by Heidi Swain
‘Oh Jim,’ I grinned, ‘they’re perfect, but I don’t think I’ll be able to afford them.’
Jim looked at me as if I was talking another language.
‘Seriously,’ I said, ‘these things are highly sought after.’
‘Never,’ said Jim, looking from me to the two large galvanised and cobweb encrusted dolly tubs that he had discovered and back again. ‘I just thought they’d be ideal because of the size of them. Are you sure they’re worth something? I remember my great-grandmother did the weekly wash in one of these.’
‘You mark my words,’ I told him, rifling through the various other pots and baskets, ‘I’ll try for them, but prepare to be amazed!’
My prediction (courtesy of the hours spent perusing the pages of various rural lifestyle magazines) turned out to be spot on. The higher the price went, the further Jim’s jaw dropped and the harder I found it to focus on how much I was bidding and stifle my giggles.
The pair of old wash tubs were indeed the perfect containers to flank the little porch at Skylark Farm and I could easily imagine them in situ, overflowing with colour in the summer, fairy lights at Christmas and tulips and daffodils in the spring.
Locked in a fierce bidding war with another buyer, who was conveniently tucked out of sight behind a pillar, I quickly exceeded my good sense and the price soared higher and higher. Had it not been for Jim plucking at my sleeve and eventually snatching away my bidding card I would probably have ended up having to re-mortgage my flat to pay for them.
‘That’ll do,’ he hissed, hanging on to my card until the sound of the gavel had rung out and the crowd let out a collective and incredulous sigh, clearly disappointed that the fun was over.
‘Bugger,’ I muttered, when he finally thought it was safe to relinquish my card. ‘They were exactly what I wanted.’
‘Well, I for one am relieved you didn’t get them,’ said Jim, fanning his flushed face.
‘What?’ I whispered fiercely. ‘You were the one who pointed them out to me in the first place!’
‘Exactly,’ smiled Jim, ‘and if Annie had found out how much you spent on them she would have skinned me alive!’
He was right, of course, but I was still disappointed. I looked around the packed crowd for any sign of who had managed to outbid me. Who, I wondered, looking amongst the faces, had also known that they were on to a good thing? Unable to pick anyone out of the throng I paid for my other few bits and pieces, decided to skip squeezing in at The Cherry Tree and accepted Jim’s offer to help me carry my spoils back to the truck.
‘You’ve got a nice little haul there,’ he said with a nod towards my motley collection, ‘considering what you paid,’ he added cheekily.
‘Could’ve been nicer,’ I tutted. ‘Never mind.’
‘Better luck next time, love,’ he laughed as he waved me off.
Chapter 26
Back at the farm I’d just finished unloading the truck and was about to make a quick sandwich when a 4x4 I didn’t recognise pulled into the yard. I walked over to greet our visitor, wondering where Jake and Annie had got to.
‘Can I help you?’ I asked as the window slid slowly down. ‘Or did you want to see Jake?’
‘No, it’s all right,’ said a familiar voice, ‘I was looking for you actually.’
Totally taken aback I automatically smoothed down my shirt and hoped my hair wasn’t the usual top-knot tangle it tended to turn into after a morning spent outdoors. Furious with my traitorous response to the appearance of the designer sunglasses and sleek curtain of blonde hair that was Holly’s crowning glory, my subsequent question sounded begrudging and probably harsher than she deserved.
‘What do you want?’ I demanded, quickly lunging for the dogs to stop them jumping up and scratching the paintwork. ‘I’m busy.’
‘I don’t want to keep you,’ she said, opening the door a little so I had to take a step back. ‘This is just a flying visit.’
Bella and Lily took one look at the slender frame of the farm’s former resident, pulled free from my grasp and skulked back towards the house.
‘Look,’ she said, seeming slightly less sure of herself now her feet were on my turf, ‘I know we haven’t seen one another since that night in the pub but I meant every word I said. I really am ashamed of the way I treated Jake and Harriet and I’m truly sorry for all the hurt I caused.’
I looked at the ground, not knowing what to say. This wasn’t my argument to settle.
