‘Speak for yourself, big brother,’ Drew said with a grin across the table.
‘Ignore them, Iz,’ I told her. ‘A well-read woman is a dangerous creature.’
‘You definitely are dangerous,’ Rory agreed, nudging me with his elbow.
I flicked a few peas at him in response, making everyone laugh.
Then Harry flicked a pea at his father, making us laugh even harder.
‘Your mother is a bad influence,’ Rory told him as his son chuckled along with us.
* * *
After dinner, we were badgered into playing Monopoly, which Beth won as she always did, followed by a Harry Potter game, which Izzy won, and then she tried to do a puzzle with Harry but he kept trying to chew on the pieces so she read to him instead, looking archly at her mother who couldn’t tell her off for being with a book this time. The rest of us sat around with coffee and mince pies, the fire crackling in the background.
‘Will you still go to the auction on Monday?’ Drew asked Rory.
‘Unless the roads are unusable, I need to – we have two cows to sell.’
I bit my lip. I was always worried when Rory left the farm. I mean, I knew Angus was there, but still it felt like a big responsibility even if it was just for the day.
‘So, have you heard about these strangers wandering around the village?’ Beth asked, coming to sit with me, handing me a cup of coffee. We both definitely drank too much of the stuff, and had since we were studying together for our exams at school and needed as much caffeine as we could get our hands on.
‘Yes, Hattie mentioned it,’ I replied. I glanced at Rory but he and Drew were chatting about the auction still, oblivious to us. ‘In fact, I was sure that I saw them near the farm too.’
Beth raised an eyebrow. ‘That’s interesting. It seems they’re scoping us out for something. But, what?’
‘It’s not the council trying something funny again, is it?’ Caroline asked, coming over. She didn’t miss anything. The council had tried to sell off our High Street to a development company, which Beth’s dad had been part of but had since stepped down from, but Caroline and Beth had saved it. ‘Do I need to make a phone call?’
‘No one seems to recognise them though,’ I said. ‘So, they can’t be from the council. But, if not, I have no idea who they are or what they want.’
‘Let’s hope they go on their merry way again soon,’ Beth said. ‘Fingers crossed that the snow will put them off from sticking around, they certainly didn’t look like hardy Glendale folk by all accounts.’
‘Maybe I should wish for snow after all then,’ I replied.
‘Don’t worry, we won’t abandon you if you do get snowed in,’ Beth promised. She knew that I got nervous about the bad weather. ‘I just hope it passes enough for the trail opening night. You will set up that Instagram account, won’t you? You could start with the two photos you gave me. I can share it on the Glendale account and on Facebook too.’
‘For someone who avoided social media for ten years…’
She shrugged. ‘I know but there was a reason for that. Now I’m on it, I’m addicted.’ She glanced at Drew. She had avoided social media in case he worked out she’d had his daughter. I had a Facebook account but I didn’t update it much. I wondered if some part of me avoided it in case my own ex-boyfriend saw my posts on there. Not that I’d tell Beth that in front of Rory. I knew he wasn’t a fan of the fact I had loved someone before him. For him, there had only ever been me.
‘We’d better be making a move, hadn’t we?’ Dad asked then, coming back from where he’d snuck off with John, no doubt to have a glass of Beth’s family’s whisky. ‘The sleet is getting thicker out there.’
‘I think you’re right,’ I agreed, draining my coffee cup. ‘Thanks for this tonight, Beth, I always feel so relaxed here.’
‘You need to relax more,’ she said pointedly. ‘As soon as the snow clears, we’ll bring you that tree,’ she added as we all got up and started to make our way into the hall. They had lots of Christmas trees on their land and sold some each year out of their shop.
I gave her a big hug as a thank you. Rory pushed Harry out, followed by my dad, and I waved at Beth and Drew in the doorway, the bright lights of home shining behind them. They were such a strong couple, they reminded me of my mum and dad sometimes, people you could count on, and who counted on each other. I wanted that to be Rory and me, but I worried too much about how to cope with life’s ups and downs. He was the capable one, not me, I thought.
