Chapter 25
25
It’s Monday morning and I’m feeling decidedly twitchy. Rebecca came home even more upbeat than usual after her night at Ben’s but, although she’s admitted that they talked about her plan, she flatly refused to tell me what he said, saying it was better to hear it from the horse’s mouth. If, as I’d hoped, he’d pointed out the folly of her proposal and shot it down in flames, I can’t see why on earth she’d be in such a good mood. I’m also waiting to hear from George, who needs permission from Charlotte for a site visit. I’ve pondered a lot on what Saffy said, and I’ve decided that the only way to prove her wrong is to stop faffing about and find out how he feels, so I’m planning to invite him to the pub after work and up the ante a little. It’s just the right level of pressure, I reckon. Dave and Brooke are often in there, along with a number of other local people we’ve got to know through Ben, so it won’t be as intense as taking him to a place where it’s just the two of us.
It’s another cold, rainy day, but the cottage is pleasantly warm when Rebecca unlocks the door and we step into the bare kitchen, the new boiler humming quietly in the corner. I hesitate to use it, because it’s a word I hate, but it’s almost cosy in here. At least, it would be if it wasn’t for the boxes of tools on the floor and the industrial-looking bright copper pipes snaking along the walls to the radiators and up through the ceiling to the floor above.
‘Ben should be bringing the materials so we can lag the pipes and box them in today,’ Rebecca tells me happily. ‘Then we can replaster and decorate.’
As if on cue, I spot Ben’s Land Rover pulling up outside, with a covered trailer attached to it.
‘Morning, Rebecca, morning, Thea,’ he says as he strides through the door, bending to give Rebecca a kiss as he passes. ‘Wow. It’s warm in here, isn’t it? We might need to turn that off when we start work or we’ll boil to death. Shall I put the kettle on for a cuppa?’ His mood is also worryingly buoyant, although, to be fair to him, it usually is.
‘Right,’ Ben announces once he’s made his cup of tea and we’ve settled ourselves at the rickety table that serves as our meeting space, dining area and site office. ‘Rebecca told me there’s a new plan on the table.’
‘I think calling it a plan might be a bit premature,’ I say carefully. ‘I would say it’s more of an idea at this stage.’
‘She also warned me that you weren’t completely on board.’
I sigh. ‘It’s just a massive swing from what we originally agreed, neither of us have any experience or the required animal knowledge, it’s going to cost a fortune and it ties us down. With the original plan, we get a quick return on our investment and can move on. Also, if we decide we don’t want to do it any more, it’s easy to extricate ourselves. If we go into this, we’re stuck with it. Everything we have is ploughed into it and we stand to lose it all if we get it wrong.’
‘OK,’ Ben replies. ‘I hear you. But I reckon it’s still got lots of potential. In fact?—’
Before he gets any further, we’re distracted by the sound of someone else pulling up outside the cottage, and I’m both relieved and delighted to see that the cavalry has arrived in the form of George.
‘Hang on a minute, Ben,’ I tell him. ‘We might as well do this with everyone in the room to save repeating ourselves.’
‘What have I missed?’ George asks once he’s been furnished with a cup of tea and we’re all sitting around the table again.
‘We were just about to start discussing Rebecca’s idea,’ Ben explains. ‘Thea isn’t on board.’
‘Right. This is the family farm idea, is it?’
‘That’s it,’ Ben replies.
‘Well, Rebecca,’ he tells her. ‘Now that it’s Monday morning and I know all about HIBT’s business again, I can tell you that you’re right. Lots of other HIBT property owners have found ways to monetise their industrial buildings, and I think a farm would work well here. We’d certainly be able to help you with applications to the council and so on if you wanted.’
‘OK, hang on.’ I raise my hands to try to slow this down. ‘Can we just step back a bit, to the point where this is all going to cost a fortune and we don’t know what we’re doing? I kind of feel that’s central here.’
‘Sure,’ Ben concedes. ‘Let’s start with the money side of things. You’re right that this won’t come cheap, so I suspect you’re going to need an investor.’
‘Tricky,’ George tells him. ‘Corporate investors tend only to be interested if you’re doing something charitable that makes them look good. I imagine the purpose here is to make a profit.’
‘Absolutely,’ Rebecca agrees.
‘You’re going to struggle then,’ George continues. ‘You might be able to find a private investor, but they’ll want a slice of the pie. The other option is to borrow the money, but a lender is going to want collateral.’
‘I happen to know of a private investor who would be very interested, if the terms were right,’ Ben says mildly.
‘Oh, come on!’ I say exasperatedly. ‘I mean, I know you’re good and everything, but Rebecca only came up with this idea on Saturday. How can you possibly have lined up an investor so fast? Do you have a little black book of contacts with entries like “Call Sean if anyone wants money for a family farm”?’
‘Nothing so shady,’ he replies simply. ‘It’s me.’
‘What?’ Whatever I was expecting him to say, it wasn’t this. Beside him, Rebecca looks like she’s about to burst with excitement.
‘I wanted to tell you,’ she says quickly. ‘But Ben felt it would be better to talk to you face to face.’
‘I don’t understand.’
‘It’s what I wanted to do with this place when my grandmother died, but I didn’t have the money,’ Ben explains. ‘My cottage isn’t worth much so, despite owning the mill and the land, I couldn’t raise the capital I needed. In the end, I decided the best thing to do was sell the mill as it was and pocket the money. The irony being, of course, that now I have the money for the farm but nowhere to put it.’
‘Hang on,’ I challenge him. ‘When we came round the first time, I distinctly remember you telling me that you were selling because you were under pressure from the other grandchildren, or something like that.’
