Chapter 18
‘Sabrina said to call if you need anything,’ I said to my dad as I stood in the doorway bright and early on Saturday morning.
Yesterday’s rain had eased to a drizzle but it was windy out and the sky was grey.
I hoped we were going to get all the rainy weather out of the way now so that October would be crisp and dry and encourage people to come to the farm.
If I could get my autumnal world out of my head and into reality before then.
The clock was ticking and it felt like this weekend was make or break as to whether it would work.
I didn’t want to leave Dad, though. ‘Are you sure you’ll be okay?
’ I hadn’t been away from the farm for any significant time since my university days, and the thought of him being alone was making me hesitate.
‘Willow, I’m a grown man, perfectly capable of being on my own,’ he said, shaking his head at me.
He stood in the hall with Maple, who was giving me a sulky look as she had seen my overnight bag and had worked out I was leaving her.
I’d given her extra cuddles and treats but she was still sad, which was making me hang in the doorway while Dylan sat waiting for me in my car, our things already loaded into the boot.
‘And you have to do this to save the farm, right?’
I nodded. ‘I know, but I just want you to be okay. Both of you,’ I added, giving Maple a worried look.
Dad reached down to stroke the top of her head.
‘She will be fine too. We’ll have a nice day together.
I’ll take things easy, and will call for help if anything goes wrong.
Which it won’t. You get out there and find what you need for your plans.
Send me a picture of all the pumpkins you find,’ he added with a grin.
I was relieved he seemed more cheerful this morning.
‘Okay, I better get going. I said I’d be at the first place by 10a.m. And we’ll probably need to stop for coffee on the way.
Right then, keep in touch, yeah?’ I took a deep breath and with more promises from Dad that he would contact me lots, I waved and left the farmhouse with a heavy heart.
How could I ever leave this place permanently if it was this difficult to go away for the weekend?
I glanced back to see Dad in the doorway.
He waved once more then closed the door and I climbed into my car, hoping that my big idea was going to help us keep the farm.
I smoothed down my leggings and long jumper which I was wearing with my knee-high boots and Barbour jacket, a chunky scarf round my neck, my hair its usual bun, and gloves on to drive in.
‘Right, I think I have everything; are you okay to go?’ I asked as I put my seat belt on and took a deep breath.
‘I’m all set,’ Dylan said. He had on blue jeans, a flannel shirt, his Barbour and new boots, and a leather satchel with his beloved laptop in by his feet. I liked the country-casual look on him. ‘I would still prefer to drive, though.’
‘I told you, we’re going to farms and country businesses, and it’s been raining, there will be mud everywhere, and the roads might be slightly flooded; your car can’t handle the journey,’ I replied. ‘Haven’t you noticed no one around here owns the same car as you?’
I took off, trying not to look at the farm in the rear-view mirror in case it upset me further. I turned up the heating as the morning was chilly and put the radio on softly.
‘I love my car,’ he said. ‘I’ll never give it up, even if I do get stuck in the mud.’
‘That sounds pretty stubborn,’ I remarked as we drove out of the farm and onto the road.
‘Ha. Coming from you?’ He gave me a grin though so I just shook my head.
I knew I was stubborn but I also knew it meant I didn’t easily give up, so I was glad that it was one of my traits.
‘So, how did you become friends with Sabrina?’ he asked. ‘You seem… different.’
‘We are,’ I agreed. ‘We were sat next to each other first day at primary school and she was this doll-like little girl in a cute dress, whereas I wore dungarees and had short hair. I didn’t think we’d ever be friends.
But at break, some kids were trying to upset me by saying I smelled like a cow,’ I said, rolling my eyes at the memory.
‘And Sabrina marched up to them, she was the smallest by far, and told them that our farm had a wolf and if they kept picking on me, we would set it on them.’ I chuckled.
‘God knows why they believed her but they did. I was left alone and we started hanging out.’
‘She’s feisty,’ he said with a smile.
‘Yep. A few months later, she came to the farm and we had a family staying and the kids tried to pick on her for wearing dresses out in the field, calling her a princess, so I turned the hose on them. They didn’t do it again, and Sabrina declared we were best friends, saying how we’d always look out for each other. And we have ever since.’
‘I’m almost jealous. I’ve never had someone like that in my life,’ Dylan said. He turned to look across at me. ‘God, what must she think of me then?’
I thought about the message Sabrina had sent me once Dylan and I had left the café yesterday.
When you’re back, I’m coming to the farm to see how you’re getting on.
I’m sorry I wasn’t as supportive as I should have been from the start.
I think I panicked about you having to leave.
I want to help however I can! And remember even if Dylan does seem nice, he wants you to leave. Be careful, okay?
