Summer in the Orchard

by Fay Keenan

  ‘I thought you’d be all for me dropping everything to join the love of my life,’ Sophie said dryly. Her grandmother had certainly written enough dramatic but happy endings to her novels for Sophie to assume this would be her opinion in real life.

  ‘Oh, of course, darling, and I don’t doubt that Alex is every bit the man you think he is, but I want to make sure you’re going for all the right reasons.’

  Sophie regarded her grandmother contemplatively for a moment, trying to decide how to respond. In a way, Lily was right; if Alex hadn’t been in Vancouver, then she probably wouldn’t be crossing continents, but there was actually a little more to it than that, a sounder reason to go.

  ‘Alex isn’t the only reason I’m thinking about going to Canada,’ Sophie said, after her grandmother had given her a quizzical look.

  ‘Really?’ Lily raised an eyebrow. ‘Do tell.’

  ‘Matthew Carter called me and David into his office earlier this week,’ she began. ‘I thought it was to tell me that David’s finally going to retire.’

  ‘Not before time!’ Lily snorted. ‘You should have been given his job years ago.’

  ‘Well, I wasn’t offered it,’ Sophie said. ‘At least, not directly.’ She held up a hand as Lily started to object. ‘No, it’s OK, Gran. They’ve actually made me a far more interesting offer.’

  ‘Which is?’

  Sophie smiled. ‘They want to second me as the official liaison between Carter’s and Adelaide’s. Basically, I’m going to be a cider maker for Alex’s company, to safeguard and develop the interests of Carter’s Cider.’ At her grandmother’s look of surprise, Sophie continued. ‘Alex agreed during a conference call this week that Carter’s can actually have a stake in his cider business. He and I spoke about it and it does make financial sense to have them on side to help Adelaide’s develop, even if Alex doesn’t want it to end up going as global as Carter’s. Not only will Carter’s be minor partners with Adelaide’s, but we’ll be producing a unique set of hybrid cider blends that should blow away cider drinkers on both sides of the pond. And they’re going to double my salary to do it.’

  Lily smiled at her granddaughter’s obvious enthusiasm for her subject, but then a look of concern crossed her face. ‘You’ll have to forgive me if this sounds fatalistic, love, but what happens if you and Alex fall out? Working together as well as living together might not be an entirely sensible decision.’

  ‘It’s for a year at first,’ Sophie said. ‘And if it doesn’t work, then I can come home and continue my current job, on my original salary, no questions asked.’

  ‘That’s a very generous offer,’ Lily replied. ‘What happens after a year?’

  ‘I get the choice to come home or make the job at Adelaide’s permanent.’ Sophie smiled. ‘And don’t worry; if it all goes tits up in my personal life, I’m a big enough girl to take it on the chin. Besides, I know Martingtons Cider will still have me if I don’t fancy coming back to Carters.’

  ‘I know you are, darling.’ Lily reached out a hand and squeezed one of Sophie’s. ‘Adelaide’s, and Alex, are lucky to have you.’

  ‘But will you be all right if I leave?’

  Lily snorted. ‘Of course I will. Your mother’s talking about me selling this place and moving to France, which I’ve been considering for quite a while now. Perhaps I’ll agree for a year, rent this place out, and if your move to Vancouver becomes permanent, I can stay in the South of France. That’s not to say I won’t miss you, but I want to see you happy and settled before I shuffle off.’

  ‘Oh, Gran! You’ve got a fair few years left in you yet. You wouldn’t leave Barney all by himself.’

  Barney, at the mention of his name, looked up from the rug, sighed heavily and then curled back into a big grey ball. He’d been pining for Alex since he’d left. You and me both, dog, Sophie thought.

  ‘And if your father’s death taught me one thing, it’s that happiness is fleeting,’ Lily said quietly. Sophie’s heart thumped. Despite the closeness she had to Lily, her grandmother hardly ever spoke about the death of her son, Sophie’s father. In twenty-seven years, Sophie could count the amount of conversations she’d had with Lily about him on the fingers of one hand; and that didn’t include her thumb.