We drove off towards the farm – the roads were dark and twisty and sleet made the driving even more difficult so Rory went slowly and carefully. The car was quiet and when I looked behind me both Harry and my dad had fallen asleep. ‘It’s all right for some,’ I said, turning back to Rory with a smile.
‘You’re not worried about me going to the auction, are you?’ Rory asked a moment later in a low voice so he didn’t wake the others up. He must have seen my face when Drew mentioned it.
‘I just don’t want the weather to get too bad.’
‘It’ll be fine. I’ll be back before you know it.’ I nodded, but I was still anxious about it. ‘Hopefully Drew can get that tree to us soon, and we can decorate it together. We should make it an annual tradition. Like you said you did with your mum?’
I was touched that he remembered me talking about it. ‘I can’t wait,’ I told him. I gazed out of the window but I couldn’t see anything, there were no lampposts out here. I knew though that we were passing rolling fields on our way back to the farm. ‘It’ll be nice to create traditions for Harry like we had growing up.’
‘I always begged my parents to tell me about their life before they had me. I wonder if Harry will ask us, and we’ll have to come clean that we didn’t get much time just us two before he came along. Although I bet he wonders why it took us so long to actually get together.’
I looked at him and smiled. ‘I’ll just tell him that his father really wasn’t boyfriend material when I first knew him.’
‘Oh, really? Perhaps it was you who wasn’t girlfriend material.’ He reached out to gently squeeze my thigh. I was relieved our earlier bickering had faded away after a lovely evening with our family. ‘The best things are worth waiting for though, right?’
Rory and I had grown up teasing each other, and it was still surprising when he said something sweet or romantic to me. I treasured it, which I think he knew. ‘True. But I’m still waiting for you to shave that beard off,’ I replied, unable to resist.
‘Over my dead body.’ He swung the car though the gate and into the bumpy road that wound up towards the farm, lights from the top of the hill guiding the way. ‘I’d get thrown out of the farmers’ union if I didn’t have a beard.’
I snorted. ‘You mean you’re too lazy to shave every day.’ I was only joking really. I liked his beard, and his messy hair – he wouldn’t be Rory without them.
‘And it keeps me warm in winter, don’t forget.’ He stopped the car outside the farmhouse. ‘Want to watch a rom com after we get Harry to bed?’
I smiled. ‘Always.’ I didn’t believe my luck when I realised Rory loved rom coms as much as me. He blamed his mum, she loved watching them and when he lost her, he carried it on by himself, and now with me – on the condition I never revealed his love to Drew or any of the others, they would undoubtedly take the piss.
We woke the others up and went into the farmhouse. Harry started crying when I took him out of the pushchair. Rory went to make him some milk as I took him upstairs, saying goodnight to my dad on the landing. ‘I think you’re over-tired, just like your mum and dad,’ I told Harry as I put him in his cot. He was already dressed for bed.
‘Song,’ he said when Rory appeared.
‘Oh, so those tears were just a ploy, huh?’
‘You soothed him too much when I was pregnant,’ I said, sitting down beside the cot, remembering all the times he had sung to Harry inside of me, and how much our son had kicked in response.
Rory leaned against the cot and obliged our boy, singing a Christmas carol in his lovely, deep, Scottish lilting voice. He nodded at me and I joined in with the chorus, smiling. I loved how our voices combined. The world faded away as we sung. We were in our bubble of three, and in that moment, everything felt like it would be okay.
Harry’s eyes fluttered as he listened, fighting sleep to hear the rest of the song, but he soon gave in. We finished the song together, lowering our voices at the end as he drifted off to sleep.
When we had finished, Rory came over to me, leaned down, and whispered: ‘You’ve Got Mail or While You Were Sleeping.’
‘As if I could choose between them, we’d better watch both,’ I whispered back.
Chapter Seven
The alarm clock buzzed at six a.m., making both Rory and I groan. Sunday lie-ins were non-existent around here. I swatted it off with my hand and rolled over.
‘It’s snowed,’ Rory said, sitting up.
‘How can you tell?’ I asked croakily, rubbing my eyes sleepily. Even though I had lived on the farm for two years, my body still protested at waking up at such an early hour especially when it was still pitch-black outside.
