Chapter Twenty-Five
Ren
A bang on the door jolted me out of sleep.
Instinctively, I shifted, my hands searching for Lydia, only to find the sheets peeled open, cold to the touch.
I frowned, sitting up, rubbing a hand over my face.
Swinging my legs over the side of the bed, I pulled on a pair of trousers before heading towards the bathroom.
‘Lydia?’ I called towards the en suite. No answer.
A prickle of unease crept up my spine as I moved through the living room, my brow furrowed. Something was off. I felt it in my bones.
I pulled open the door to find Amy and Gen standing in the hallway.
Gen had her arms crossed, dressed head to toe in her usual all-black hiking gear, her expression unimpressed, as ever.
Amy, on the other hand, looked like Lydia had dressed her herself, decked out in bright pink leggings, matching top, hair dyed to the same pastel shade.
‘Morning, Ren,’ Amy squeaked, an awkward smile on her kind face.
Gen’s eyes flicked down to my chest, pouting, she nodded, ‘Fair play, Lydia.’
‘What the fuck is happening? Where is Lydia?’
‘About that—’ Amy cringed. ‘She had some business to attend to. We’ve been sworn to secrecy—’
‘—but she didn’t want her pookie abandoned.’ Gen pinched my cheeks. ‘So we’re here to drive you back to Everly Heath.’
‘Drive me—’ I took a deep breath, calming myself. ‘Where the fuck is my girlfriend?’
‘Don’t worry, she’s fine.’ Amy smiled, but it was strained. ‘She’s back in Everly Heath. She’ll explain everything when we get back.’
‘Come on – let’s go.’
As I silently packed my things, my mind wouldn’t stop spiralling.
Had I pushed her too far yesterday with all that talk about the farm?
Shit, I’d mentioned getting married. I’d practically proposed.
Who does that when you haven’t even had a proper first date yet?
Maybe she was freaking out about going back to Everly Heath with me, so got a head start and had gone on her own.
Maybe she was worried about her parents, the gossip, all of it.
My brain clawed at any reason, any excuse, for why she’d get up and leave my bed in the middle of the night, and why I’d woken up alone. Defeated, I climbed into Gen’s car and let them drive me home – desperately hoping it was towards my future, not my past.
I jolted awake hours later, with Amy’s cheerful ‘We’re here!’
‘What—’ I frowned, seeing we were parked in a gravel courtyard, overgrown with weeds and flanked by crumbling outbuildings. A dilapidated farmhouse loomed before us – broken window panes with overgrown ivy crawling through them and stonework that needed repointing.
Everly Heath Farm. As I got my bearings, my mind couldn’t help but tease me with the architectural plans I had drawn up – the orangery we could have built on the side to extend covers.
The rundown barns and outhouses we would convert and repurpose.
The courtyard where I imagined we would host markets similar to the ones Gareth and Bethan did at Glynmere Farm.
Then, I saw her.
Lydia was leaning against the driver’s side of my car, which she’d nicked.
We were absolutely going to be having words about that.
But relief pounded through me when I saw she was smiling, completely absorbed in conversation with a man who looked as if he was in his early forties.
He was tall, with salt-and-pepper hair at his temples, and he returned her smile easily, gesturing animatedly as he spoke.
‘Who’s that?’ Amy asked, curious.
‘No idea,’ Gen replied.
A flicker of something sharp and stupid twisted in my chest. Irrational, I knew. But after waking up to an empty bed, finding her here, laughing, so at ease with some stranger, sent a pang through me.
Who the hell was he?
I forced a breath through my nose, steadying myself, said my goodbyes to Gen and Amy and strode across the courtyard.
The confusion, the slight tinge of jealousy, vanished the second she turned to me, a wide, radiant smile lighting up her face.
‘Ren.’
Without thinking, I cupped her face in my hands, cradling it, and gave her a slow, claiming kiss on her lips. I felt the shock ripple through her, and when she melted into the kiss, I let her go, pulling back to give her a look.
‘Please tell me there’s a good reason you drove six hours, alone, before sunrise.’
