She took a deep breath and reluctantly began to walk in that direction. Drew and Fergus were bent over the bonnet of an old tractor tinkering with the engine. The smell of diesel fumes hit Felicity as she ner
vously walked towards them. Drew spotted her first. ‘Good morning. What, no coffee for the workers?’ he teased, wiping his hands on an oily rag.

  ‘I’ve only just arrived but I’ll make sure that’s next on my list,’ she replied with a smile, noticing Fergus had avoided any eye contact with her up to now.

  ‘I see the fundraising page is going great guns,’ said Drew oblivious to any tension in the barn.

  ‘Yes, apparently so,’ Felicity replied trying to play it down, even though she knew the exact amount that had been donated so far, to the penny. ‘Is it okay if I have a quick word with Fergus?’

  Drew flicked a glance between them both. ‘Of course, I’ll go and collect the rest of the tools from the shed. We’ll get this beauty up and running in no time.’ He affectionately patted the tractor with his hand before strolling towards the open barn door.

  Felicity shuffled her feet then took a deep breath. Fergus was not making this easy for her. He leant against the tractor, his arms folded tightly across his chest and his face thunderous. Felicity already knew there was only one way this was going to play out – with another blazing argument by the look on Fergus’s face.

  ‘Have you seen the news this morning?’ she asked cautiously.

  ‘Is this just a general chat about my morning routine? Are you going to ask me if I had jam on my toast next?’ His eyebrows furrowed as he stared at her.

  ‘There’s been a further development.’ Felicity ignored his sarcasm and was relieved her voice sounded a lot calmer than she actually felt.

  ‘What do you mean, a further development?’ He scowled, not taking his eyes off her.

  She swallowed. Her palms were sweaty as she dug them into her pockets.

  ‘I know you weren’t happy about the video,’ started Felicity, her voice was quiet now. ‘But with the appointed Councillor disappearing, the general public are really getting behind the Heartcross campaign and the donations are flying in and that’s all thanks to Esme. She’s crept into the people’s hearts.’