‘The silence.’
I listened. It was extraordinarily quiet. ‘I’ll look,’ I said, climbing out of the bed and sliding my feet into the slippers I kept beside the bed. Much of the winter was spent feeling cold so I did all I could to stay as warm as possible. I padded over to the window, which overlooked the farm, and gazed out at the fields to see they had indeed been blanketed in white. Soft, gentle flakes were still drifting down from the almost white sky. ‘It has snowed.’ I looked down at the fence. ‘But not that much,’ I said as I could still see most of it. Last January, the snow had reached right up to the top of it. ‘We’re not snowed in, at least,’ I said over my shoulder, relieved.
‘Good, means I can get to the auction after all,’ Rory said, jumping up, eagerly. I sighed. Part of me had wished he would have to stay here but we needed these cows to sell to see us through the winter months, which were always tight money-wise as much more money was spent on looking after the animals, and keeping the farm warm plus Christmas was an added expense, and our shop wasn’t as profitable. Rory had gone through everything with me once I had moved in so I knew it was a necessary trip for our finances. ‘I’ll check on the animals and make sure Angus is okay too,’ he said, pulling on trousers and a jumper. ‘You and Harry stay in the warm.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘We gave everyone extra food and water so there shouldn’t be much to do,’ he said with a nod. ‘And I know you hate the snow.’
‘I don’t hate it. It’s pretty to look at but it makes so much more work,’ I said, trying not to be a Scrooge about the weather. I knew Harry would be excited to see it. I watched Rory go downstairs with a cheerful whistle, and marvelled at his good spirits.
I pulled on my dressing gown and then grabbed my phone and looked at the Instagram account I had created last night. @fraserfarmglendale. A little unoriginal but I wanted people to be able to find us easily. I added the sunrise photo first with the caption Oh what a beautiful morning, and then one of the shop with Our farm shop is looking wonderfully festive. Then I texted Beth to say it was up and running, and slipped across the landing. Dad’s bedroom door was closed, clearly he was still asleep like most normal people on a Sunday. I peeped into Harry’s room. He was used to us getting up early so his eyes were open, lit by his nightlight. ‘Mummy,’ he said sleepily when he saw me in the doorway.
‘Come and look what happened in the night,’ I said, going over to him. I picked him up and took him to the window, opening the curtains, and watching as his eyes widened at the sight of snow. ‘It’s snowed. Can you say “snow”?’
He reached out to touch the window as the flakes landed gently against it. ‘Play,’ he said, eagerly.
‘After breakfast, when it’s light, then yes. We’ll go outside and play,’ I promised. His face lit up and I thought that maybe snow had redeemed itself a little for me. Having kids reminded you of things that brought you joy when you were younger. Even I, who was averse to an outdoors life, had jumped around our garden when it snowed, and made angels in it, although I had been very eager to get inside for a hot chocolate afterwards.
I carried Harry downstairs into the kitchen, turning on the lights and then I let out a startled scream.
Right in the middle of the kitchen stood one of our pigs.
‘Bloody hell,’ I said, clutching my chest. Harry gasped at both the pig and me swearing probably. ‘How did he get in?’
Harry pointed and I saw the back door had been left ajar. By Rory, no doubt. My mum would have asked if he had grown up in a barn, which he practically had.
‘What’s happened?’ Dad appeared behind us then, flustered, hastily wrapping a dressing gown around him having evidently run down the stairs to see why I had screamed.
‘A pig’s got into the kitchen,’ I told him, putting Harry down onto the floor.
‘Not something I thought I’d ever hear, I’ve got to be honest.’
‘Me neither. Okay, I need to try to get him out.’ I set off, unsure how one removed pigs from the house to be honest. The pig grunted at me, looking a little stressed to find himself alone in our kitchen. ‘Come on, boy, let’s get you back outside,’ I said in what I hoped was a calming voice. I pushed the back door open wide and the pig just looked at me hopelessly. ‘Come on, let’s go,’ I said, waving my hands in the direction of the door. The pig just grunted in response. Did all the animals around here have to be so bloody stubborn?!