  ‘You still miss him, don’t you, Gran?’ Sophie replied, looking down at her hands. Somehow, she couldn’t quite meet Lily’s eye. She was afraid of the grief she might find there. The loss of a child was a wound that would never truly heal. To some small extent, she identified with that.

  ‘I’m not much for religion, as you know,’ Lily said, her voice quiet and steady. ‘But shortly after we lost your father, a good friend of mine said something to me that really resonated.’ She reached out a hand and gave Sophie’s a squeeze. ‘When I was at my absolute darkest, when I couldn’t see how a god, if there was one, could take my child, your father, the love of your mother’s life, so young, and so unfairly, this friend, who was also not much for religion, quoted a little verse from Tennyson to me. “God gives us love. Something to love / He lends us.”’ Lily paused. ‘I’ve never forgotten that. Love will always be with us, Sophie, no matter how far away we are from each other. Your father’s still in my heart, and your mother’s heart, and he’s such a huge part of you, too. He’d be so proud of everything you’ve achieved. He’d want you to be happy, I’m sure.’

  Sophie swallowed hard. ‘Thanks, Gran,’ she said softly. ‘I like to think he would be, too.’ She didn’t need to ask if it was Jack Carter who’d given the advice; she already knew.

  ‘So don’t you worry about me, or your mother, or even that blessed dog there.’ Lily was brisk once again. ‘Do what you know to be right, and what your heart tells you. We only get one chance at this life; make the most of it.’

  ‘I love you, Gran,’ Sophie said, jumping from her seat and putting her arms around her grandmother. ‘And I always will.’

  ‘I know, dear,’ Lily replied. ‘Now go and tell those Carter boys that you’ve made up your mind. And when you get over the Atlantic, you’d better make sure there’s a comfortable spare room on the ground floor of that farmhouse for your grandmother to come and stay in.’

  ‘Oh, I will,’ Sophie said, breaking apart from Lily once again. ‘I definitely will.’

  Eighteen Months Later

  Spring

  The warm sunshine reflected off the new leaves of the apple trees in the orchard as Sophie and Alex did the regular checks on the new apple varieties. Planted the previous autumn, they were a fast growing genus of apple that had taken beautifully to the Canadian soil. One row to their left, straight as an arrow with arms shooting up to the sky, was the prize variety, still rather spindly but reaching ambitiously upwards towards the warming spring air.

  Sophie’s first winter in British Columbia had been a shock on many levels, not least because of the extreme cold. She’d laughed off Alex’s gentle jokes about the wood burner in the yurt at the Royal West Country Show back in the English summertime, but it was only when she felt the oncoming encroachment of the Canadian darkness, saw the huge flakes of snow falling from the wide expanse of grey clouded skies, that she fully began to appreciate the difference. As soon as she’d made the decision to relocate to Canada, she’d swiftly invested in thermal underwear and a goose down winter jacket, as well as a pair of stout winter boots, but she still took time to acclimatise. She’d worn them right through until the following April, when spring finally took hold.

  Thankfully, the cider house had taken up a lot of her time. She rapidly found her feet in the fledgling business, and that first autumn she’d put her extensive blending and tasting experience into practice with the native Canadian apple varieties that Alex had revived when he’d bought the place the previous year. Although it would take another season before Adelaide’s would be producing enough stock to sell on a larger scale, they’d signed their first contracts with a couple of local bars and restaurants, and initial feedback had been good. With a little consultation fr
om the Carter’s Marketing Manager, they’d even come up with decent branding and a fantastic logo for Adelaide’s that would stand out on any supermarket shelf or pub pump.

  The old farmhouse on site had been another project. Working against the darkening skies and inclement weather, Sophie and Alex had managed to make the place habitable just as the weather closed in, and were now living on site full time. Alex retained his apartment in Vancouver, but was considering selling it now that the farmhouse was nearly finished.

