The Little Orchard on the Lane: An absolutely perfect and uplifting romantic comedy

by Tilly Tennant

  ‘Yes…’ Carmel said, though she looked vaguely shell-shocked, as if she might well have said yes to anything at this point.

  ‘The directions were brilliant,’ Posy said.

  ‘I’m Sandra. Married to Giles – for my sins.’

  One of the brothers stepped forward and offered his hand, rather than the less formal cheek-kiss they’d had from Sandra.

  ‘I’m Giles,’ he said, shaking with Posy and Carmel in turn. ‘And this is my brother, Asa.’

  Asa also offered his hand to shake. Posy noted that his grip was a lot less certain than that of Giles.

  ‘Pleased to meet you,’ Posy said. Asa gave a brisk nod in return.

  Posy studied both men, trying to read them. While Sandra was very open, the two brothers were less so. They were friendly enough on the surface, but something about them suggested they were scrutinising Posy and Carmel as much as Posy was scrutinising them now. It was hardly surprising, she had to conclude, given the circumstances of this meeting. It wasn’t every day you discovered you had family that, up until a few weeks ago, you had no clue existed.

  ‘How was the traffic?’ Giles asked.

  ‘Once we left the motorway not bad at all,’ Carmel said.

  ‘Good…’ He plunged his hands into his pockets and nodded slowly, as if giving the information as much thought as he might had he just been presented with the secret to the meaning of life. ‘Good…’ he repeated.

  ‘You must be parched,’ Sandra said. ‘I put the kettle on as soon as Giles saw you approaching; I should imagine it’s boiled by now. You drink tea? Or would you prefer coffee? I can do a cold drink if you’d prefer of course…’

  ‘Tea would be lovely,’ Carmel said. She glanced uncertainly at Posy, who wondered if her mum was thinking of making a run for it. Posy wouldn’t have blamed her at all – the thought had crossed her mind too. Perhaps it would be less awkward once they settled down to tea.

  * * *

  ‘So…’ Sandra placed a tray on the mosaic-tiled table that graced the broad patio. The space was shaded by a wide trellis with what looked like some kind of vine woven into it, paved with dark slates and furnished with the table and chairs, a swinging seat and two rattan armchairs. She poured tea from a fine bone china pot into matching cups and saucers. Like everything they’d seen of Oleander House so far, they looked old but well loved and very traditional, decorated in a classic blue and white willow pattern.

  Posy, Carmel, Giles and Asa sat around the table after Sandra insisted she could manage the tea-making by herself and that the brothers needed to be with Posy because they had so much to talk about.

  Sandra cut in as their polite chat grew silent. ‘Who’d like a slice of cake with their tea? We’ve got apple sponge – made with apples grown here, of course.’

  ‘Not from the orchard, though,’ Giles added. ‘We use a different kind of apples for our cider-making. We have a couple of trees in the garden for cooking apples.’

  ‘I’d love one,’ Posy said. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d eaten home-made cake. Carmel was no baker and neither was she. In fact, she didn’t know anyone who had time for baking, let alone the inclination. It was yet another way that life here in Somerset seemed impossibly romantic compared to her own in London, like she’d just stepped into the pages of an H.E Bates novel. She half expected Ma Larkin to appear from inside the house with a towering tray of scones and clotted cream she’d made from milk produced from a cow only hours earlier.

  Sandra poured the tea while Giles cut slices from a generously layered sponge decorated with white icing. He handed one to Posy who wasted no time sinking her fork into it.

  ‘My God!’ she exclaimed as the tanginess of the apple chunks hit first, followed by a balancing hint of vanilla and sugary icing. ‘That’s divine!’

  Carmel took a mouthful of her slice and nodded enthusiastic agreement. ‘You’re a baking genius,’ she said warmly.

  ‘Actually, Giles baked it,’ Sandra said mildly.

  Posy smiled at him. ‘Wow!’

  ‘I know I don’t look like much of a baker,’ he replied, almost apologetically.

  ‘What’s a baker supposed to look like?’ Sandra asked as she settled with her own plate.

  ‘Big poofy hat and a white tunic,’ Posy said, instantly wondering whether she’d misjudged the joke and wishing she hadn’t made it.