‘Tempt him with some food maybe?’ Dad suggested. I could tell he was trying not to laugh. Why was I always stuck right in the middle of something going wrong on the farm? I felt like an idiot once again.
‘Fine.’ I opened up the fridge and pulled out a carrot. ‘Here we go.’ I showed it to the pig who finally took notice, and set off towards me. I stepped back, holding out the carrot, as he shuffled after me, grunting loudly. Once outside, I threw the carrot into the yard and he hurried after it, munching on it greedily.
‘Everything all right?’
I groaned inwardly as Angus came marching out of the barn and stopped short on seeing me in my dressing gown and slippers, standing in front of a pig eating a carrot, shivering as the snow fell on me. I always felt like he was there to witness all my disasters on the farm, and I was so embarrassed that he had to witness this one. ‘Um… a pig got into the kitchen,’ I said stupidly, stepping back, my cheeks flushing bright pink.
His lips twitched. ‘I’ll bring him in the barn,’ he said, gruffly.
‘Oh, great. Uh, thanks,’ I said, quickly ducking back inside the kitchen, shutting the door behind me, sure he was out there laughing at me. ‘Am I on a hidden camera show?’ I asked no one in particular.
* * *
Late morning, Drew and Beth’s Range Rover appeared on the drive.
The flakes had stopped falling, leaving a light covering everywhere, and I had brought Harry outside buttoned up in his coat, hat and mittens, to have his first playtime in the snow. Last time it snowed, he wasn’t walking, so he was really excited to be out in it now. Rory had to bring the two cows he was taking to auction into the barn and make sure they looked as good as possible to potential buyers and Dad wanted to watch a film on TV, so I took Harry out by myself. I was a little sad that Rory wasn’t here to watch how his son smiled as he gingerly stepped onto the field with me.
I turned around to see the car park behind us in front of the farmhouse and lifted my hand in a wave. ‘Uncle Drew and Auntie Beth are here,’ I told Harry as he jumped into the snow, which reached up to the top of his wellies. I could see the cows watching us interestedly in the distance, their coats dusted with snow like it was icing sugar.
‘We brought the tree as the weather wasn’t too bad after all,’ Beth called as she made her way towards us, wrapped up as warmly as we were, her cheeks pink from the wind. ‘I h
ope we’re making snowballs,’ she said, when she reached us.
‘We were just about to. But do we need to help with the tree?’
She shrugged. ‘Drew can get Rory to help him bring it in. Izzy isn’t at all interested in the snow this year, teenagers apparently don’t appreciate it. We left her reading with a hot chocolate so I need some snow fun.’ She shook her head, unable to understand why that was a preferable activity to Izzy than being outside here.
‘I don’t blame her, that sounds like a good time to me. But I’m happy to entertain you in the snow along with Harry,’ I said, rubbing my gloved hands together. I watched as Beth gathered snow into a little ball and threw it for Harry to see. Then she made one for him, which he tried to throw but it just fell onto his shoes, making him crack up. I laughed along, delighted to see how happy this was making him. Perhaps I did need to get more on board with snow after all.
‘I shared your Instagram by the way, you already have a few followers – I think people are going to love seeing things on the farm.’
‘Really?’ I pulled my phone out of my pocket – I had about a hundred followers on there. ‘I’d better give them a snow scene then.’ I snapped the hill covered with snow, one of the cows in the foreground, its coat tinged with white. Then I turned the phone on Beth and Harry. ‘This one is just for us,’ I said, smiling at them playing in the snow.
‘He’s going to have such an idyllic childhood out here,’ Beth said, throwing another snowball. Harry tried to copy her again. ‘I loved being out in the grounds of the Hall, I think he’ll be just the same out here.’
‘I remember you making me help you with that patch of land John gave you in the garden.’
‘Oh, yes, and you were furious when you got mud on your new jeans,’ she replied with a laugh. ‘I made Sally ply you with lots of cake in case you didn’t forgive me.’
‘We were so different, it’s a wonder we even became friends. Although, I think Rory and me are very much opposites attract too.’
Hopeful Hearts at Glendale Hall Page 6