‘Hey,’ she said, a little breathless.
‘Hey.’
‘You made it.’
‘I did. What plan are you hatching? You’ve been slowly torturing me for six hours, Sunshine. You haven’t replied to my messages—’
She brought a hand up to my cheek. ‘I know, I’m sorry. It’s nothing bad, I swear. I just wanted to be one hundred per cent sure before I told you. I didn’t want to get your hopes up.’
She turned to me, beaming. ‘Niall, this is Ren.’
Niall was standing there, watching our interaction with a cocked eyebrow, and looking as if he’d quite like some popcorn right now.
‘Quite the show, you two. Guess I don’t have to worry about you breaking up halfway through the renovations. Maybe we’ll put some curtains up first, though, huh?’
Niall grinned. He had a soft Irish accent – sounded like somewhere near Dublin.
‘Renovations.’ I frowned, turning to Lydia, who wore that sly, mischievous smile she’d had when she’d dragged me skinny-dipping in Glencoe.
I mean, I had no complaints about how that turned out.
‘Niall has agreed to invest in the farm,’ Lydia said, practically glowing. ‘He said he owed me after everything that happened—’
‘Didn’t expect it to be this expensive a favour,’ Niall added dryly, hands up when Lydia shot him a look.
‘I called him after our chat last night, because after what you said, well, I couldn’t get it out of my head.
Bethan had mentioned something about me opening a gym here and I guess it was just…
lying dormant. Then I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
So I called Niall and he agreed to come and see the site, but only if I could meet him here early this morning. ’
Niall checked his watch. ‘Speaking of – I need to go to the airport. The wife is going to kill me if I’m not back in Dublin by this evening. That’s my cab.’
He angled his head towards the black cab pulling up. Then he reached into his messenger bag and pulled out a bright red binder, handing it to Lydia, who tucked it into her side.
My red binder. How—
I didn’t have time to ask. Niall extended a hand to Lydia, who shook it firmly. ‘We’ll chat next week, talk numbers.’
Lydia’s smile faltered. I squeezed her hand. ‘We’ll be there. Both of us.’
Niall smiled. ‘Good. Let’s make this happen.’
Once Niall had climbed into the cab, I turned to Lydia slowly. ‘What – what just happened?’
Lydia gave me a sly smile. ‘We just bought a farm, baby.’
Emotions surged in my body, ramming against each other – shock, gratitude, excitement. A healthy dose of fear about the challenge we were about to face. Lydia had just secured us a whole bloody farm. A farm she was planning on being a part of. I couldn’t believe it.
All I could say, mouth agape, was, ‘I’ve been working on this for six months, and it takes you one phone call and you’ve got an investor in twenty-four hours?’
‘More like six, actually,’ she teased, running a hand through my hair and tugging me closer by the roots.
‘Overachiever,’ I murmured against her lips before kissing her, softly but deeply. ‘But don’t leave my bed like that again, Sunshine.’
‘Pot, kettle,’ she snorted.
‘Oh, so it’s like that is it? I thought you’d forgiven me. Was this all some perverted revenge?’
She giggled. ‘No, but I’ll show you perverted later.’
‘That better be a promise.’ I lean into her ear. ‘Looking forward to showing you exactly the reason you should never leave my bed again, Lydia.’
She shivered, eyes dark with heat, and I couldn’t wait to make good on that particular promise. But then I saw it.
That damn red binder.
I tapped it. ‘How did you find it? I chucked it out.’
‘I gave it to her.’
A deep voice cut through the air behind me, and I turned to find Liam and Kat crossing the courtyard.
Peggy was barely held back from excitement, her front legs running towards me, as Liam tried to keep her under control.
Eventually, he just let her go and I crouched down, letting her jump up and lick my face.
‘Hey, girlie,’ I murmured into her fur. ‘Did you miss me? I think you missed me.’
Kat chuckled. ‘Is any bond stronger than a man and the dog they didn’t want? Hey, Cuz.’
She pulled Lydia in for a hug. Their height difference meant Kat’s head tucked perfectly under Lydia’s chin.