‘I know I can’t undo any of what I did,’ she continued, ‘but I don’t want to carry on living in Wynbridge knowing that this is all everyone is still talking about. I just want to clear the air once and for all. I’ll do anything to make amends.’
‘I’m sorry, Holly,’ I said, finally finding my voice, ‘but you really are talking to the wrong person.’
Not that I wanted her talking to Jake, of course, but this whole situation had nothing to do with me. She and Jake and Harriet would have to settle this one for themselves.
‘But I’m not though, am I?’ she said, her voice beseeching me to understand.
‘What do you mean?’
Holly rolled her eyes and allowed herself a small smile.
‘Everyone round here knows that Jake is head over heels in love with you, Amber.’
I was relieved to know that she was aware of that and felt a slight blush beginning to bloom.
‘And that Annie loves having you here, especially now you’re so cleverly returning the old place back to what it once was.’
‘So?’ I said, determined not to let her well timed praise go to my head.
Holly sighed.
‘Look,’ she said, ‘Jake will never give me so much as the time of day if he thinks you and I don’t get on, on top of everything else. Your opinion really counts around here, Amber, and if you and I can be friends then I know he’ll be able to see that I’ve changed.’ She shook her head. ‘I don’t mean to sound so selfish but I miss Harriet and I miss Jake. Not,’ she added quickly, ‘that I’m interested in interfering in your relationship. I just want everyone to know that I really am sorry and not have to feel on tenterhooks every time I leave the house.’
Given what Jake had said about clearing the cottage with her and the fact that he had acknowledged that she had helped Harriet and Rachel along the path to true love, I guessed he was already feeling pretty forgiving, but I wasn’t going to tell Holly that.
‘I’ll talk to him,’ I said eventually.
‘Will you?’ Holly gasped, grabbing my arm.
‘Yes,’ I said, annoyed to find myself amused by her reaction.
‘Really?’
‘Yes,’ I said again.
If I hadn’t been privy to the horrid ins and outs of the whole debacle I probably would have laughed at the childlike excitement that suddenly transformed Holly’s ordinarily composed features.
‘I’ve got a little something for you,’ she said in a rush, ‘I hope you don’t mind.’
‘You don’t have to give me anything, Holly,’ I frowned.
‘It’s sort of a peace offering,’ she said, ignoring my protestations and walking round to the back of her elegant 4x4.
My stomach rolled as I thought how Jessica would react when I relayed this whole scene to her. She’d be furious that I hadn’t thrown Holly out of the yard as soon as she set foot on it and I told myself that no matter what she had tucked away in her boot I couldn’t possibly accept it.
‘When I saw Harriet earlier,’ Holly rushed on as she fumbled ineffectually with the door catch, ‘she mentioned that you were doing some gardening and I happened to be passing the auction in town earlier,’ she struggled on, ‘and spotted these.’
With a sudden ping the door sprang open.
‘Apparently they’re all the rage at the moment. I thought they’d look nice either side of the porch.’
I burst out laughing. I could hardly believe that Holly was the rival bidder tucked around the corner of the pillar in the auctio
n room, but the evidence, stowed carefully away in the boot of her expensive off-roader, was proof enough.
‘What’s so funny?’ she frowned, looking from me to the dolly tubs and back again. ‘Aren’t these the right things? I thought they were the ones in all the magazines.’
‘They are,’ I said, trying to compose myself. ‘Holly—’
‘What?’ she pouted, looking crestfallen.
‘I was the other bidder!’
‘You mean to say I paid all that money because it was you who was bidding against me?’
‘Yep,’ I nodded.
This was the kind of karma I liked: quick and precise. I couldn’t prove to anyone else that Holly had been the one bad mouthing me in the loos at the May Fair, but I knew it, she knew it and apparently so did karma, and knowing how much she’d had to part with to pay her dues almost made it worth binning that Victoria sponge!
‘What’s the joke?’ called Jake as he pulled into the yard looking bewildered.
‘I’ll let Amber explain,’ said Holly, giving me a little nudge as she rolled her eyes.
