Summer At Willow Tree Farm: the perfect romantic escape for your summer holiday

by Heidi Rice

Heat suffused her entire body. A hot aching heat that tightened her skin over her bones, tenderised her breasts and made the weight in her abdomen pound in time with her elevated pulse. She forced herself to breathe past the immoveable lump forming in her throat.

  He held his boxers in one hand, but made no move to cover himself as if challenging her to look her fill. She took the dare, because she couldn’t make herself look away.

  Gilded by silvery light, his body was hard and angular, big and yet graceful in its own rough-hewn way. Unlike Dan, who spent hours in the gym perfecting his toned physique, Art’s body had the sinewy strength of muscles acquired through physical labour. There was nothing buffed or overly toned, nothing waxed or pretty about him. Even at a distance of twenty yards, she could see the white ridged line of the scar across his belly, the faded petals of his tattoo, the curls of hair on his chest that tapered through his abdomen, the pale outline of his penis where the hair bloomed into a thicket at his groin.

  She couldn’t make out his expression, but wondered if he could see her cheeks glowing like beacons.

  She stood paralysed, the surge of longing burning away all her embarrassment until the only sensation left was the blood pumping through her veins into all those long neglected parts of her anatomy.

  He broke eye contact first, to climb into his boxers. Not rushing, but not lingering either.

  Ellie fled the riverbank, and retraced her steps back through the woods towards the farmhouse, not running, but not dawdling either.

  Each step of the way, she added items to her newest and now most essential to-do list.

  Item one: Go into Gratesbury tomorrow and get some sleeping pills.

  Item two: Check out the online buying options for vibrators.

  Item three: No more midnight trips to the millpond.

  Ever.

  PART THREE: NEVER FORGET

  THEN

  Eloise Charlotte Preston’s Diary: Bits of you will fall off if you read this… IMPORTANT bits.

  12 August 1998

  Art finally came back this evening.

  He’s been gone for three whole days and even though he ignores me and I sort of still hate him, some of the time, I missed him. Which is beyond weird, I know. But when he came in after supper, I got that fluttery sensation in my belly, the same one I get whenever I see him now. Until I saw the state of him then the fluttery sensation felt as if the Spice Girls were doing ‘Wannabe’ in my tummy.

  His face was all beat up and he had a scrape on his elbow and his shirt was ripped and filthy. Even more than usual. His mum Laura, who I’ve decided is the biggest bitch on the planet, just laughed and said, ‘Who did you piss off this time? Mike Tyson?’ I couldn’t even believe it. It was like she didn’t care at all. I know my mum has been asking after Art. Asking where he is. Even I asked Laura once and all she said was ‘How the f*** should I know, I’m not his keeper.’ But she is his keeper, she’s his mum, isn’t she?

  Art may be a meanie a lot of the time, but now I think maybe he’s that way because his mother is so horrible to him.

  Thank God my mum was there, she made him go with her to the bathroom. Even though he said the F-word at her and told her to leave him alone, she wouldn’t. I’m glad, because he looked like he needed a mum. Even I wanted to hug him. I’m beginning to think he’s a bit like Laura’s dog, snarling and snapping, but he doesn’t actually bite anyone. (That said, I would NEVER hug Laura’s dog!)

  I listened outside the bathroom door while my mum cleaned Art up. She asked him what had happened to him and he didn’t say anything for the longest time then he just said: ‘Why does it matter?’ But he didn’t sound angry any more. He just sounded tired. I heard my mum sigh. That deep, sad sigh she sometimes makes when I have a go at her and then she said: ‘It matters to me, Arthur.’

  I know he doesn’t like to be called that, because I’ve called him it before to annoy him. I thought he would probably say the F-word at my mum again. But all I could hear was this strange choking sound. So I peeked round the bathroom door and I couldn’t believe what I saw… My mum was holding his head and hugging him, and he was letting her. His back was shaking and I could see all the cuts and bruises on it, because my mum had made him take off his T-shirt. It looked awful, his ribs were all black and purple on one side like someone had punched him again and again really hard. He wasn’t making much sound at all, so it took me a minute to realise he was shaking like that because he was crying.

