Chapter 38
I woke up on Saturday morning feeling really optimistic about the future.
One reason was that Maddie had been like a different person yesterday, smiling, laughing and chatting to the dozen or so visitors we’d had across the day.
She’d spent some time with Mam and had shared everything with her – including the pregnancy scare – and had also gone for a walk with Jude.
I hadn’t realised quite how tense the atmosphere had been in the farmhouse until we had tea together last night and the kitchen felt alive with chatter and laughter.
I’d sounded out Mam about the guinea pigs and she’d thought it was a great idea so we’d proposed it to Maddie over tea.
She’d initially thought we were winding her up but, when we convinced her we weren’t, she’d squealed with excitement and, after we’d eaten and cleared away, had been eager to get started.
I’d expected her to disappear straight up to her room and it brought tears to my eyes that she wanted input from all three of us.
The other major reason for my optimism was that it was our first weekend of trading, the sun was shining, and I had high hopes for lots of visitors.
As agreed from the outset, Mam had focused on the café and I’d remained outside but I’d helped with the baking.
The plan for this morning was to bake some cakes to offer alongside the traybakes – carrot, coffee and walnut, Victoria sponge and red velvet – and, hopefully, we wouldn’t have much left.
* * *
‘First Saturday ticked off,’ Jude said as we closed the main gate at five o’clock. ‘Are you pleased with how it went?’
‘Yes and no. It was a big uplift from Wednesday but I thought there might have been more visitors, especially on such a gorgeous day.’
We wouldn’t know the exact number until we ran the till report but my guess was about thirty. Our visitor demographic today had predominantly been families of three to five members so that equated to roughly eight groups. I’d hoped for at least double that.
‘I thought there’d have been more too,’ Jude said, ‘but the article only came out on Tuesday. It’s going to take a while for you to build a following on the socials and bear in mind it’s not the school holidays yet. You’re not worried, are you?’
‘It’s too early to panic and, to be honest, the slow start’s been a good thing. In just four days, we’ve already learned so much and thought of a stack of improvements to make which we might not have noticed if we’d been busy.’
‘You might find Sundays are busier than Saturdays.’
‘That’s true. As I say, I’m calm about it all – just a little disappointed, perhaps.
I think a lot of our visitors will come on the back of recommendations and it’ll take a while to build those too.
The big success will be the cow cuddling but we can’t offer that until they’re settled and we’re ready. ’
We were approaching the café as Maddie came running towards us, waving her phone in the air.
‘Hunter’s asked me on a date!’ she cried.
‘Aw, that’s lovely,’ I said, smiling at her. ‘When?’
‘Tonight!’ She scrunched up her nose, her expression hesitant. ‘Is that okay?’
‘Of course it is. Where are you going?’
‘The cinema in Berwick and then for a pizza. I don’t know what to wear. I’d better pick something and get ready. He’ll be here at six.’
‘Welcome back, Maddie Coates,’ Jude said when she was out of earshot. ‘I’m so relieved for you both.’
‘Tell me about it! What do you fancy doing tonight? I’m conscious you’ve barely left the farm. Do you want to go out for a drink?’
Mam was going to Briar Stones Farm to babysit for Lola and Max while Hope and Nick went out for a friend’s birthday so, with Maddie out on a date, it would just be Jude and me.
Jude pondered for a moment. ‘How about we do drinks tomorrow night? I quite fancy a bath tonight and I could really do with ringing my parents before they forget who I am. Why don’t you try to catch Caleb now that he’s back?’
I’d been watching out for him to thank him in person for the beautiful flowers but I hadn’t seen him or his van all week so had assumed he’d gone away. We’d seen him returning about an hour ago.
‘I might do that.’
‘You could ask him if he wants to share a bottle of wine.’
‘Absolutely not! Crashed and burned with that one last weekend but I will knock and thank him for the flowers. It was sweet of him.’
* * *
Jude mentioning Caleb’s name earlier had sent butterflies stirring in my stomach and, now that I was ready to head up to Peartree Cottage, they’d increased their activity.
Why was he having this effect on me? It made no sense when I wasn’t certain I even liked him thanks to the confusing hot and cold thing.
I understood his initial cool reaction after what he’d been through with the Garstangs but I was struggling with how he’d been a week ago.
He’d smiled and waved on Sunday, though, and he’d sent me flowers.