  ‘Oh, he saves those for his private time,’ Asa said in such a deadpan tone that it took Posy a full second to realise he was joking too.

  ‘That’s true,’ Sandra said. ‘I can’t get him out of that poofy hat. Morning, noon and night – he’d wear it to bed if lying down didn’t flatten it.’

  Carmel laughed lightly. Posy had heard that laugh many times before – it was reserved and polite and meant she still didn’t know these people well enough to show them what her real laughter was like. But it was still warm, as was Sandra’s answering smile. Carmel and Posy didn’t know them yet, but Giles, Sandra and Asa seemed easy to get along with, free of airs and graces, and it gave Posy real hope that she would be able to build a meaningful relationship with her new-found family.

  Posy had been raised as the only child of two only children, and their family group had been tight-knit but necessarily small. Growing up, she’d always envied friends with big, noisy, chaotic homes full of siblings or other extended family. Her own had always seemed far too quiet and dull in comparison, even though Carmel did her best to make life for Posy as interesting as she could and had always explained that only adopting her had been a financial decision – with one child they could comfortably give her what she needed without worrying about money. Having discovered Giles, Asa and Sandra certainly expanded Posy’s family exponentially.

  Now that Posy thought of it, Giles and Sandra hadn’t mentioned having any children and neither had Asa. Did that mean there were none? Was that why they seemed unduly relaxed about their farm – because they had no kids to pass it to? Most people introducing themselves as long-lost family would mention children as part of that deal fairly early on, and now that Posy thought about it, she hadn’t seen any signs of children around the place – no discarded toys or textbooks, no brightly coloured trainers kicked into a corner or photos and school certificates on the fridge.

  Sandra topped up Posy’s cup. ‘Why don’t you tell us a little about yourself.’

  ‘There’s not much to tell,’ Posy said, lifting the freshly filled teacup to her lips. ‘Not much that’s very exciting anyway.’

  ‘There must be something. Surely living in London is very exciting all the time?’

  Posy gave a light laugh, a little like the one Carmel had given only a few moments before. ‘Well, there’s always plenty going on, but when you’ve grown up there you sort of take it all for granted. I suppose that’s a shame, isn’t it? I mean, I do appreciate that there’s lots to do but sometimes I wish a little bit that it could be quieter.’

  ‘Well, there’s plenty of quiet here,’ Asa said. ‘So much that I often wish for some disaster just to liven things up.’

  Posy’s smile slipped and she looked to see if Sandra and Giles were shocked at Asa’s statement, but they both remained serene. Perhaps it was the sort of thing he said a lot but didn’t mean. For Posy, not knowing him meant it was hard to know how to take him.

  ‘So you must be… twenty-seven now?’ Giles asked.

  Sandra laughed. ‘You know you don’t ask a lady that! Have I managed to teach you nothing in all our years of marriage?’

  ‘Oh, I’m sure Posy’s young enough not to care about questions like that yet,’ Giles replied breezily, reaching for his cup.

  ‘I don’t mind,’ Posy said. ‘Yes, I’m twenty-seven. Only just – couple of weeks ago.’

  ‘Oh, happy belated birthday,’ Sandra said.

  ‘Posy’s an interior designer,’ Carmel said with a fond glance at her daughter. ‘A very good one too.’

  ‘Oh, you have to say that.’ Posy smiled at her
mum. ‘I wish my boss at the agency could be as enthusiastic about my work as you are.’ She looked at Giles again. ‘I don’t have my own consultancy or anything yet. I’m really still finding my feet in the industry. I work for a design agency. We do a lot of commercial interiors. I’d like to have my own business one day, of course. I’d love to design private homes and things like that rather than corporate places.’

  ‘That sounds very exciting.’ Sandra looked at Asa. ‘You said you wanted to redesign your place, didn’t you? Looks like we’ve found your woman.’

  ‘As long as you’re cheap,’ Asa said to Posy. ‘We’re hardly made of money around here.’

  It was yet another statement Posy just didn’t know how to take. Was he warning her that if she and Carmel were after a fast buck they wouldn’t find it at Oleander House?

  ‘I could always take a look,’ she said, choosing not to take offence. ‘I’d be happy to make some suggestions and I wouldn’t expect you to pay for that.’

