Chapter 14
Someone was calling my name. A man. Laurie? I tried to answer him but how could it be Laurie? He was in Finland and I was… Where was I?
‘Grace? Can you hear me?’
Fingers lightly brushed against my right cheek and pushed my hair behind my ears.
‘Can you open your eyes?’
I flickered my eyes open and the first thing I saw were my legs propped up in front of me, the heels resting on the edge of a wheelbarrow. What the…?
‘Keep your legs there,’ the man said as I tried to move. ‘You fainted. We need to keep your legs elevated.’
I looked to my side. Dark tousled hair. Beard.
‘Caleb?’
‘I didn’t know what to do,’ Willow said, her voice shaky, ‘so I rang Caleb.’
‘Are you all right?’ Caleb asked, his voice soothing. ‘Do you feel sick or dizzy?’
‘I feel stupid,’ I murmured. ‘I’m okay to sit up.’
I lowered my legs to the ground and, with Caleb’s help, shifted position so my back was against the pillar I’d slid down earlier.
‘Drink this.’
A metal bottle was pressed into my hand and I drank from it, expecting water but finding it to be raspberry flavoured, cold and delicious.
‘I thought the natural sugars would help,’ Caleb said.
‘How long was I out?’
‘Five minutes? Bit longer? Willow rang me and I ran straight here.’
I was mortified. I’d never fainted before so why did my first time have to be in front of a young kid? That must have given her a heck of a shock. And as for my grumpy tenant coming to my aid… although I’d rather she’d called him than knocked for my family and panicked Mam.
‘Sorry,’ I said, grimacing at Willow. ‘That’s never happened to me before.’
She looked nervous. ‘Was it because of what I told you about the farm?’
It was, but I couldn’t land that on her. ‘No. It’s my fault. I should have eaten something before doing any physical work. I didn’t eat much yesterday – long journey. I was running on empty and, as you can see, I crashed. Not embarrassing at all.’
I tried to sound jovial but my voice was way higher than usual. As they barely knew me, they hopefully wouldn’t notice.
‘As long as it’s not my fault,’ she said.
‘Definitely not,’ I replied, smiling at her. ‘I’m really grateful for everything you told me and all your help around here. You’re doing a great job.’
She gave me a weak smile. ‘Thanks. I’ll go and clear the last pasture. See you tomorrow.’
When she’d gone, I took another gulp of the juice and released a heavy sigh.
‘I’ll be going then,’ Caleb said. ‘I’ve got a job to get to.’
‘Yes, of course. Erm… thank you for your help. I’d better give you this back.’ I screwed the top onto the bottle and handed it to him but he shook his head.
‘You should drink the rest. Leave the bottle outside my door when you’re done.’
He turned and strode off towards the farmyard without a backwards glance.
As he disappeared from view, I drew my legs up to my chest, wrapped my arms round my knees, dipped my head and closed my eyes, trying to quell the rising panic.
That wasn’t how I’d hoped or expected my first full day to start.
Anna Garstang deserved an Oscar for the performance she’d turned in when Mam and I viewed the farm.
She’d played it brilliantly because there’d been enough truth presented alongside the lies not to set off any alarm bells.
She’d been honest about the repairs needed around the farm although, as many of them were visible like the chimney damage on The Dovecote and the fencing, she couldn’t exactly have hidden them.
When talking about the attraction, I recalled her exact words: there are loads of things you could do to get more visitors than we currently have.
Except she’d omitted to tell us that the current visitor numbers were zero and, because we’d visited out of season when everything was closed, we’d never have realised that.
I raised my head and looked towards the pastures but I couldn’t see Willow from my seated position.
Was there any chance she could have got it wrong or exaggerated the problems?
Her love for the horses emanated from her and she clearly wanted to keep coming here so she was hardly going to make things up and blow her chances.
Caleb’s sarcastic good luck with that comment last night certainly backed up that all wasn’t well.
I took another swig of juice and shook my head, a tumble of emotions whirling around inside me.
Should I cry at the injustice of it all or laugh at being so stupidly na?ve?
Who in their right mind makes a decision to buy a business without seeing the detailed financial statements?
Jude had repeatedly told me to make sure I did my due diligence but I thought I knew best and I’d forged ahead, feeling optimistic about the bright new future ahead of us – or rather wanting to feel optimistic.
Had that been the problem? Had I been so desperate to have that bright new future that I hadn’t wanted to check the accounts and unearth anything that might be cause for concern?
I’d steered clear of the farm’s social media profiles and had avoided searching on the visitor review sites, telling myself I wanted to go into it fresh with my own ideas, but had I avoided them for fear of what I might find?
Because I’d so desperately wanted to believe this was the endgame – the place where I was always meant to be, back with my family in the beautiful and sparsely populated county that had always held my heart – because, if it wasn’t, why had my marriage ended? There had to be a reason for that.