Perhaps I’d caught him at a bad moment last Saturday and it wasn’t anything personal towards me but, because of my struggles with Maddie and Laurie, I’d taken it to heart.
‘No need to rush back,’ Jude said, grinning at me.
‘Are you trying to get rid of me?’
‘Obviously not but I’m just saying that, if the man offers you a drink, I think you should accept. And if a drink turns into something more…’
‘I’m not listening,’ I said, attempting to look and sound stern. ‘We’re neighbours and I’m thanking him for the flowers – that’s all. And if he invites me in, it’ll be because he’s interested in hearing how the first week went. Nothing else.’
‘You keep telling yourself that.’
Her laughter was ringing in my ears as I left the farmhouse and made my way to Peartree Cottage.
‘Apologies for dropping by without warning,’ I said as soon as Caleb opened the door, cringing at what an incredibly British thing that was to say.
‘It’s no bother. Do you want to come in for a drink?’
‘Erm, no, it’s all right. I just wanted to thank you for the flowers. That was lovely of you.’
‘My pleasure. You’re sure you don’t want a drink? I’d love to hear how the first few days have gone.’
‘Go on, then.’ I followed him into the kitchen and Scampi bounded in from the back garden, making a beeline for me.
‘Hi, gorgeous,’ I said, giving him a scratch.
‘We were just having a bottle of lager in the garden,’ Caleb said. ‘Obviously Scampi wasn’t drinking. You know what I mean.’
I smiled and nodded. When he offered a range of drinks, I decided a bottle of cold lager might hit the spot for me too.
‘There’s still some sun in the garden,’ he said, indicating that we should head outside.
‘Wow! I wasn’t expecting this.’
Caleb’s back garden was stunning and looked like it had been designed by a professional.
‘Fancy a tour?’ he asked.
‘Yes, please.’
Immediately outside the cottage was a patio with a metal table and two chairs.
Caleb picked up his drink from the table and I followed him along a curved path.
Either side of the garden were shrubs, roses and other climbing plants creeping up trellises and winding around pagodas.
The path meandered left and right across the lawn and, at each change in direction, there was a paved circle.
Colourful ceramic planters overflowing with flowers and shrubs were arranged on some of the circles and there were babbling water features on others.
At the far end of the garden was a patch devoted to wildflowers among which I spied bug and bee hotels and a hedgehog house.
‘I haven’t seen this many butterflies and bees in one spot in ages,’ I said as a painted lady fluttered past and settled on one of the plants.
‘I carefully chose all the plants to attract them.’
‘You did this?’
‘Little hobby of mine. My grandparents – the ones I lost in my twenties – moved house when I was about seven. Their new cottage had this really long garden and it was an overgrown tangle of weeds – bit like out the back of the farmhouse. What they turned it into was astonishing. I loved spending time in the garden with them, helping them weed and prune and tease the climbing plants to follow the right route. I wanted to honour them here by creating a more modern take on what they’d done. ’
‘It’s stunning. If you ever want another project, feel free to turn your attention to my back garden.’
‘I’d love that.’
As he held my gaze, my heart started pounding.
‘I was joking,’ I said.
‘I wasn’t. It would be a privilege to turn it into the sort of garden you deserve.’
My heart raced even faster. What did that mean?
‘I’d pay you to do it.’
‘Then I wouldn’t do it.’
I definitely hadn’t imagined that chemistry before because the same thing was happening right now. A bee flew between us, breaking the moment and we both took a swig from our drinks. I felt as though my cheeks were blazing and longed to press the cold bottle against them.
‘There’s more,’ Caleb said, leading me to a curved gateway in the stone wall separating his back garden from whatever was behind the forge.
He pushed open a wooden gate, revealing raised planters full of vegetables.
There were fruit trees and bushes along the back wall and at the far end there was a small greenhouse.
‘That’s the pear tree the cottage gets its name from,’ he said, pointing to a large tree in the corner.
‘I’d never have guessed this was here,’ I said.
‘My little oasis. I like that I can keep the practical part separate from the cottage garden part. I grow some fruit and nearly all my own vegetables. That raspberry juice you liked? That’s from my raspberries.’
‘You made that? It was divine. Flippin heck, Caleb, is there anything you can’t do?’
‘Plenty of things,’ he said, laughing. ‘I can’t sing, I’m useless at team sports – which is why I go running – and there’s something else… something you’ve already seen…’
I shrugged my shoulders, curious as to where he was going with that.