‘Can you help us unload these?’ I asked, shaking my head and pointing to the tubs.
‘Whatever are they?’ asked Jake as he tried to work out how to manhandle them without compromising the flawless paintwork of the 4x4.
‘I’ll tell you what they are,’ said Holly, looking at me and grinning, ‘bloody expensive!’
Chapter 27
As predicted by Jim, Holly and myself, the pair of dolly tubs, once cleaned and planted with a tall fuchsia in the centre and a variety of vibrant summer bedding spilling over the edges beneath, did indeed look very pretty flanking the porch of the farmhouse. However, as much as I had coveted them and as much as I loved them, I couldn’t shake off the feeling that they were tainted and had come my way with an even higher price tag than the cash one I had been prepared to pay for them.
Since explaining the somewhat dubious details of their arrival to Jessica she had remained sullen and distant and I was pinning all my hopes on the impending wedding plans to pull us back together. It wasn’t as if I wanted her lumbered with some major gown crisis or anything, just a little niggle that she would need me to help sort out would do, something that would put me back on her radar and pull me further up her friendship list again.
‘Post!’ I shouted into the kitchen as I finished emptying the last few drops from the watering can on to the eclectic collection of pots outside the back door.
I flicked through the pile of letters, my eyes lingering longest on yet another addressed to Annie and marked urgent from the bank.
‘Jake,’ I called up the stairs, ‘can you come down?’
Annie was another one who had become increasingly distant during the last couple of weeks and although, like Jessica, she wasn’t happy about Holly being back on the scene, I got the distinct impression that there was more behind her brooding than the persistent reappearance of Jake’s ex.
‘There’s another letter from the bank for Annie,’ I said, dropping the pile of mail on the table with hers on the top. ‘This can’t go on, Jake.’
‘I know,’ he said resignedly, running his hands through his hair and grimacing, ‘I know.’
‘Would you like me to leave you to it?’ I asked, turning back towards the door. ‘I’ve still got Pip and the hens to sort out.’
‘Actually,’ said Jake, biting his lip, ‘I was rather hoping you would be the one to talk to her.’
‘Me?’
‘If you wouldn’t mind, I’m sure she’d open up to you. You’ve developed such a close bond.’
‘But what about you?’ I said, my heart already resigned to the fact that I was going to be the one who would have to broach the tricky subject. ‘She’s your auntie.’
‘Please,’ said Jake again. ‘I’ll go and sort out Pip and the hens.’
He looked thoroughly miserable and I knew I had no choice. As daunting as the deed was, I was the one who was going to have to see it through.
‘All right,’ I sighed, ‘but don’t blame me if she ends up resenting me for it.’
‘She won’t,’ he said kindly, ‘I’m sure of that.’
‘You can take this for the eggs,’ I said, passing him my beloved basket, ‘but please be careful with it.’
I had already finished pouring the tea and slicing Annie her bread and butter to go with her boiled eggs when the creaking floorboards overhead announced her imminent arrival. I gently lifted the two smooth, slightly speckled eggs into the cup she had used since childhood and placed the mail next to her plate where it couldn’t be missed.
‘Morning, Annie,’ I said brightly, determinedly masking my nerves by immersing myself in the comfort of our early morning ritual and chit chat.
‘Morning, pet,’ she replied, taking her familiar seat at the table. ‘No Jake this morning?’
‘He’ll be along in a minute,’ I smiled, ‘he wanted to check up on Blaze himself today.’
‘And how are you?’ said Annie, fixing me with her beady stare. ‘You look a bit peaky to me.’
‘Oh, I’m all right,’ I shrugged, ‘a bit tired, but that’s no wonder, is it? We’ve been so busy here these last few weeks, haven’t we?’
‘Hmm,’ she said, clearly not convinced.
‘There’s some post for you,’ I said, nodding at the pile as I spooned sugar into my tea. ‘That top one looks important.’
‘Is this today’s post?’ Annie countered. ‘I reckon Bob must be on holiday. I’m sure this other fella’s skimping on deliveries. I bet he’s only calling every other day and that’s how we’ve ended up with all this lot. You know,’ she continued, ‘I’ve never known the post to come so early.’