  ‘That would be very kind,’ Sandra said. ‘Wouldn’t it, Asa?’

  ‘Very kind,’ Asa repeated before hiding his face behind his teacup as he took a sip. Out of the three of them, Asa gave Posy the most cause for wariness because it was becoming clear that he was the one who trusted her least. That wasn’t to say he wasn’t trying as hard as Giles and Sandra were – Posy believed that he was – but maybe for him a natural instinct to trust was just that bit harder to find.

  ‘Do you all work in the family business?’ Carmel asked.

  ‘Yes,’ Giles said. ‘We employ some people too. I expect you’ll meet a few of them if you come back on a weekday.’

  Carmel exchanged a brief glance with Posy. They might well have been thinking the same thing – Giles mentioning them returning here was a good sign that he at least wanted them to.

  ‘Are you planning to drive all the way back to London today?’ Sandra asked Carmel. ‘It’s such a long way.’

  Carmel shook her head. ‘We’ve booked a room at a little guest house. We’ll leave tomorrow – we thought we might as well use the opportunity of coming here to explore the countryside. After all, it seems a shame to come all this way and not see any of it.’

  ‘That sounds lovely. Is your guest house close?’

  ‘I think so. At least, it looked close on the map. Sunnyfields? Do you know it?’

  ‘Oh, yes, that’s Karen’s place. Not too far at all. She’ll treat you like royalty – you’ll have a lovely stay there.’

  ‘She does have very good reviews online,’ Carmel agreed. ‘Now I know it’s nice I’m beginning to wish we’d booked for longer.’

  ‘Well,’ Sandra said, smiling, ‘you can always come back. Somerset is beautiful at any time of the year.’

  Giles very deliberately set down his cup and saucer and looked around the table. His expression had hardened, barely perceptibly, but to Posy it looked as if they were finally going to get down to the real business. Because while the meeting had been pleasant so far, everyone knew that the reason Posy and Carmel had come to Oleander House was to address something a little more thorny than whether the guest house they’d chosen to stay in that night was nice or not.

  ‘Perhaps we ought to tackle that great big elephant we’ve been trying so hard to ignore. Not that the conversation hasn’t been delightful of course, but I think now’s the time to be serious for a moment.’

  ‘I don’t want anything from you,’ Posy said firmly. ‘I haven’t changed my mind on that. I know Philomena left instructions that I ought to be provided for, but I really don’t need it and I don’t feel it’s due to me.’

  Asa looked faintly disbelieving while Giles and Sandra maintained expressions of calm neutrality.

  ‘I don’t feel I’m owed anything and I don’t want it,’ Posy insisted. ‘I only wanted to meet you because… I can’t explain it; not really. I just needed answers, I suppose.’

  ‘We wanted to meet you too,’ Sandra said. ‘But surely—’

  Posy gave her head a firm shake. ‘I don’t want anything else.’ She glanced at Carmel, who gave a nod of encouragement. ‘I’m already happy enough with my lot, and even though everyone could do with a little more cash I don’t want to get it like this – it doesn’t feel right.’

  Sandra gave a slight smile. ‘You’ve obviously given this a lot of thought.’

  ‘I’ve thought of little else but meeting you since I first found out about you,’ Posy said. ‘But it took two seconds to decide that I’d rather have more family than money. I don’t want to be the cause of a rift before we’ve even begun, and if you having to give me a share of my grandmother’s estate means it affects your home and your business by making you sell bits off then…’ She shrugged, uncertain how to finish her sentence but hoping they would understand.

  ‘A lot of people would feel they owed us no loyalty,’ Giles said. ‘In fact, many would feel just the opposite. And Mother said—’

  ‘I know all that,’ Posy replied. ‘It makes no difference to my decision. I’m not going to change my mind either, in case that’s something you’re worrying about.’

  Sandra glanced at Giles, sombre and silent for a moment, and then they both looked at Asa, who was just as serious.

  ‘Well,’ Asa said finally. ‘I think it’s safe to say you’ve thrown us a curveball. We were expecting some kind of fight – at least a heated negotiation. Instead, we find ourselves practically begging you to take some of our inheritance.’

