by Emma Davies
There was silence as Kate weighed up what she’d just heard. ‘And we’d have to guarantee to buy from you, would we?’
‘No, not at all. Anyone who books a wedding package with you would still be free to make their own arrangements for their flowers, but I’d like to think that the cheaper cost of our service would be a great incentive for many. And you might find that as you’ll be making a profit from it too you’ll be happy to promote the service…’ She looked up and caught Kate’s eye.
‘We might…’ she replied, amused.
‘And we really would offer a bespoke service. Brides could choose whatever they wanted, in fact…’ Flora was thinking on her feet now. ‘We’re only just down the road from you here, and I’d envisage the farm being open to visitors. People could even come and see the flowers growing before making their choice.’
Kate was staring into space and, apart from one brief nod, she remained that way for long enough that Flora was beginning to get very nervous. And then with one quick shake of her head, which sent her ponytail flying, she looked directly at Flora, her eyes twinkling.
‘Why has no one thought of doing this before?’ she asked. ‘I think it’s a brilliant idea!’
Flora only just managed to keep from squealing out loud. She allowed her hope to surge, but just for a moment; it was good news but nothing had been agreed as yet. There was, however, one final incentive she had up her sleeve. She returned Kate’s smile.
‘I also noticed that in your reception and lounge areas alone you have six large floral arrangements. If we were to become your suppliers I would be able to provide whatever flowers you need at a substantially cheaper price than you’re paying now.’
‘And you know that for a fact, do you?’ Kate’s eyes were twinkling.
Flora held her look. ‘I would guarantee it,’ she said without hesitation. The smile had dropped from her face as she willed her words to be successful.
Kate might be Caroline’s cousin, an admirer of Flora’s taste in clothes, and a welcoming, very approachable person, but she was also a businesswoman and it was this part of her that Flora was talking to now.
There was a slow nod of the head and an appraising glance.
‘You’re absolutely determined about this, aren’t you?’
‘I am. Not only because I’m passionate about flowers and on a personal level can’t think of doing anything nicer, but also because…’ She broke off, wondering just how honest she needed to be. ‘It’s the right thing for us to be doing. Fraser’s heart attack has given us all cause to think about the future.’ She wasn’t sure she could physically say anything else.
Kate was quiet, sipping her coffee reflectively while Flora tried to keep her knee from jiggling and a confident smile on her face. Whatever was going through Kate’s head, she would hear about it soon enough.
‘I can imagine that last statement is merely the tip of the iceberg,’ she said, after a moment, giving Flora a sympathetic smile. ‘I’ve met Fraser a few times, and Hannah of course. I liked them, they’re good people, and farming isn’t an easy life. If your ideas are a step towards making a better life for you all then I really think I should try to help.’
She gave Flora a searching look, the corners of her mouth crinkling as she broke into a smile. ‘Of course, it helps enormously that I think this could be an amazing opportunity for the hotel as well. I really like your ideas, Flora, I like them a lot. So tell me where you are with everything?’
Flora couldn’t believe how well the meeting had gone so far, but there was nothing she could do now but be honest. To make out that her venture had gone any further than the tentative planning stage would be suicide. And then she thought of the greenhouse full of seedlings back at the farm and she smiled to herself. Had she unwittingly known back then that she was literally sowing the seeds of their future?
‘I have pages and pages of notes, Kate, and not much else at the moment, but – and it’s a big but – by the summer we could have a field full of flowers.’ She pulled a face. ‘Correction, we will have a field full of flowers, but I’d be much happier growing them knowing that I had at least one place to sell them to. As this is our first season, though, the only things we won’t have are some of the early bulb-grown flowers and biennials, but there are ways around these things.’
Kate nodded. ‘Right. Well, from my point of view I need to have a chat with the General Manager, and then, with what I hope is that formality out of the way, I think you and I need to meet again to discuss things in greater detail. There will be much I’ll need to look at from the hotel’s point of view as well, but perhaps, as this would be a new venture for both of us, we should work on it together?’
‘Oh my God, thank you!’ gushed Flora; she just couldn’t help herself, and it took all her self-control not to throw her arms around Kate as well.
Kate matched her smile, but held up a hand. ‘But only on the condition that you tell me where you bought your dress from.’
‘Deal!’
‘I think it is,’ agreed Kate, and the two of them grinned at one another.
Flora scrabbled at her feet for her bag. Her head was whirling with not only excitement, but the list of things she needed to do.
‘I can’t thank you enough, Kate,’ she said. ‘But I must let you get on, I’ve taken more than enough of your time.’ She thrust out her hand. ‘It’s been lovely meeting you.’
‘It’s been lovely meeting you too. I wasn’t expecting this, I’ll be honest, but I’m so glad you came by. And I’m so pleased to see that Ned has finally managed to evade Caroline’s clutches. Do you know, she even came waltzing in here one time demanding to see me and pretty much telling me she expected to get their wedding reception for next to nothing because of our family connection. I can’t tell you how happy I was when Ned called things off with her. I’m sorry, that makes me sound awful, doesn’t it, but I’m so glad he’s finally found someone like you.’
