by Heidi Swain
Amber didn’t say anything as she strapped Honey into her high chair and kissed the top of her soft little head.
‘Is that what Will came to talk to you about?’ I frowned. ‘I know he doesn’t think much of Matt either, but given that you invited him to the Lammas party the other week I’d sort of assumed that you and he were friends.’
‘Friendly rather than friends, I’d say,’ corrected Amber. ‘He’s helped us out with a couple of jobs here this year, but that’s all. Will was actually wondering about the validity of this connection Matt claims to have had to Gwen.’
‘So why hasn’t he asked me about it?’ I said, feeling a little disgruntled about Will, but also surprisingly relieved that I’d made a point of setting Matt straight after our kiss. ‘We’ve seen each other practically every other day recently and he hasn’t said a word.’
‘Because you made it very clear that it was none of his business,’ said Jake bluntly as the bacon began to sizzle on the Aga.
‘But that was ages ago,’ I said defensively. ‘Before we became friends.’
‘Well, I’m guessing he still thinks the subject is off-limits and he doesn’t want to fall out with you again, especially given how long it took the pair of you to start being civil to one another.’
‘He likes you, Lottie,’ said Amber quietly.
She may have only whispered it but those four words made my stomach roll in a way that had nothing to do with the sizzle of the delicious breakfast Jake was cooking.
‘Just be careful,’ he warned as he began to butter the bread Amber was slicing. ‘Don’t just rush in and agree to everything Matt suggests you have done. Think it through first, OK?’
‘I have been questioning him about things,’ I said defensively, ‘but he’s always been able to prove he’s right. I’m guessing you don’t think I can trust him either then, Jake?’
‘Let’s just say I think you need to think carefully about prioritising how you spend your money,’ he said meaningfully, ‘even if Matt can allegedly justify what he’s doing.’
I was a little hurt that Will felt he still couldn’t broach this subject with me, especially given how our relationship had developed since our rocky start, and what about his promise to help me with some of the work on the house?
He might have jumped in the passenger seat of my little van to act as my chaperone, but he hadn’t so much as shown me how to change a plug in the cottage. Was he staying out of the way because he didn’t want to stand on Matt’s toes, and if that was the case, had he made the mistake of thinking there was more between my builder and me than blocked pipes and crumbling plasterwork?
‘So what did you really want to talk about?’ asked Amber as she passed a plate stacked with the biggest bacon butties I had ever encountered. ‘I’m guessing you haven’t just braved the lanes to drop off toys for Honey, or am I wrong?’
‘No,’ I said, taking a delicious bite and groaning in pleasure. ‘As pleased as I am to pass the things on, there is something else,’ I added as I savoured the crisp saltiness.
‘Not a bad breakfast this, is it?’ said Jake proudly.
‘I’ve never tasted better,’ I confirmed.
‘So come on,’ encouraged Amber as she fed Honey tiny bits of sandwich from her plate, ‘what’s on your mind?’
Jake pushed back his chair and put his dishes next to the sink.
‘I think I’ll leave you girls to it,’ he said, kissing Amber’s cheek. ‘I’m guessing you won’t need my input.’
‘I might,’ I told him, ‘but I’m not sure.’
‘Well, come and find me if you want me,’ he said. ‘I’ll be in the orchards.’
‘Thanks,’ I said, ‘and thanks for the breakfast.’
‘Anytime. I hope you don’t mind me mentioning my concerns about Matt?’
‘Not at all,’ I told him. ‘I’m sure you and Will are wrong, at least I hope you are, but it’s nice to have people looking out for me nonetheless. I’ve never really had that luxury before.’
‘Well, I hope we’re wrong too,’ he smiled. ‘See you in a bit, Honey bee.’
Honey looked at him and wrinkled her nose before breaking into a toothy grin and waving goodbye with buttery fingers.
‘So,’ said Amber when Jake was out of earshot. ‘What’s up? You haven’t changed your mind about the glamping site, have you?’
‘What makes you say that?’