I took my phone out and scrolled through the emails from my solicitor, stopping at the one containing the visitor figures and turnover Anna had provided. What a joke!
I needed to talk to someone but not Mam and definitely not Maddie. Not until I had a plan. But I knew someone who’d be up at this time. I’d messaged her last night to let her know I’d arrived safely and would call her for a proper catch-up once I was settled in.
‘You can’t possibly have unpacked and settled in already,’ Jude said, answering the FaceTime request within a couple of rings. Her smiling face was like a warm hug.
‘No. I’ve barely done anything. Have you got five minutes? I could do with a sounding board.’
‘I do, but that sounds ominous and you don’t look too happy. Everything okay?’
‘Not really.’ I winced. ‘You know how you kept telling me to do my due diligence on the farm? Well, I didn’t.’
‘Oh no! Oh, Grace! What have you found out?’
I gave her the edited highlights – or should that be lowlights?
‘Can you think of any reason why Willow would be lying?’ I knew I was grasping at straws by hoping Jude would think of something I hadn’t.
She shook her head. ‘It wouldn’t make sense to lie, especially if she wants to keep volunteering. I guess you’ll find out for sure when you open.’
I nodded. ‘Just under a fortnight to wait for impending doom.’
‘Impending doom?’ Jude said, raising her eyebrows at me. ‘I think somebody’s being a bit dramatic there. Where’s my optimistic friend?’
‘Sitting next to a pile of crap and feeling like it’s a metaphor for my life right now.’
‘Sitting next to what?’
I panned the camera round to show her the manure pile.
‘Oh, my God! You literally are sitting next to a pile of crap! I know I shouldn’t laugh, but…’
Jude’s laugh had always been infectious and I couldn’t help laughing with her.
‘This is one of those moments where you laugh or cry about it,’ Jude said when we’d both calmed down. ‘I’m glad you chose laughter.’
‘Thanks to you. It was fainting before that.’
‘That’s a joke, right?’
‘I wish!’ I told her about that too.
‘You really are having a stinker of a day – also literally given where you’re sitting.’
That set us off laughing again but panic quickly set in. This wasn’t a laughing matter. This was my life. Mam’s life. Maddie’s life.
Jude evidently noticed the emotion switch.
‘Hey! No tears. You’ve got this, Grace. Let’s say it is the worst-case scenario and they’ve managed to destroy a once-successful business. That’s not the end. It could turn out to be for the best.’
I gave her a doubtful look but she continued, her eyes shining, her voice full of excitement.
‘You and your mum have so much knowledge and experience between you and you can use that to turn Hazelwick Farm into something way better than the previous owners could ever have dreamed of. You have the assets – the land, the café, the horses and the goats – so it’s not like you’re starting completely from scratch.
Take this as a fabulous opportunity to launch a totally new business rather than just picking up and improving on what was there before.
I’m thinking new branding, new vision, new visitor experience.
You’re already doing that anyway by buying the cuddle cows and we all know they’re going to be a game-changer.
I say capitalise on your talents, put your positive head back on and enjoy this incredible adventure. ’
Her words were stirring and her belief in me so reassuring that the tears came.
‘No! That was meant to make you feel better, not worse.’
I smiled at her as I wiped my cheeks. ‘It did. Sorry. It’s been an emotional morning but the tears are because I’m touched by what you said. I needed to hear that. Thank you.’
‘I need to finish getting ready for work but don’t worry. It’ll all be good.’
After we disconnected, I stayed where I was and finished off the juice. A few minutes later, a message came through from Jude.
From Jude
Done some digging. Check your emails x
Intrigued, I did as she asked.
To: Grace Coates
From: Jude Barker
Date: 18 June
RE: Farm accounts
I’ve been on the Companies House website and checked the accounts.
They don’t show visitor numbers but they do show the business was trading at a loss.
I’ve done a screenshot and attached it if you want to look for yourself.
The accounts are only up to the end of March last year so they’re a smidge out of date but my guess, from what Willow told you, is that the accounts up to the end of March this year will be a lot worse.
Thought it best if you have it in black and white (or red in their case!) so you can draw a line under it and start afresh.
If anyone can make this work, it’s you, your mum, Maddie and the cuddle cows.
So proud of you for going after your dream and can’t wait to see you going from strength to strength x
I opened the attachment and nearly laughed out loud. The figures bore no resemblance to the work of fiction Anna had given my solicitor. I wondered whether she’d plucked her figures completely out of the air or whether they were reflective of how things had been at the peak.
Strangely, seeing the real figures didn’t make me panic.
Instead, they fuelled me with determination to make a roaring success of Hazelwick Farm.
Jude believed in us and so did I, especially as we had the cuddle cows – our secret weapon – arriving soon.
We could absolutely turn this around. Everything was going to be all right.