  My mum saw me, and lifted a finger to her lips to tell me not to let Art know I was there. I think maybe she thought I was going to make fun of him. But for the first time ever, I didn’t feel like making fun of him. I still don’t. AT ALL. And neither do the Spice Girls who are still prancing around in my tummy like lunatics.

  I sneaked away. And I’ve been crying a little bit myself. Even though Art will probably be mean to me again, once he’s feeling better, I’ll never tell anyone what I saw. I won’t even tell Art.

  Thank God I’ve got a mum that knows how to be a mum.

  No wonder Art never smiles.

  NOW

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  The day of the shop opening dawned with spitting rain and one of those opaque grey clouds that looked as if it would never lift. Ellie got everyone together and carried on the preparations they could do out of the weather, while praying like a revivalist minister that the sun would come out before they started greeting visitors at 2 p.m.

  She was ready to be born again when a few watery rays of sunshine finally pierced the oppressive mist at noon.

  Everyone threw off their raincoats and had to race like Olympic athletes to get the bouncy castle they’d hired blown up and erect the marquees and stalls for all the food samples. Dee headed the team putting the finishing touches on the store and the small grouping of café tables. The council’s food safety team had been by to inspect the premises the day before, and given everything the green light.

  Ellie’s heart got trapped in her throat as she glanced at her watch. Twenty minutes to zero hour. She, Tess, Dee, Annie and Maddy had all done a food hygiene course in the last two weeks and spent the day yesterday practising on the espresso machine and the new tills. But, even so, she’d had to take one of her sleeping pills last night to calm the stage fright that kept threatening to explode out of her ears.

  She scanned the yard, checking off the last of the to-do lists in her head.

  Rob and Art were hooking up the passenger trailer they’d hired for one of the tractors to take visitors on a pick-your-own tour of the farm’s strawberry fields. Check. Annie sent her a wave as she arranged the home-made decorations for her cupcake-making stand. Check.

  Ellie waved back then, hearing a cheer, she headed round the side of the back barn to the shop entrance.

  Josh and Toto and Melody were shrieking and clapping as Mike climbed down from a ladder, having finished hauling up the huge banner the three kids had been painting on a roll of lining paper all week. The colourful and chaotic drawing of cows and ducks and geese, the farmhouse building and the shop, with each of the farm’s inhabitants standing in front of it, made Ellie’s chest ache, as it flapped in the breeze. She sniffed and then laughed when she spotted two lumpen versions of the Frozen princesses standing beside Melody’s drawing of herself.

  She whipped her phone out and took a photo, planning to add it to the farm’s new Instagram account as soon as she had a spare moment.

  ‘Mom, doesn’t it look cool?’ Josh ran towards her, his face a picture of excitement and pride. She looped an arm round his shoulders as he threw a hand around her waist.

  ‘It looks fabulous, you’ve all done an amazing job.’ She had gifts for all three of them she’d bought in Salisbury on Tuesday while on her food hygiene course, which she planned to give them once today was over – no matter what the outcome. But, as the sun finally broke free of the clouds and glinted off the glitter Melody had insisted on adding to the banner, her heart bounced.

  Today wa
s going to be a success, she just knew it.

  Tess and Maddy had spent the last two days leafleting in Gillingham and Gratesbury. She’d been blogging and tweeting and Facebooking and Instagramming about the launch until her eyes crossed, and Dee had even managed to secure a small spot on the local radio station through one of her ubiquitous Women’s Institute contacts. The signs had gone up yesterday afternoon on the A30 and the A303 and looked amazing. Classy and rustic and inviting, Helena’s work reflected everything the shop itself was meant to be.

  ‘Granny said we could help with the ice-cream stand if we wash our hands,’ Josh announced.

  Toto stood a few feet away holding Melody’s hand as the younger girl jumped up and down on one foot.

  ‘I want to do the cupcakes, too,’ Melody said.

  ‘Why don’t you all go wash up then; people will be arriving very shortly.’

  The kids ran around the side of the barn towards the house, whooping and shouting as they went.