‘Well, I thought you’d be telling everyone about the idea by now. I know you’ve been busy getting the Cherry Tree van finished but I assumed you would want to spread the word and see what folk thought. I’m sure the gossiping would stop if everyone knew what you had in mind. I mean, no one’s going to complain about having a few more tourists in the town, are they? Just think of the extra income they would generate.’
‘Well, I don’t know about that,’ I said sadly. ‘In fact, I think it’s lucky I’ve managed not to say anything if that’s how you really think people would have reacted. I would have hated to build their hopes up only to disappoint them again.’
‘Whatever do you mean?’
‘I do still want it all to happen,’ I told her, ‘more than anything, but I’m not sure it’s going to now.’
‘Why ever not?’
‘Because of the agricultural restrictions on the land,’ I explained, ‘and the fact that I probably won’t get permission to run a business from the yard.’
‘What agricultural restrictions?’
‘I have it on very good authority,’ I sighed, ‘that running any kind of business from Cuckoo Cottage is not going to be possible.’
I hadn’t had it officially spelled out for me yet, of course, but Matt had said it in such a way that I had no reason to think he was wrong, and the fact that he had been so surprised that I hadn’t realised that there would be rules and regulations about what I could and couldn’t do with the place only increased my belief in what he had said. Even though Jake and Will had their doubts about the work he was doing, I was fairly certain he knew what he was talking about and waiting to speak to David was, to my mind, nothing more than a formality.
If possible, Amber looked even more perplexed than I felt.
‘Are you absolutely sure about this?’ she frowned. ‘Have you had it all properly confirmed? What does David have to say about it?’
‘Can I take it from your reaction that you don’t think there are any regulations, then?’
‘Well, I don’t know,’ she said, wiping the butter from Honey’s hands before she spread more through her hair. ‘I haven’t given it any thought. When we talked about the project, I knew you would have to get planning permission and so forth, but then so did you, surely?’
‘Yes,’ I said, ‘but I didn’t think it would be too much of a problem.’
‘Well, neither did I,’ she said. ‘I’m so sorry, Amber.’
My spirit sagged a little further. I had hoped she would tell me outright that I was wrong, that there had been some mistake, but the fact that she did neither only served to confirm that what Matt had said was indeed right. I hoped David would soon come back from wherever he had gone.
‘I can’t deny I’m devastated,’ I croaked, a lump forming in my throat and my vision blurring. ‘I seem to be taking one step forward and three back these days.’
‘But you’re still pleased about the fact that you’re finally driving and with the work you’re doing on the Cherry Tree van, aren’t you?’
‘Oh, absolutely,’ I nodded, blowing my nose. ‘I couldn’t be happier about all that.’
But, truth be told, suddenly everything felt as if it was on the edge of going wrong, and if it carried on going much further downhill I really would have no money left and would be preparing to put the place up for sale even before the year was up.
It was the last thing I wanted to do, of course, especially as Gwen had been so kind and gone to so much trouble over the cottage and collecting the vans, but it was a possibility I could no longer deny. If t
hings didn’t start to look up soon, my new life at Cuckoo Cottage was going to be over before it began.
‘Let’s go and unpack these things,’ I said, trying my best to rally. ‘The grass must be dry by now.’
Honey absolutely loved the little plastic slide and quickly pulled off her socks as Amber filled the paddling pool with a tiny bit of water for her to splash about in. We stood watching her giggling and playing and I looked at the idyllic Skylark Farm set-up, thinking how I had hoped to create something similar for myself.
‘Don’t look so worried,’ smiled Amber encouragingly, ‘I’ll ask Jake if he has any thoughts about these regulations. I won’t tell him what you’re planning, of course.’
‘All right,’ I nodded, ‘thanks.’
‘I didn’t know you’d installed a pool?’
We turned round to find Harriet and Rachel walking down the drive.
‘Invitations to come and swim are in the post,’ laughed Amber.
‘I should think so too,’ smiled Harriet.
‘Do you want tea?’ asked Amber.
