Chapter 37
37
POPPY
As I feared, Dad did have a chest infection. He was placed on antibiotics and I was told the next twenty-four hours would be critical. Nobody needed to expand on what that could mean. Across the weekend, I don’t know what I’d have done without the practical or emotional support from Joel. Even though he had a lot to deal with himself, he’d shopped, cooked, listened to me, hugged me, reassured me and made me laugh. With my permission, he’d been in touch with my new friends in Yorkshire to let them know what had happened with the bees and the news about my dad. I’d been touched by all the messages of love and support. I’d never felt such a part of something and realised that, ever since Mum passed away and Dad was diagnosed, I’d been looking for my tribe and now I felt as though I’d found them.
Joel made a delicious Sunday roast and invited Wilf to join us. He brought Benji with him and left the Yorkshire terrier with us for the afternoon while he went to visit his friend. We’d planned on a long walk but the temperature had dropped and there was slow and steady rain, so we made it a quick walk through the village before returning to Dove Cottage for hot chocolate. Benji snuggled between us on the sofa and I had the central heating on, but it wasn’t the same as lighting the log burner in Whisperwood Farmhouse.
‘You know what I’d like to do?’ Joel asked when we were partway through our drinks. ‘I’d like to see photos of you when you were little. I’d love to see what your parents looked like too, unless you’d find that too hard just now.’
I thought it was a great suggestion so I dug out a pile of photo albums and we sat at the dining table going through them with Benji curled up on my knee. It was a lovely trip down memory lane, giving me an opportunity to laugh as I shared various anecdotes. Joel threw in stories about his family, and I was glad that the rain had kept us indoors as it had been the perfect way to spend the afternoon, remembering my dad how he used to be. Afterwards, Joel helped me carry the albums back to the spare bedroom and return them to the shelving units.
‘What’s all that?’ he asked, pointing to a pile of crates beside the shelves.
‘All the equipment for my Honey Bee Hugs range.’ I grabbed a dusty folder from the top and opened it to show him the branding I’d developed.
‘This is amazing.’
I talked Joel through my product range and showed him my equipment, feeling the excitement bubbling inside me as the passion I’d felt for my products and the ideas I’d had for taking it forward came flooding back.
‘You have to move to Whisperwood, get some hives on Bumblebee Barn and get this business up and running,’ Joel said as we put the crates back. ‘It’s your calling.’
‘And you have to look into opening that bistro. That’s your calling.’
I picked Benji up and cuddled him as we returned to the lounge to indulge in a fantasy world where both businesses were up and running and incredibly successful and, in the darkness, it felt like there was light at the end of the tunnel. All I needed to do now was arrange for Sharon and Ian to look round Dove Cottage and put in that call to Mary about Whisperwood Farmhouse. It had been at the back of my mind all weekend but, with everything going on with Dad, the police and Damon, it had taken a back seat. But next week I’d do it and turn my dreams into reality.