Chapter 19
19
Jade contemplated messaging Sarah. Was ten past eleven too late? She swore under her breath. Sarah rarely went to sleep much before midnight. A quick WhatsApp message wouldn’t hurt. If Sarah’s phone was off she wouldn’t be disturbing her anyway. She was now wide awake, adrenaline coursing through her veins.
Had he meant to do that? He must have meant to do it. Why had she let down her guard? Why hadn’t she stuck to her strategy of just having a starter? Why had she had a glass of wine? Why had she laughed with him? Had she encouraged him? Had she made him think it was a date?
She messaged Sarah.
Are you awake? Need to talk.
Then she went into the kitchen and made herself a camomile tea.
Sarah called her on WhatsApp before she’d finished making it. ‘You’re in luck. You caught me before I turned my phone off. What’s up?’
Jade outlined the events of the evening, and apart from a couple of hmms and mmms, Sarah didn’t interrupt until she’d finished. ‘Tosser,’ she said then. ‘What is it with predatory men? That they think they can just dive in and have a grope.’
‘He didn’t do that.’ Jade was afraid she’d overegged the situation. ‘He just gave me a peck.’
‘On the lips,’ Sarah clarified. ‘Lips are out of bounds for anyone but lovers. That’s the rule. He knew that, Jade. He was just trying it on.’
‘Do you think he was?’
‘Of course he was. He knows you’ve got a partner, doesn’t he?’
‘He does, yes. I told him Finn was away.’
‘I rest my case. Did you say you fell asleep in his car? Are you sure he didn’t drug you?’
‘I don’t feel very drugged. No, I’m just tired.’ She paused. ‘Do you think I gave him the wrong impression, Sarah? I’m worried I must have somehow given him signals I was interested in him. I mean, he did say he was single. But he also said he wasn’t looking for another relationship.’
‘That’s even worse.’ Sarah’s voice was heated. ‘So what was he after exactly? If you ask me, he was testing the waters. If you’d shown any sign of responding to his kiss, he’d have been in the front door, hanging up his coat and hotfooting it up your stairs.’
Jade groaned. ‘I’ve been an idiot. I let my guard down with him. I shouldn’t have done. Up until that point it was a successful evening. He’d drawn up some new plans so I can still buy the field. He said he wanted to make sure I approved before he showed them to his grandfather – got an official yes.’
‘It sounds to me like he was on a different kind of fact-finding mission tonight. He wanted to check if he could see his way clear to getting in your knickers. Not to put too fine a point on it.’
Jade swore under her breath. ‘Do you think that means he’s not going to try and get the plans changed after all? Now he knows that’s a no-go.’
‘I think you’ll probably find out the answer to that very soon, honey. When’s Finn back?’
‘Tomorrow, fingers crossed.’
‘Did you say he doesn’t know anything about Rural Developments gazumping you?’
‘That’s right. I was going to tell him when he got back.’
‘It might be best not to tell him about tonight,’ Sarah said thoughtfully. ‘It probably won’t help if Finn goes up there and starts shouting the odds.’
‘I know. And I feel terrible about that. It’s one of our things – we don’t have secrets – and now somehow we’ve got one. Arghhhh. How did I get into this situation?’
‘You didn’t. You haven’t.’ Sarah yawned. ‘It will all look a lot better in the morning. Everything looks better in the morning. Besides, for all we know, that Declan chappie was just trying his luck, and it won’t affect anything. He’ll still be professional. You said he was professional up until that point, wasn’t he?’
‘He was. Totally.’
‘Fingers crossed then.’ Sarah yawned again. ‘Let me know. And by the way, if you ever need any more ponds digging, let me know about that too. We’ve hardly had a peep out of Ben all evening and he went to bed half an hour early. He’s very keen to come back and see the geese as soon as possible.’
‘He’s welcome any time.’
They said their goodnights and Jade went slowly up to bed with Mickey at her heels. She hoped Sarah was right about Declan’s professionalism. But only time would give her the answer to that.
* * *
It didn’t take long for Finn to repack his overnight bag on Sunday morning, although Dorrie refused to let him leave without a full English breakfast inside him.
‘Does your young lady let you cook bacon in her kitchen?’ she asked him curiously as several rashers sizzled and spat in the pan.
‘She does.’ Finn sniffed the air appreciatively. ‘She doesn’t eat it herself, obviously, but she always says it’s up to me what I eat, as long as I don’t wreck her frying pan.’
‘It’s wonderful you can agree to differ, even when your opinions on something are total opposites. It makes for a healthy relationship.’
‘It does.’ Finn looked around his father’s small kitchen. ‘You two obviously talk about difficult subjects too – I mean, judging from the last few days.’
‘Yes, we do. I don’t think there are many secrets between me and your father.’ Her bright blue eyes met his. ‘I hope you didn’t mind me stirring up the past, Finn. Persuading Ray to tell you what had happened. I hope my interfering’s not been too painful.’ She put down the spatula. ‘I’m sorry if it was. I sometimes regret my big mouth.’
‘I’m glad you “interfered”.’ He mimed the quotation marks in the air. ‘If that’s what you want to call it. I don’t know what the outcome will be, about finding my mother, obviously, but I am definitely going to try. It’s good to know Dad’s OK with it too.’