  ‘I said all along I wasn’t going to do that,’ Posy reiterated.

  ‘I can’t say I’m not a little bit disappointed actually,’ Asa replied. ‘I was quite looking forward to a Dynasty-type showdown.’

  ‘It’s very noble and generous of you,’ Sandra said. ‘What Asa means to say is that we were all a little bit worried, despite what you’d told the solicitor. This place is our life – Giles and Asa especially have never known anything else. The orchard is in their blood… the thought of having to sell bits off or break up the property in any way to pay someone a portion of the estate was scary. And Philomena left no actual cash; everything is tied up in this place.’

  She paused for a moment, exchanged a brief look with Giles, and then turned to Posy again. ‘If it’s not too delicate a question, would you be prepared to sign something to that effect? Not that I doubt your intentions for one second, it’s just…’

  Her sentence tailed off, but if she’d been afraid of offending Posy she needn’t have been.

  ‘I’d be asking the same thing,’ she replied. ‘I wouldn’t be able to relax for a moment with something like that hanging over me. I could easily be the sort of person who changes their mind like the weather.’

  ‘Thank you for being so understanding,’ Giles said. ‘You have no idea just how much of a relief something like that would be to us. I wish we could somehow return the favour, but I feel there’s no way that would ever be possible.’

  ‘Inviting me here is enough,’ Posy said.

  ‘If you’d like…’ he began tentatively, continuing after a brief smile of encouragement from Sandra, ‘perhaps we can fill in some blanks for you. It wouldn’t be much, I know, but perhaps there are things you’d like to know about your mother? I’m not sure what you do already know, but—’

  ‘Why did she give me up?’ Posy asked, hardly missing a beat.

  ‘Ah…’

  Giles looked uneasily at Asa now before turning back to Posy.

  ‘That’s one question we don’t have the answer to,’ Asa said.

  Giles nodded. ‘We only found out a couple of weeks before you did that Angelica had even had a child of her own. Apparently our mother had known for some time and also knew that you’d been given up for adoption, but she’d never made us aware and forbade us to ask.’

  ‘She could be strange like that,’ Sandra said. ‘She often didn’t share her reasons for keeping things to herself either.’

  ‘So,’ Giles continued, ‘Mum had already passed by the time we le
arned of you, and even though she’d left details of your existence for the solicitor to pass on to us, she’d never actually spoken about you while she was alive… I’m so sorry; I know that’s not what you wanted to hear…’

  Giles looked genuinely pained to deliver such crushing news, and in that moment Posy felt desperately sorry for him.

  ‘Why did Philomena and Angelica fall out so badly?’ Posy asked. ‘I can’t imagine what would make me stop all contact with my family – it must have been bad.’

  ‘Mother always blamed her for Father’s death,’ Asa said. ‘They just couldn’t get past it.’

  ‘Was it her fault?’ Posy asked, wide-eyed.

  ‘I suppose you could say the events that led to it were her fault,’ Giles said.

  Posy waited for him to elaborate, but he didn’t. Then Asa spoke.

  ‘You can’t tell her that and not expect her to need detail, Giles.’

  Giles paused, and then nodded.

  ‘Angelica was having an affair with someone in the village – she’d always been a little wayward like that. The guy was twice her age and should have known better. She asked him to leave his wife; he wouldn’t. Things got messy when the wife found out and came to have it out with her. Dad – your grandfather – stepped in to break them up. In the fracas he fell backward and hit his head…’

  Posy stared at him as a strange, loaded silence settled over them.

  ‘He never woke up,’ Sandra said briskly.

  ‘Was I…’ Posy’s mouth was dry. ‘Was I… you know… from the affair?’

  Sandra gave a brief nod. ‘We think so – at least the timing would suggest so. But as you were born after she’d cut ties with everyone here at Oleander it’s only guesswork.’

  ‘Who is he?’ Posy asked.

  Giles glanced uneasily at Sandra.

  ‘You mean your father?’ Sandra asked Posy, who nodded.

  ‘If we’re right, then it’s a man named John Palmer. We don’t think he knew about you either. He and his wife left the village shortly after Angelica, and we heard, I’m sorry to tell you, that he died about five years ago.’