  Sophie had kept in regular touch with Lily and Jane by Skype, and was getting ready to welcome them both to Adelaide’s now that the weather had warmed up. Despite her misgivings about Lily travelling such a distance, the film rights for Lily’s latest novel had been snapped up so she and Jane could both afford to travel Business Class to Vancouver, which softened the prospect of the long flight. Excited to see the taxi drawing up, and tickled to find out that the champagne had been on tap throughout the nine hour flight, putting Lily and Jane in great spirits, Sophie smiled as she welcomed them to the farm, with a nervous Alex pacing a few yards away. As they approached him, a thunderbolt of grey fur hurtled out of the farmhouse door and ran barking up to the three women.

  ‘This is Niyah,’ Sophie said as the thunderbolt slowed down, its tail still wagging furiously. ‘She’s six months old and still at the mad stage.’ The Weimaraner puppy, who, being a bitch, was around half the size of the rather more solid and languid Barney, stuck her nose straight into Lily’s hand.

  ‘Be prepared for her to be at the mad stage for the next three years!’ Lily smiled. ‘The dog means you’re here forever, you know,’ she said in an undertone to Sophie.

  ‘You could say that,’ Sophie replied, smiling, before reaching out to embrace first her mother, and then her grandmother. ‘It’s wonderful to see you! I’m so glad you could come.’

  ‘We wouldn’t miss it for the world,’ Lily said. The strong afternoon sunlight highlighted the lines on her face, but her eyes were sparkling with excitement. ‘It’s about time I saw the place you’ve been talking about for so long. And the pictures you sent don’t do it justice.’ Lily looked around, first at the two storey white painted farmhouse with the decking area that ran almost around the entire building, its slate roof newly repaired and blue grey in the afternoon sun. Then she looked out at the rows and rows of young cider apple trees, just transitioning from flower to fruit, and then over to the small market garden where Sophie had planted fragrant herbs and the first summer salad vegetables were starting to emerge. ‘I see you and Alex have been busy,’ she continued. ‘You have accomplished a lot this past year or so.’ Turning to Alex, she smiled up at him as he leaned in to kiss her cheek. ‘I think Jack would have been proud – of the pair of you.’

  ‘I’m so proud of you, too, love,’ Jane said, enfolding her daughter in a warm embrace. ‘And I’m looking forward to getting to know you a bit better, too, Alex, since we didn’t have much of a chance to talk when we were in Little Somerby.’

  ‘I’d like that,’ Alex replied.

  ‘Thanks, both of you,’ Sophie said. Noticing that Lily was leaning rather heavily on her walking stick, she added, ‘Let me show you to your rooms, and then you can have a rest if you like before the other side of the family gets here.’

  ‘Rest, my foot!’ Lily snorted. ‘Pour me some of your signature sparkling cider and I’ll be right as rain.’

  Adelaide’s first ‘hard’ cider, a fragrant blend of Dabinett and Goldrush varieties, was proving to be a hit with early customers, and was anticipated, with Carter’s investment, to be a success.

  ‘Perhaps you should have a cup of tea first,’ Sophie said, leading her grandmother and her mother into the farmhouse.

  ‘Calm down,’ she said softly, once she’d seen Lily and Jane safely into their respective bedrooms to unpack. ‘What are you so worried about?’

  Alex shook his head. ‘I know, I know. It’s so stupid to get uptight about them coming, but I just feel as though I’m going to be under their scrutiny the whole time. And not just me, but this place, this product…’ Instinctively, Sophie knew it wasn’t Lily and Jane he was worried about, but their other imminent house guests.

  Sophie took Alex’s hand and gently kissed his palm. ‘They’re your brothers as well as your business partners,’ she said gently. ‘They won’t be judging you.’

  ‘I’m so glad you’re here,’ Alex replied. ‘That you made this decision to do this with me.’

  Sophie smiled. It had been quite a decision to make, after over a decade with Carter’s Cider and a lifetime of living in Little Somerby, to come thousands of miles north west to help set up Adelaide’s Cider with the man she loved, and had not been one that she had taken lightly. She and Alex had worked day and night over the past year to get Adelaide’s off the ground. Sophie’s taste buds had ensured that the early blends of hard cider had been well received by the taste testers, made up mainly of local restaurants and bars, but now there were plans to move further afield to chain stores and outlets across British Columbia. Immediately, though, the challenge was to see if Jonathan and Matthew were prepared to take the brand across the Atlantic as part of their own stable.