He blushes slightly. ‘I may not have been completely truthful. I’m the only heir.’
‘Why did you tell us you weren’t, then?’
‘Because I thought it would be easier to dig my heels in and negotiate hard if buyers thought there were other people involved as well. If they knew it was just me, they’d try to push me around. I know it sounds odd now, but it made sense at the time.’
It takes me a while to digest this information. ‘I get it,’ I tell him eventually. ‘Nice windfall, and I can see your logic. Wasn’t the money burning a hole in your pocket though?’
‘I’m not that fussed by money, generally,’ he replies calmly. ‘Yes, I could have gone mad and bought lots of stuff, but what would have been the point? I’m quite happy with my life as it is. If it makes you feel better, I did buy a round of drinks in the pub.’
‘It’s one of the many things I love about him,’ Rebecca adds, stroking Ben’s arm affectionately. ‘After John, who was obsessed with money, being with someone who isn’t into it in the same way is refreshing.’
‘Anyway,’ Ben continues. ‘I didn’t think any more about it, because you guys came along with your plan to convert it and sell it, and I thought maybe that was a better idea than mine in the end.’
‘I still think it is,’ I remind them.
‘But then, when Rebecca mentioned her idea, and it was exactly the same one I’d had, I felt like it was meant to be. So, if you’ll have me, I’m happy to invest.’
‘May I ask how much?’
‘If I understand correctly, you’ve put ￡600,000 in so far and Rebecca has ￡300,000. Is that right?’
‘That’s right.’
‘So I thought I’d come in with an equal amount to you – ￡600,000. That should easily get us everything we need, don’t you think?’
‘And what would you want in return?’
‘An equal partnership in the business with you, I suppose.’
This is all moving way too fast and I feel like I’ve lost control of the situation. I can feel my heart hammering in my chest and my breath is short. Even the normally soothing presence of George isn’t doing it for me.
‘I need time to think,’ I tell them all, pushing back my chair and getting to my feet. This room suddenly feels claustrophobic and, despite the fact that the weather outside is awful, I need to be in the fresh air. Pulling on my raincoat, I stumble outside, slamming the door behind me.
I have no idea where I’m going, I just know I need to be alone. In the end, I make my way to one of the barns to get out of the rain and plonk myself down on a hay bale. I feel completely blindsided and outmanoeuvred. I was certain that everyone else would feel the same way as me about Rebecca’s idea, so finding myself in a minority of one is a very nasty surprise. This whole project feels like it’s spiralling completely out of control and I’m powerless to stop it. For the first time in nearly nine months, I’m regretting leaving Morton Lansdowne.
‘Are you OK?’ I look up to see George standing in front of me.
‘No. Not really,’ I tell him honestly.
‘Can I sit down?’
‘Sure.’
‘The others thought it would be best if I came to find you, given that I’m a neutral party in all of this,’ he says after a while. ‘Do you want to talk about it?’
‘It’s going to make me sound stupid.’
‘Thea, if there’s one thing I think we can all agree you’re not, it’s stupid. Come on, what’s up?’
‘I just feel railroaded, and I don’t like it. I feel suddenly like I’m a helpless passenger on a mad rollercoaster that I never signed up to ride. When we bought this place, it was supposed to be with an aim to converting the mill and selling it on. Now we’re staying here and opening a bloody petting zoo?’ To my horror, a tear splashes down into my lap. I haven’t cried since the mini-breakdown after leaving Morton Lansdowne, and crying in front of George is particularly mortifying.
George says nothing, but I’m aware of his arm reaching out, wrapping around me and pulling me into him. Normally, this would set my hormones on fire, but right now it’s exactly what I need. I let him hold me as the tears fall.
‘You can say no,’ he says gently after a while. My head is resting on his shoulder and I’m breathing in the smell of him. It’s a soothing mix of soap and fabric conditioner.
‘On what grounds, though? I honestly thought this was an idea so stupid that it would bury itself, but not only does everyone else, including you, seem to think it’s great, but Rebecca has also found funding through her boyfriend and I suspect bloody Ben is an animal husbandry expert too. I don’t want to be a grinch, because I love Rebecca and the way she manages to come up with new ideas every time something goes wrong, but I can’t sign up to this. It’s spiralling out of control and turning into a monster. It was supposed to be simple, but this bloody mill is biting us in the arse at every turn.’
‘I don’t remember specifically saying that the family farm was a good idea,’ George says gently. ‘I just said lots of HIBT partners had done similar things. But you have to do what’s right for you. If you don’t like it, tell them.’ His fingers are lazily stroking my hair and running down my arm, and I’m slowly becoming more aware of the sensation. My tears have stopped and my brain has finally registered where I am and started firing up my hormones. I can feel the heat building inside me as I lift my head from his shoulder and meet his eyes, which are impossible to read beneath those incredible lashes. As if drawn by a magnet, I lean forward and brush his lips with mine. It’s not long before his mouth gently opens and our tongues find each other.
This is so much hotter than I imagined in even my dirtiest dream. I’m on fire and hungry for as much of him as I can get.
‘Thea, I can’t,’ he says suddenly, breaking the kiss and releasing me.
‘What? Why?’
‘I’m so, so sorry,’ he says again, releasing me and getting to his feet. ‘I think I’d better go.’
‘George, wait!’ I call, but he’s already gone, sprinting back in the direction of the house.
As I plonk myself back down on the hay bale, there’s only one thought in my mind, and it has nothing to do with the farm. What the hell just happened?