  Ellie heard a car horn blow, and headed after them. A procession of three cars appeared, coming down the track to park in the new car park. As they stopped and the bank manager, Mr Hegley, and his family got out of the first one, she saw two more cars coming.

  She grinned at Jacob, who stood by the bouncy castle, and then sent a thumbs-up to Maddy who had trays of elderflower champagne flutes and free canapés arranged on a table ready to serve all the invited guests who would be arriving first.

  ‘It’s show time, people,’ she shouted, giving the cue to the six-piece steel band they’d hired from the Salisbury Youth Co-Operative who had set up next to Annie’s cupcake stall.

  The opening bars of a calypso version of ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ floated over the farmyard. Every moment of stress and anxiety and panic seemed to lift off Ellie’s shoulders in the tinkle of music as her mum’s arm came around her and gave her a hard hug.

  ‘We’re going to knock this one out of the park,’ she said to her mother, whose eyes were already misty.

  ‘Thank you so much, Ellie. For making Pam’s dream come true.’

  ‘Don’t thank me, Mum, we all made this happen. Every single one of us.’ Even Art, who she suspected still had reservations about the shop’s success but had worked like a dog for five weeks.

  She spotted him standing beside the tractor and their gazes met.

  The reservoir of heat, which was always there when she encountered Art, smouldered in her belly. Luckily, in the last week, ever since they’d had their moment by the millpond, she’d been running around like a headless chicken on acid trying to get everything done. And Art had been locked in his workshop finishing off the commission that he’d got behind on during the shop’s construction.

  She’d crashed into bed each night unable to string a coherent thought together, so there had been no time to fixate on the picture of Art’s naked body in the moonlight that had been branded into her brain a week ago. She’d been way too exhausted to even contemplate sex, let alone worry about what that moment had meant and whether it might complicate their relationship. There hadn’t even been the need for sleeping pills or exploring vibrator options on Amazon.

  He looked away first, bending to recheck the trailer coupling. And the smoulder was joined by a hum at the sight of tight male buttocks in worn denim.

  Ellie ignored the leap of panic under her breastbone.

  Everything was OK. They were OK. They hadn’t spoken to each other since that night. Why should she be scared of what was just a recreational crush? She liked looking at Art. He was an exceptionally good-looking guy. Rugged and raw and appealingly masculine. He excited her. Why wouldn’t he? She was a grown woman, who hadn’t had sex in nearly a year, and good sex in a whole lot longer.

  That didn’t mean she’d be nutty enough to act on the attraction, so what harm could it do? He simply provided a chance to fantasise about something other than produce lists or health and safety regulations in her few moments of downtime. Just like he’d once distracted her from her loneliness and confusion nineteen summers ago.

  She forced her gaze away from him. As long as she didn’t indulge, she would be fine.

  Her mum squeezed her shoulders. ‘Pam would have been so pleased about all this.’

  Ellie’s eyes stung, moved by her mother’s obvious pride. ‘I wish Pam could have been here too,’ she said, ‘so I could apologise for the mean way I treated her that summer.’

  ‘You were unhappy, Pam understood that,’ her mother replied, her smile kind and reassuring. ‘No apology was ever necessary… But if there had been…’ Her mother released a quiet sigh, her gaze drifting over the activities getting underway as Rob and Mike greeted the bank manager and the two other VIPs and their families who had arrived early. ‘What you’ve done here is more than apology enough.’

  The children raced past them, heading for the bouncy castle and the free rides Jacob had promised them. As Ellie tracked their progress, she saw Art disappear in the direction of his workshop.

  She ignored the pulse of regret. Art wasn’t a people person. She hadn’t expected him to get involved with their opening day once the customers arrived. She’d planned to thank him for all his help to date, but that could wait for another day – when she wasn’t feeling quite so emotional and she’d got that hum of awareness under complete control.

  Plus, looking at Art could be very distracting. And she simply did not have time for any leisure activities today.

  Her mother gave Ellie a final hug.

  ‘Now, I think we should go greet our first customers,’ Dee said. ‘And get this party started in true Willow Tree Farm fashion.’