‘Ren,’ Liam said, pulling me into a back-slapping hug. ‘So we’re doing this huh?’
‘I’m so excited.’ Kat beamed, clapping her hands together. ‘I have a new project.’
Lydia laughed, and I met my brother’s eyes.
‘So you’re up for this?’ I asked Liam, whose stoic expression revealed nothing. ‘You’re sure?’
Liam held my gaze, making me wait. When he finally nodded, I almost sighed with relief. He might be a pain in my arse most of the time, but I needed his backing – and his talents – to make this work.
A fizz of energy shot through me when I caught the smile tugging at his mouth. Liam wasn’t just in – he was sold. He was as excited about this as I was. He showed it in his Liam ways, of course. But all that mattered was that he was rooting for this – rooting for me.
‘Well, with Niall’s investment, we won’t have to sign the house over if it all goes tits-up.’ He clapped my shoulder. ‘Don’t look so surprised. I told you the other night, at ours – I like the idea. It’s a brilliant chance to invest in a bit of Everly Heath history.’
His expression softened, and I knew he was thinking about Mum, about all the memories we’d had on this farm. My eyes stung.
‘We can’t pass on that. Especially now we’ve got an investor to spread the risk—’
‘Risk this, risk that,’ Kat cut in. ‘Do you see what I have to put up with?’
Liam smirked, slipping an arm around her shoulders, ‘—and you’ve solved that issue, so consider me shut up.’
‘Lydia solved it,’ I said, glancing at her. Gratitude rolled through me. ‘She’s the one who convinced Niall.’
Liam nodded. ‘Well, we’re a team now – the four of us. And Niall. Although with the way Kat chewed his ear off about the design budget…’
‘Hey!’ Kat pouted.
‘It’s going to be hard work, but if this is what you want, I’m in. And I’m sorry if I ever made you feel I didn’t back you. I do. I’m just—’
‘Grumpy and cantankerous?’ Kat supplied.
Liam clamped a hand over her mouth. ‘I am grumpy. And a realist. But I shouldn’t have let that bleed into our work – or our relationship. So I’m sorry. We’ll go in as business partners. Equals.’
He held out his hand. I stared at it. Really, it was all I’d wanted – his approval. Now I had it, and I didn’t know what to say.
‘You shake it,’ Lydia murmured, amusement in her tone.
I took his hand, snapping out of my daze.
‘Good.’ Liam’s smile deepened. ‘Now that’s done, this one will probably start designing the second we get home.’
Kat lit up. ‘Oh, you have no idea.’
They turned towards the car and we followed. My brain was still catching up, dazed.
‘I have a new hyperfocus,’ Kat went on. ‘You’re not going to see me for weeks.’
Lydia nudged me. ‘Is it okay? That I asked Liam too? Niall’s putting in a fair chunk, but you’ll need to go in together for the business loans—’
I pulled her in by the back of her head and kissed her hard.
‘Thank you,’ I said, my voice thick. ‘You don’t know what this means. And it’s we now, Sunshine. Not you. Not me. Us. Okay?’
‘Okay,’ she breathed.
A whistle cut through the air. Kat was grinning; Liam just raised a sardonic eyebrow.
‘Took you long enough,’ he said.
‘Yes!’ Kat clapped again, practically bouncing. ‘We can officially double-date now. This is fantastic.’ Kat hooked arms with Lydia. ‘Right – about the gym space. Are we thinking the biggest barn for the functional training area?’
Lydia’s reply – full of plans and possibilities – was the soundtrack as I looked around the farm in quiet awe.
Ours.
It was ours.
I thought of all those visits with Mum. The birthdays in the cafe. The memories Bert and Mabel had built here with their family. It felt like a gift now, a duty, to build more memories, as many as I could.
With Lydia. Kat and Liam. Abigail. Everly Heath and all its mad occupants. Weddings, parties, celebrations – but also the quiet magic of daily life. Waking up next to Lydia. Walking Peggy. Greeting hotel guests.
Liam’s hand clapped my shoulder. ‘You ready for this?’
I turned to him, grinning. ‘Yeah, I’m ready.’