Chapter Twenty
Flora wasn’t quite sure how she made it through reception and out of the door, but somehow she managed to nod and smile and say goodbye to Kate, holding her head high and promising to be in touch soon.
Now, though, she was safe in the privacy of her car, staring out of the windscreen at nothing with her heart beating wildly. She felt sick.
How had she not known that Ned and Caroline had once been engaged? Why had no one told her? More to the point, why hadn’t Ned told her?
She felt utterly stupid. No wonder Caroline had been laughing at her behind her back. She tried to think rationally – after all, she’d had relationships in the past, it would have been perfectly normal for Ned to do the same. In fact, when Hannah had mentioned a previous girlfriend the day she told Flora about moving into the cottage, Flora had thought nothing of it. So why hadn’t Ned told her? Unless…
No – she tried to cast the thought from her mind, but it was already there, worming its way in, burrowing deeper and deeper into her brain until she could think of nothing else. What if the reason Ned hadn’t told her was because there was still something between them? He might have called off their engagement, but perhaps they still had feelings for one another. After all, every time she turned around it seemed as if Caroline appeared…
Moments ago, she had been ecstatic, hope soaring, filled with determination for her new venture and all that it could bring them as a family… but now… now, she didn’t know what she was. The minutes stretched out as Flora gulped in lungfuls of air trying to calm herself. She fished in her pocket for a tissue and gave her nose a good blow, sifting back through the conversations of the last day or so.
Ned had been utterly distraught as he revealed the circumstances of the debt the farm was in. He had been ashamed, worried about his father, angry at Caroline’s actions, but perhaps, more than anything, upset because he thought he had failed Flora. That didn’t seem to be the behaviour of someone who had set out to mislead her, or – worse – was telling her outright lies, but even
a virtual stranger had assumed that she would know about Caroline and Ned, and yet she didn’t. So who was the stranger now?
No, Ned loved her, Flora knew he did, but there was no way she could go back to the farm, not straight away. She needed some time to put distance between how she was feeling and everything that would be waiting for her back home. Because she had plans to make, costings to prepare, forecasts; the list was endless. And she couldn’t attempt any of it in her current frame of mind. She needed to regain the feelings she’d had only moments before Kate inadvertently let slip about Ned and Caroline, because that was what she needed to hang onto. It had still been a wonderful meeting, one in which she’d suddenly seen the possibility of everything she dreamed coming true. And then it came to her. She knew exactly who would be able to help.
‘I’ll put the kettle on,’ Grace said, as soon as she opened the door and saw Flora standing there. Flora followed her straight into the kitchen. ‘I’ve got some brilliant news for you about the paintings,’ she continued, filling the kettle at the sink. ‘And some not so brilliant news, but I think you’d better go first. You look fit to burst.’
Flora plonked herself down on a seat at Grace’s breakfast bar. ‘I’m sorry, Grace. I shouldn’t even be here but…’
‘Explanations are not necessary, Flora. I gave you an open invitation, and I meant it. Now, biscuits… yes?’
‘Why did no one tell me that Ned and Caroline were engaged before?’
Grace stopped dead, her hand halfway to a cupboard above her head. She turned around, but the look on her face told Flora all she needed to know.
‘So you knew I hadn’t been told… I thought as much. Am I the only person around here that doesn’t know?’
‘Before I answer that,’ replied Grace softly, ‘may I ask where you heard this information from? And before you protest that it doesn’t matter, it does, and you will hear why in a moment.’
Her expression was sympathetic but quite firm, and Flora realised that this was why she was here. Grace was as straightforward as they came.
‘I’ve been up to Ravenswick Hall this morning,’ she explained. ‘And I met with a lovely woman called Kate, who, it turns out, is Caroline’s cousin. But I expect you know that too?’
Grace nodded.
‘And she only mentioned it in passing, without realising that she’d put her foot in it because, of course, she expected me to know, which is why I’m wondering how come I don’t.’
‘I see,’ said Grace, quietly. ‘Well that was unfortunate, yes, but actually doesn’t change anything, at least not from where I’m standing.’ She took down the biscuit tin and slid it across to Flora. ‘Jammie Dodgers,’ she said. ‘Take several.’ She busied herself with the tea things before continuing. ‘I sincerely hope you’re going to tell me in a minute what you were doing up at The Castle and why you were talking to Kate. But the reason why I asked who had told you about the engagement was that I had Ned up here a couple of days ago, agonising over the fact that he hadn’t told you about it straight away, but that now, in his words, telling you would just look “really dodgy”?’
Flora gave a wistful smile. That was so like Ned, exactly the way he would put it.
She thought back to their conversation yesterday, trying to recall the detail as shame coloured her cheeks. Now that she thought about it, Ned had looked immediately alarmed as soon as Caroline’s name was mentioned, but then she had demanded to know about the invoices and things had snowballed from there…
Grace nodded at the expression on her face. ‘Obviously I advised him to talk to you as soon as possible, and am I right in thinking he might have tried to tell you?’
Flora groaned. ‘Yes, I think he might have, but I… well, I changed the subject and, well, we never really got back to talking about Caroline and him. Oh, now I feel dreadful.’