‘Thanks, but I’d rather have something cold, if it’s no trouble?’ requested Harriet.
‘Same for you, Rachel?’
‘Yes, please.’
Rachel and I stayed outside with Honey while Amber and Harriet went to get some apple juice and glasses from the kitchen.
‘So how’s the cottage?’ asked Rachel as she knelt next to the pool and began splashing, much to Honey’s obvious delight.
‘Good,’ I said, ‘it’s finally coming together and the minivan’s great.’
‘Mags is like a cat with two tails this morning,’ Rachel laughed.
‘Is she?’
‘Oh yes,’ said Harriet as she came out carrying the bottles of juice. ‘Although she’s more pleased that you’ve taken on her beloved van than she is about getting herself a new truck.’
That sounded like Mags, generous to a fault.
‘Well, I’ve promised to look after her,’ I said, looking back at my little Birdie. ‘Perhaps I’ll pop down and see her later.’
‘She’d like that,’ said Rachel, ‘although she’s working late tonight. You wouldn’t believe the amount of work involved at the nursery at this time of year.’
‘Every time of year,’ butted in Harriet, handing round glasses.
‘True,’ Rachel agreed.
‘Did you have any problems setting the nursery up?’ I asked.
‘What sort of problems?’
‘Getting planning permission and dealing with restrictions and things?’
‘Well, the initial set-up was simple enough,’ confided Harriet, ‘and there were no restrictions as such. The land belonged to my dad’s farm, you see, but there have been a few hoops to jump through now we’re opening to the public, but, by and large, it’s all been pretty straightforward really.’
‘Why do you ask?’ asked Rachel.
‘I just wondered how these things work,’ I said, draining my glass.
‘You aren’t thinking of setting up a nursery as well, are you?’ Harriet teased.
‘Absolutely not,’ I smiled bravely while wishing my own plans were going to fall into place as easily as Harriet and Rachel’s. ‘I can’t even keep a cactus alive.’
Chapter 28
Back at the cottage, Matt’s van was still parked in the yard but he wasn’t anywhere to be found in the house. I had been careful to keep a tight grip on Minnie’s collar as I worked my way through the rooms, but I needn’t have bothered. Forgetting I had left the front door ajar, I set her down in the kitchen and in a heartbeat she was off, tearing out of the door, with me hot on her heels.
It didn’t take a genius to work out where she was heading, just someone with average hearing, and I followed the expletives all the way to the bottom of the ladder that she had chased Matt back up and which was propped up against one of the barns.
‘What are you doing down here?’ I frowned, annoyed to have caught him looking, what could only be described as, up to no good. ‘I thought you said you had jobs to finish in the house? I don’t remember asking you to come down to the yard for anything.’
Having just had a conversation with Jake about his and Will’s reservations about my builder’s credentials, I was none too pleased to find him skulking about somewhere which, although not exactly off-limits, was certainly none of his concern.
‘Do you think you could call her off?’ Matt requested, with a nod to the bottom of the ladder where Minnie was standing with her front feet on the second rung, her teeth barred and a menacing growl resonating through her tiny chest.
‘In a minute,’ I said. ‘When you’ve answered my question.’
Matt looked rather taken aback by my response. He gripped the ladder a little tighter and stepped up another rung. To my mind he couldn’t have looked guiltier if he tried.
‘I’d rather not say, if it’s all the same to you,’ he muttered.
‘I’m sure you wouldn’t,’ I said, ‘but unless you do, you’re going to find yourself up there for a very long time.’
‘All right, all right,’ he caved as Minnie attempted to balance a paw on the next step up. ‘Just don’t go off on one, OK.’
‘All right,’ I said, bending to clip on Minnie’s lead, but I still didn’t pick her up.
‘Are you going to take her back up to the house?’
‘Not yet. Come on, out with it. You’ve left the cottage unlocked and I’d like to get back up there at some point today.’
Matt let out a long breath and I braced myself to listen to the excuse he was going to come up with to try and justify what he was up to.
‘I had a message from Simon earlier.’