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  ‘Are you sure you don’t want me to pay for the jams?’

  Ellie plastered an easy smile on her face as she glanced over her shoulder at Malva Hardwicke, whose devil child had just laid waste to two pots of Dee’s apple chutney. ‘Don’t worry about it, Malva.’ She bit off the cranky suggestion that Malva keep a tighter rein on the aptly named Damian next time she was in the shop. ‘We love having you in the shop and our insurance covers any breakages.’

  Not entirely true, but Malva had been in twice already since the shop had opened a week ago and parted with over a hundred pounds. She’d also brought in a couple of her friends. She was the sort of valued local customer they needed to attract. And Damian was three, built like a mini pickup truck, and a complete terror. No one short of Supernanny would be able to keep him from causing death and destruction wherever he went.

  Sweeping up the last of the glass and chutney, Ellie made a mental note to give the area a proper clean as soon as they closed in twenty minutes.

  ‘That’s so understanding of you,’ Malva said, over Damian’s shrieks of protest. ‘Laureston’s Café in Gillingham wasn’t nearly so understanding when Damian had a mishap with their cake stand.’

  ‘Really, it’s not a problem.’ Ellie kept her easy smile in place while making another mental note to put an armed guard around their cake stand next time Damian was in. ‘Tess will ring up the rest of your purchases and we hope to see you soon.’

  The harassed mother dragged the screaming Damian away with more effusive praise for the shop’s customer-friendly attitude. Ellie rubbed her back, aware of the low ache caused by standing at the counter all day making lattes and espressos. A couple of young mums were having a quick coffee and some of Dee’s lemon drizzle while their kids played on the train set table Art had built in the corner of the barn. The line to Tess’s till was at least five deep. The easy smile dropped from her face though when she saw Maddy coming in from the stockroom hefting a crate of Rob’s elderflower champagne.

  Ellie dashed round the fresh produce display. ‘You shouldn’t be carrying that in your condition.’

  Maddy grinned as she let Ellie lift the crate out of her hands. ‘Oh please, you’re almost as bad as Jacob – he won’t even let me cook a meal any more.’

  ‘Don’t knock it, being pampered is what makes pre
gnancy worthwhile,’ Ellie said, as she began stacking the bottles in the display rack. ‘That and the end result.’

  Maddy cradled her still mostly non-existent bump. ‘We had the second scan yesterday. They found a penis.’

  ‘Congratulations.’ Ellie laughed, trying not to remember the last penis she had seen.

  ‘We finished the guest list last night,’ Maddy said, as she helped Ellie load Rob’s champagne onto the rack. ‘Sixty-two people including my great-aunt Maisie, who my mum is insisting on me inviting. I’m sure they won’t all come though.’

  ‘If they do, we’ll make room for them.’ Ellie smiled absently while rethinking the seating plans she’d already roughed out. ‘Why don’t you two come over on Sunday night?’ she offered. ‘Dee’s done a couple of designs for the official invites for you to take a look at. I think she plans to do a canapé tasting too?’

  Maddy clapped. ‘Yes please, the ones she suggested sound awesome. Our only problem is going to be narrowing the menu down to five.’

  ‘Great, that’s settled then. I’ll let Dee know.’ Ellie finished putting the last of the bottles on the rack and stacked the empty crate under the produce display. ‘By the way, did you find Josh? Was he over at Annie’s?’ she asked, trying not to sound too anxious.

  She’d been anchored to the shop all day and, as rewarding as it was watching the customers come and go, not to mention selling out of their morning batch of loaves in less than two hours, she’d been unable to track down Josh – or Toto – since breakfast that morning.

  Maddy shook her head. ‘No, he hasn’t been over there today.’

  ‘Damn,’ she murmured under her breath.

  She knew she was tired and out of sorts. The last week had been exhausting – word of mouth had spread since the launch and they’d been rammed with customers every day so far.

  But where on earth was Josh? Dee had said earlier he hadn’t been by since breakfast and now it was nearly six o’clock. He knew he was supposed to check in with her twice a day when she was in the shop. He’d managed it all this week so far, which only worried her more.