‘This one looks like it’s from the bank,’ I batted back, prodding the pile and feeling ever more resolute that I wouldn’t be side-tracked by the intricacies of rural mail delivery rounds. ‘Are you going to open it?’ I added impatiently. ‘It might be important.’
Annie slowly cracked the top off her first egg and eyed me astutely. I fiddled with my toast and honey, suddenly remembering the night I arrived at Skylark Farm and how she had made a mental appraisal of me then too.
‘It looks to me,’ I buckled, cracking under the pressure of her all-seeing gaze, ‘it looks to me,’ I said again, ‘exactly like the dozen or so I found in the dresser. They hadn’t been opened either.’
There, I’d said it and there was no going back.
‘Where?’ said Annie, banging down her spoon.
She sounded absolutely outraged and I hoped Jake hadn’t made a mistake asking me to be the one to broach the thorny subject.
‘Here,’ I said, ducking into the dresser and pulling out the pile Jake had stuffed back inside weeks before. ‘This lot,’ I said, adding them to the one that had just arrived.
‘Oh those,’ said Annie airily. ‘They’re just circulars, aren’t they? I’ve been saving them up to light the fire with when the weather changes in the autumn.’
‘Here,’ Annie said, pushing the pile towards Jake, who had finished the early morning chores in record time, ‘you do it.’
‘I can’t imagine it’s anything too bad,’ he said reassuringly as he slit the first envelope with Annie’s father’s ancient paper knife. ‘If there was anything really wrong Mr Walker, the manager, would have called, surely.’
Annie sniffed but didn’t say anything and Jake and I exchanged worried looks.
‘I can’t believe you know the name of your bank manager,’ I said. ‘I couldn’t tell you who mine is.’
‘Mr Walker has looked after us for decades,’ said Annie fondly, ‘for almost as long as I can remember.’
‘From what I know of him,’ explained Jake, ‘he does things the old-fashioned way. Personal service counts for a lot as far as he’s concerned.’
I nodded but didn’t say anything else, just watched as the pile of opened letters steadily grew and his expression became more and more furrowed.
�
��Well,’ I demanded, the second he finished reading the last one, ‘what do they say?’
‘It isn’t that bad, is it, lad?’ Annie whispered. She was deathly pale and there was a waver in her voice that I hadn’t heard before. ‘It can’t be. We’re keeping our heads above water, aren’t we?’
‘No,’ said Jake uncertainly, ‘not quite. According to this, Annie, we’re dangerously close to reaching the farm’s overdraft limit. I didn’t even realise we had an overdraft limit. Why didn’t you tell me things were this tight?’
Annie shrugged, looking shame-faced.
‘But we manage, don’t we?’ she said, her bottom lip trembling. ‘There’s always food on the table.’
‘Yes,’ said Jake, ‘and fuel for the range but very little else. From what I can make out, we’re sinking a little deeper every month. It’s been a long time since any real income was paid in to balance things up a bit.’
Annie sighed resignedly and wiped the corners of her mouth with her starched napkin.
I couldn’t help thinking that had she opened the first letter when it landed on the doormat and shared the contents with Jake then the whole situation could have been nipped in the bud. She had wasted so much time and the situation was obviously now far worse. However, taking in her forlorn expression I didn’t have the heart to say anything and, really, what would have been the point?
‘This isn’t good,’ said Jake, taking hold of her hand. ‘The bank is advising us to be aware of the spiralling situation and redress the balance before it becomes irretrievable.’
‘What exactly are you saying?’ said Annie, narrowing her eyes and paying far more attention now she realised her beloved farm might not have the rosy future she thought.
‘What I’m saying,’ said Jake with a sigh, ‘is that if you really want us to carry on living here, Annie, and keep the orchards going, then we need to find a way to increase our income. Find a way to make this place pay beyond the harvest. The money the apples raise nowadays simply isn’t enough to make the future here sustainable. We might not be in desperate trouble just yet but give it even just a couple of months and all that could change.’