I had replied promising everything would be fine but her words had stuck with me.
I supposed we had become friendlier than I’d expected when Dylan first waltzed onto the farm, but Sabrina’s message had been a stark reminder that, at the end of the day, we were on opposite sides.
‘Sabrina wants to help all she can, and because you don’t want my idea to work, that means I doubt you’ll ever be friends, right? ’
Dylan stared at me for a moment, then looked away out of the window. ‘I’m glad you have a supportive friend like her,’ he said. I frowned, wondering why he hadn’t agreed with me but then I had to focus on heading in the right direction so I didn’t push him on it.
* * *
We reached our destination right on time. We were starting out at a farm that grew pumpkins. Dylan had an appointment later on but for now, he was coming to look around the farm with me. We drove in and parked out the front. The rain had ceased now but as I predicted, the ground was wet and muddy.
One of the farm owners met us and led us to the pumpkin fields out back where there were rows of orange pumpkins as far as the eye could see.
A harvesting machine was at work at one end harvesting the fully grown pumpkins ready for October and a few workers were checking some closer to us to see if they were ready or not.
There must have been thousands of pumpkins ready to be sold.
‘We had a good crop this year,’ the farmer told us, bending down to show us one of the pumpkins.
It was perfectly round and orange and I could see the field looked healthy.
‘You’re opening up a patch on your farm, you said?
You’ll just have piles of pumpkins to sell?
’ he asked, standing back up and giving me a curious look.
‘Yes, but it’s going to be more of an autumnal destination so there will be lots of things to do and enjoy as well as just buying a pumpkin.
’ I gazed out at the field. I wondered if one day, I could have one like this back at the farm.
‘I obviously need lots of pumpkins for it, though. I’ll need to shop around for a good deal as I haven’t grown them myself, so the margins will be small. ’
‘That’s true.’ He nodded and we carried on walking across the field.
Dylan was watching the machine pulling the pumpkins from the soil with interest. I wondered if he’d ever thought he’d be walking a pumpkin field with two farmers one day.
‘We’d sell to you at wholesale price but people don’t like to pay a lot for their pumpkins nowadays; you’ll have competition from supermarkets and the like.
We sell some of our crop out front in October direct to customers but we make more from selling to shops and garden centres. ’
‘Would you consider us selling the pumpkins for you?’ Dylan suddenly asked out of nowhere. I threw him a glare, thinking it had been obvious I was supposed to be doing the talking and negotiating here.
‘What do you mean?’ the farmer asked.
‘Instead of Willow putting in a large order then selling them on to customers at a higher price, you just give us some pumpkins to sell on your behalf and you keep all the money from the sale of the pumpkins. Willow doesn’t have to pay out anything for them.’
The farmer raised his eyebrow while I was too stunned to speak. ‘What’s in it for you, though?’
‘As Willow said, it’s going to be much more than selling pumpkins; we will be selling tickets for the attraction so we will make money that way,’ Dylan said, steadfastly ignoring my glare.
‘Well, it’s a unique idea. How can I know you’ll sell what I give you, though? I might miss the opportunity to sell the pumpkins to another supplier or sell them myself here at the farm.’
‘We’d have to guarantee to sell a particular number,’ Dylan agreed with a nod. ‘That would make it worthwhile for you.’
‘Hang on…’ I managed to splutter out. ‘Dylan, we need to talk. Excuse us.’ I grabbed the sleeve of his jacket and yanked him away from the farmer, who was staring as if he’d never seen anyone quite like us before.
‘What’s wrong?’ Dylan asked after we were a few feet from the farmer, looking down at my annoyed expression.
‘What the hell are you talking about? Why would you offer him that kind of deal? For starters, this is my farm and my pumpkin patch, and secondly, how can I guarantee ticket sales? How will this idea of yours make me money? Huh?’
‘I just took your idea of asking the café to serve food and drinks on the farm for free. The more you can offer visitors, the higher you can charge for an entry fee.’
‘That’s all well and good but if no one wants to buy a ticket, then what? I’ll have to pay for pumpkins I haven’t sold.’
‘But surely that’s better than paying out for them now?
I thought you were sure people would come to the patch.
So, then you’ll make a profit from ticket sales.
You can put all your money into making it a destination people want to come to, rather than paying out for pumpkins that you might struggle to sell. ’
‘Can I make enough profit just from ticket sales, though?’
‘You could sell some pumpkins but it will need to be a large order; I just thought it would be a good way of working with this farm. Then next year, you could grow your own pumpkins and build on the profits that way.’
I stared at him, my anger fading away onto the breeze. Now, I was just stumped. ‘Why are you helping me so much?’