Chapter 6
After Brodie left the farm, promising to return if any of the family needed him for anything, he dropped Mrs Torel at the garage where Zac had left it, having treated her to four new tyres.
‘What a sweet thing for him to do,’ she gushed as they drove through the village. ‘Zac’s grown up to be such a thoughtful young man. I feel a little guilty being suspicious of him earlier but when I think of all the mischievous things he got up to growing up, I have to admit I despaired of him on more than one occasion.’
‘I’m sure my mother did about me.’ Brodie laughed, certain he had pushed his mother to her limits on many occasions, not just one.
‘I can’t imagine that for a second.’ Lindy frowned. ‘She must be incredibly proud of you, especially now you’ve taken over your own practice.’
‘She is.’
‘You’re from here, are you?’
Brodie supposed Mrs Torel knew most of the people who lived on this side of the island. ‘Yes. My family moved here from Devon just before I was born. I must admit it feels good living so close to the sea again after living on the mainland for a few years.’
‘I love it here too.’ She smiled. ‘I was born and raised here on the island and although I long to travel more, I can’t imagine ever settling anywhere else. Not for long anyway.’
Was that why she and her husband were wanting to hand the farm over to Lettie? he wondered. He had known many farmers in his time and all of them worked incredibly hard. It was, he supposed, a rewarding life although one that seemed to be filled with continuous struggles of varying kinds.
‘Are you planning on travelling soon, then?’
He felt her gaze fall on him and hoped he hadn’t offended her by asking too personal a question.
‘Yes. But please don’t say anything to Lettie or Zac because we haven’t broached the subject of exactly when we go away with them yet,’ she said, her voice lowered, although he wasn’t sure why because it was only the two of them in his car. ‘It’s also why we’ve had to come to the difficult decision to part with the business side of the farm. It’s something Gareth and I have been building up to doing for a few years now.’ She sighed. ‘I wasn’t certain my husband would be able to do it, but the other week he told me he’d already spoken to his brother, Leonard, about it.’
‘That must have taken you by surprise,’ he said, certain by what Zac had said earlier that he and his sister had not seen this coming. He knew only too well how difficult life could be when the unexpected happened and couldn’t help feeling sorry for them. On the one hand, he hoped Lettie was given permission to take on her family farm long-term, because she seemed determined, but he also knew how difficult it was for farmers to keep everything going and that was when they had experience. He might not know Lettie well at all but he couldn’t imagine how she expected to move from working in fashion to running an organic farm with any ease.
‘Are you all right, Brodie?’
Embarrassed, Brodie realised she must have noticed him deep in thought. ‘Sorry, yes. I, er, was just thinking of something I should have done this morning.’
‘Zac mentioned that you were trying to work out where you’d seen Lettie before. Could you have attended the same school?’
He told her which school he attended. ‘But I don’t recall her name. I mean, there were a few Torels but no one called Lettie.’
When Lindy didn’t reply, he glanced at her and noticed she seemed very thoughtful. ‘Maybe you just didn’t come across each other because you’re a few years older.’
‘It could be that.’
She tapped the window, pointing to the kerb. ‘This will do, right here.’
He wished they had longer to chat about Lettie. Maybe he might have discovered more about her life before she’d left for university and resolve his curiosity about where they might have crossed each other’s paths in the past, but clearly it wasn’t going to happen today. ‘We’re only a hundred or so yards from the garage. I can take you all the way there. I’m not in a rush.’
‘We both know you have a client to get to.’ She retrieved her handbag from between her feet. ‘Don’t worry about me. Here will be perfectly fine. I’d like to pop into the newsagent’s first, anyway.’
Doing as she wished, Brodie steered the car to the pavement and stopped.
She unclipped her seatbelt and picked up her basket from the footwell. ‘Thanks for the lift. And don’t be a stranger. Please feel free to pop in to Hollyhock Farm whenever you wish.’
‘That’s very kind of you, Mrs Torel, thank you.’
She opened the door and got out, then closed the door and bent to talk to him through the open window. ‘I told you to call me Lindy. Everyone else does. Mrs Torel makes me sound old and makes me think of my mother-in-law.’
She turned and walked away, leaving Brodie wondering if she had really wanted to go to the newsagent’s or if his question about Lettie had been the cause behind her deciding to do so. What a family, he thought as he pulled away from the kerb and drove on to his next client. He was going to enjoy getting to know them better and now he was even more intrigued about why Lettie seemed familiar to him.