‘Right.’
‘He said he was worried about you working down here when he hadn’t had a chance to check out how the electricity had been installed. He was concerned that it was rigged up illegally or something and that you were in more danger down here than you had been inside the cottage.’
‘And what has any of that got to do with you?’ I demanded, thinking that drunk and bullish Simon was very different to the sober and considerate version. ‘You aren’t an electrician.’
‘He wanted to come back himself but he’s busy today and when I told him you were worried about the work stacking up, he gave me a few pointers to look out for that would give him an idea as to whether his concerns were justified.’
‘So why didn’t you tell me any of this earlier, and what exactly are you looking for up there?’
‘I’m checking the connection and I didn’t tell you earlier because, like I said to Simon, I didn’t want to stress you out over spending more money if everything turned out to be all right.’
That sounded fair enough. Sort of. He did know I had been worrying about the bills stacking up and therefore having me out of the way before he had a look did make sense, but I still wasn’t entirely convinced.
‘Oh great,’ said Matt, his head dropping as he looked back up the yard.
‘Hello, hello,’ said a voice behind me. ‘What’s going on here then?’
Will sounded incredibly amused to have stumbled upon what must have looked like a scene from a farce. Minnie momentarily took her eyes off her prey, wagged her tail in Will’s direction, gave a playful little yap and then turned her attention, as well as her teeth, back to Matt.
‘I suppose you know the psychology behind this kind of scenario, don’t you?’ Will said to me playfully. ‘Never trust a human your dog hates. That’s how it goes, isn’t it, Minnie?’
Another yap from Minnie and a head shake from Matt.
‘What do you want, Will?’ he called down.
‘Do you know,’ said Will, rocking back on his heels and clearly loving every moment, ‘right now I can’t remember.’
‘Matt’s just checking how the barn is hooked up to the electric,’ I said, pulling Minnie away.
‘But don’t the cables run underground?’ frowned Will.
I didn�
��t say anything because I didn’t know, but I hoped he was wrong, for Matt’s sake if nothing else.
‘So have you remembered what you want?’ I asked.
‘Oh yes,’ he said with a grin. ‘I wanted to ask how you got on driving to Skylark Farm this morning. I take it you’ve been?’
‘Yes,’ I nodded, ‘and it was fine. Better than fine actually, brilliant.’
‘Well done you,’ said Will, giving my shoulder a squeeze and sounding genuinely delighted. ‘And I also wanted to let you know that David is going to be back in town from tomorrow. Mags mentioned that you were hoping to see him about something, is that right?’
‘Yes,’ I said, feeling pleased that I would finally be able to get some answers from the expert. ‘That’s great. Thanks, Will; although I’m not sure I’m up to driving in to Wynbridge just yet.’
‘Well, that’s where you’re in luck,’ he said. ‘I have a day off tomorrow and I need to go to town. I thought you could pick me up and we’d go in together. How does that sound?’
‘Perfect,’ I said quickly before my nerves got the better of me again and I asked him to drive me in. ‘Absolutely perfect.’
‘I don’t suppose there’s any chance you could pick that bloody dog up, is there?’ Matt called down from his lofty spot at the top of the ladder.
So caught up with what Will had to say, I’d momentarily forgotten that he was still up there.
‘I was hoping you’d say that,’ Will smiled down at me, completely ignoring Matt’s request. ‘We could have a spot to eat in the Cherry Tree if you fancy it?’
‘That would be lovely,’ I said. ‘I can’t think of anywhere better.’
‘You are sure he’s up there for the reason he says he is, aren’t you, Lottie?’ he said quietly.
I swallowed but didn’t answer.
‘Thanks mate,’ said Matt in disgust. ‘I can hear you, you know.’
‘So?’ shouted Will. ‘I don’t care if you can hear me, and I’m not your mate.’
‘It’s all right,’ I said, laying a hand on Will’s arm. ‘It’s fine. If anyone’s got the situation wrong, it’s probably Simon. I dare say he’s told him to look in the wrong place or something.’