‘And we’re both thrilled about the wedding. That’s something we can definitely all look forward to.’
Ray appeared at the kitchen door. ‘That smells good, my love. Morning, Finn. Thought you’d be gone by now.’
‘Not without breakfast he won’t. Morning, Pumpkin.’ Dorrie blew him a kiss. Finn felt a warmth stealing through him. He’d never expected his dad to find a new partner, certainly not one as decent as Dorrie. Someone who wanted the best for him as well as herself. So often his dad had warned Finn there wasn’t such a woman, and that if he wanted companionship he’d be better off with a dog. Ray had been so jaded about the whole subject of relationships and marriages and now that Finn knew how badly Bridie had hurt him, he could see why. It said a lot about his father’s integrity that he was prepared to forgive Bridie now for the sake of their son.
But it was heartwarming to see how much Dorrie had changed things. How happy and easy around each other they seemed to be. He hoped he and Jade could stay the course too. He couldn’t wait to see her now. To tell her properly about the past few days. It was so much easier to speak face to face about emotional stuff than it was to talk on the phone.
* * *
Finn had texted to say he’d be back mid-afternoon on Sunday, with luck, and Jade had been both really relieved and had felt a stomach crunch of anxiety. She couldn’t wait to see him, but she was also painfully aware they needed to talk – not just about him finding his family but about the whole field thing.
It was 4p.m. when his old Toyota drew into the yard, and Finn got out with the strap of his overnight bag slung over his shoulder. Jade was in reception, talking to Zack and his father. The two of them had just brought over ten geese in a travel crate. She excused herself and went to meet Finn. Heedless of the volunteers who were milling about, she ran over and hugged him, and he hugged her back, almost lifting her off her feet.
‘Hey, what a welcome. I take it you’ve missed me.’
‘I have. I have. Was it a good journey? Did you have lunch?’
‘Yes, and I didn’t need lunch. Dorrie made me one of her breakfasts. What are you up to? Shall I just go and put this in the house?’
‘That’ll be great. I’ve got to sort out some geese.’ She looked into his beautiful grey eyes and felt the tiniest twinge of guilt. Crap. She hadn’t even wanted that kiss from Declan, and Sarah was right. She definitely couldn’t tell Finn about it without causing all sorts of trouble. She rushed on. ‘It’s been relatively quiet for a Sunday. I think it’s the Wimbledon final today.’
‘Yeah, Dorrie mentioned that. I’ll get changed and come back.’
‘Come back?’
‘To give you a hand with the geese?’
‘Ah. Yes. Thanks.’
Mickey trotted out to say hello and Finn bent to stroke his head before striding into the house.
A few minutes later, Finn, Zack and his father and Jade were in the yard again, discussing the best way to get the geese up to the field.
‘In the car’s probably easiest,’ Finn said. ‘Shall I go ahead and then I can open the gates as you come. That way, we shouldn’t lose too many hens while we get them in. I assume they’re going in the hen field.’
‘They are.’ Jade dragged herself back to the business in hand. ‘OK, let’s do it.’
‘Don’t geese need a pond?’
‘We sorted that out yesterday,’ Zack told Finn enthusiastically.
‘I don’t know. I go away for five minutes and everything changes.’ Finn winked at Jade. ‘Have we taken in any other waifs and strays you haven’t told me about?’
‘A lovely white cat called Snowy. He shouldn’t take long to rehome.’ She smiled at him, and Finn felt some of the stress he’d been feeling lift from his shoulders. He might not be as besotted as Jade was with animals, but he loved her, and he loved this place. Even though he’d grown up in the sprawling metropolis of Nottingham, he knew his heart belonged in the countryside. Seeing the landscape slowly change from built-up grey to the patchwork of green and brown fields of the Wiltshire countryside as he’d driven home had felt like a balm to his soul.
‘Right then.’ Finn looked at Zack’s father. ‘Are you all right to take your car off road? Or do you want to transfer the crates to mine?’
‘I’m good with off road. Zack can point me in the right direction.’
‘Great.’ To Finn’s relief, Jade didn’t seem as cool with him as he’d feared she might be. She was acting like her usual beautiful self.
Half an hour later, Operation Geese Rehome had been accomplished. Finn, Jade and Zack had introduced the ten geese to their new surroundings. As well as digging out a pond, Jade had put up some temporary fence panels around a smaller section of the field so that the geese and hens could see each other but not intermingle.
The four humans were standing on the hen side of the fencing, watching the geese mill about. A few curious hens had already come over to see who the intruders were.
‘This way they can see and smell each other while they get used to the idea of sharing their space,’ Jade said. ‘I figure a more gradual introduction is better than a sudden head on. It’s less confrontational.’
Finn nodded his agreement. ‘Confrontations are never good.’
Watching the geese reminded him of what Dorrie had said about the origins of the goose fair. Not that any of this lot would ever see a pot. They’d be able to live out their lives in blissful freedom.
‘Penny for them?’ Jade asked.
‘I’ll tell you later.’ He glanced at Zack and his father, and Jade nodded. Now he was home he was keen to tell her everything, and he could see from the expression in her eyes that she needed some alone time with him too.
‘I think I might lock up early tonight,’ she said, confirming she was on his wavelength.