‘Well, you shouldn’t. I can only imagine how much of a shock it was hearing that little gem from someone else. You need to talk to Ned, Flora, but I can honestly tell you that it was never his intention to deceive you. More a matter of trying to protect you, coupled with appallingly bad timing.’
And Flora could see precisely how this had happened, because hadn’t she tried to tell Ned yesterday about her own situation, and got sidetracked? It was easily done when everyone was so busy and there were always more important things to attend to.
‘You two haven’t had the easiest of starts,’ continued Grace, ‘what with Fraser’s heart attack and the situation with the farm. But you’re on the same side, don’t forget, and I’ve never seen Ned so besotted with anyone as you. He might not always show it… Hannah isn’t a particularly demonstrative person, as you may have discovered, and hearts are not generally worn on sleeves in the Jamieson household, but it’s how he feels, just the same.’
Flora nodded, feeling overwhelming relief at Grace’s words. After all, she had no reason to deceive Flora. Well, if she’d felt stupid before, she certainly felt more foolish now. But then something else occurred to her.
‘Just now you said the situation with the farm… What did you mean?’
Grace had turned to pour water into two mugs. She paused for a second or two, and then faced Flora again, clearly weighing something up.
‘I know about the debt,’ said Flora, immediately seeing the look of relief on Grace’s face. ‘Is that what you meant?’
There was a sombre nod. ‘I did. And, I might add, something else that Ned has been berating himself for, not that it’s his fault by any stretch of the imagination. It’s no one’s fault actually and he might not have handled it particularly well, but it’s easy to be critical when it’s someone else’s life you’re passing judgement on.’
Flora nodded. The time had passed for blame and judgement. It was what they did next that counted. And she should know that, just as well as Ned.
‘I’ve known Ned since he was a child,’ added Grace. ‘And there are times in any child’s life when a conversation needs to be had with someone, anyone, who is not your parent. And so it was the case with Ned.’ She smiled at the memory. ‘When he needed to confess to a guilty secret, a bit of naughtiness that was playing on his conscience, usually because he’d kicked a ball through a window and sworn blind he hadn’t, it was me he came to. And I guess, somewhere over the years, that child grew up into the man you know and love, but my door has always been open.’
She smiled fondly at Flora. ‘And now it’s always open to you too, Flora. Always remember that. And also remember that, here in the country, our houses may not always be that close geographically speaking, but we’re a tight-knit community, which often means that everyone knows everyone else’s business and, if you’re not careful, secrets don’t remain secrets for very long. There have been things in my life that I haven’t wished to be in the public domain and Ned and his parents have kept my counsel over the years. I do the same for them and that’s really all there is to it.’
Flora grinned at her. ‘Is that last statement code for “don’t tell Caroline”?’
Grace handed her a mug of tea. ‘Well spotted.’ She gestured towards the biscuit tin. ‘Now, tell me everything about your meeting up at The Castle with Kate, I’m dying to know.’
It wasn’t until Flora pushed open the door to the farmhouse some while later that she realised she had never asked what the brilliant news was that Grace had to share. Or the not so brilliant news either.
Chapter Twenty-One
‘I want to get as much worked out as we can before we say anything to your parents,’ said Flora. ‘Kate’s response was amazing but that isn’t going to be enough to keep us in business.’
It was the afternoon of the next day and she and Ned were hidden away in the study. It was the only place they could be sure they wouldn’t be interrupted.
Ned grinned at her. ‘See, I knew you were smart. I don’t mind admitting I’m not looking forward to that conversation one little bit.’
Flora looked down at her notebook and bit her li
p. ‘Do you really think they’re going to hate the idea?’
‘I think there’s a massive difference between dairy farming and flower farming, that’s all I’m saying. I’m finding it hard to get my head around.’
‘Which is why I’m grateful for all your questions,’ replied Flora. ‘I need to know what the answers are, otherwise I might as well give up now.’
Ned snuggled closer to her. ‘Right, come on then, let’s recap over what you’ve got so far.’
‘So, for starters, I’ve drawn up a list of hotels in the area. Now, I don’t think we should approach anyone other than The Castle for wedding business, because I want them to think they’re getting a deal no one else has. But I also want the cachet of having them as our exclusive client. That will say a lot to prospective brides everywhere. With any luck they’ll be begging to have us provide their flowers. I do think we should still approach the other hotels though, just for floral arrangements and the like.’ Flora turned a page. ‘Then there are the florists. Quite a number within a reasonable distance, but I’ve checked the distances to the other wholesalers and it’s comparable. There’s no reason why they shouldn’t use us, and I think, if we can be open to the public and trade customers all day and every day as far as possible; people might enjoy coming to see what we have growing.’
‘Provided we have something growing.’
Flora tutted. ‘Yes, I’m coming to that.’ She consulted her list. ‘Now, as far as other avenues for trade go, we’ll need a website obviously but I’ve contacted my previous company and, really, that’s quite a minor detail. I’d link everything with my Etsy site and social media and, although we won’t be able to deliver orders for flowers nationally for a while, I really think it’s something we should aim towards. And I also think we should emphasise that our flowers will be locally grown, traditional British varieties.’