  As if on cue, Alex’s mobile pinged. Swiping the screen, he breathed out. ‘They’ve landed. Matthew’s picked up the hire car so they’ll be here in an hour.’

  ‘Just enough time for you to calm down and have a cup of tea from the teabags Gran insisted on bringing with her, then.’ Sophie smiled and squeezed Alex’s hand.

  ‘She does know that we got a box in for her, right?’ Alex grinned back. ‘I mean, this is BC, not Nunavut. Amazon does deliver out here, too, you know.’

  ‘I know.’ Sophie’s smile widened. The ability to have Marmite and Yorkshire Tea shipped to this side of the Atlantic had come as something of a relief to her, when she’d made the decision to move. ‘But she was determined to bring her own.’ Hand in hand, they wandered back to the farmhouse.

  A little time later, a large SUV came rumbling up the long driveway through the front facing orchards of Adelaide’s towards the farmhouse. Alex jumped up from the kitchen table as soon as he heard the car approaching, and strode out of the front door to greet them. Sophie followed quickly beside him, slipping her hand into his as they went.

  ‘You’ll be fine,’ she whispered as she felt Alex’s shaking hand. Although Matthew and Jonathan had been over to the smallholding a couple of times over the past year, this visit was loaded with significance for a number of reasons. Not least because it wasn’t just them doing the visiting. As the doors to the SUV slid back, the car disgorged not just Matthew and Jonathan, but Anna, Ellie, little Jack, Caroline, and, last but not least, Caroline and Jonathan’s new addition, a charming one year old called Emily. Meredith was preparing for finals at university and couldn’t join the rest of the family, but sent her love, via Anna and Matthew. She was characteristically charmed that Sophie had to all intents and purposes joined the family when Alex had, and was looking forward to flying out and spending some time with Sophie and Alex once her exams were over.

  ‘You made it,’ Alex said, shaking Matthew’s, and then Jonathan’s, hands and then kissing the assorted other members of the family.

  ‘Remind me to drug the kids for the return flight,’ Anna said dryly as, freed from the restrictions of travel, the children dashed off down the driveway and into the orchards.

  ‘We can do that?’ Caroline asked, shifting a drowsy Emily from one hip to the other.

  ‘Calpol works wonders.’ Anna smiled. ‘It might even work on husbands!’

  ‘I think the free booze did enough damage.’ Caroline smirked as Jonathan swiftly put on dark glasses against the strong afternoon sunlight.

  ‘So why don’t you show me around the place?’ Matthew said. ‘It’s come on a lot since the last time Jonno and I came over.’

  ‘Sure, but let’s get you all settled first,’ Alex replied. Sophie observed him for a long moment. Now he was rec
eiving his brothers and their families on his own territory, his air of self-assurance had grown; he’d matured into his role as a cider producer over the past year, and he was a long way from the slightly diffident intern he’d been when she’d met him nearly two summers ago. So much had changed since then.

  ‘Sounds good,’ Jonathan replied. ‘I could do with a cuppa.’

  As they headed into the farmhouse, Sophie and Alex stayed back for a moment.

  ‘Are you OK?’ Sophie asked, as Alex took in the amiable rabble of family that were crossing his threshold.

  Alex smiled and put his arms around Sophie, pulling her close for a long, lingering kiss. ‘I’ve never felt better,’ he said softly. ‘With you by my side I’m always OK.’

  As they broke apart, they could hear the clink of more mugs being grabbed from the cupboards as the Carter family settled into the farmhouse’s comfortable kitchen. ‘I’d better go and sort out these drinks,’ Sophie said, regretfully breaking away from Alex’s embrace.

  ‘Uh, before you do…’ Alex said softly. ‘There’s something I want to say to you.’

  Sophie’s heart flipped as she looked back at Alex, who was standing framed by the backdrop of his flowering apple trees. The sun cast a warm, spring glow over his features, and she thought she’d never seen him looking so relaxed and at peace with himself.