Epilogue
Weaving in and out of the people sitting on picnic rugs in the garden of Pennycress, Polly checked everyone had blankets and flasks of hot chocolate to hand before walking towards the back of the group.
‘Come on, sit down. Everyone’s okay.’ Shooting his arm up from where he was sitting on a picnic rug, Zac took her hand and nodded to the spot next to him.
Taking a final look around the small gathering, Polly nodded and sat down.
Everyone looked happy and warm enough too, and Brian, the astronomy expert she’d sourced for the stargazing course she’d organised to take place over the next six weeks, was just finishing setting up a screen in front of them all and then he’d be ready to go.
The first session, tonight, was taking place at Pennycress Inn after Laura had come to the rescue when Polly had realised the meadow at the reserve had been double-booked amidst a flurry of rewilding activity.
She grinned as she glanced back towards the inn which had become her and Zac’s temporary home. In a way, it felt fitting to be hosting the first event she’d planned as project manager here, where her new adventure had begun and at the heart of the community which had supported her so much.
‘Are they here yet?’ Zac rubbed Polly’s shoulder as he looked around the large garden.
Polly shook her head. She knew exactly who he was talking about – Stacey and Freddie.
Polly had been so excited when Stacey had promised to come down for this event, and equally disappointed when her friend had rung to tell her they were stuck in traffic.
She glanced at the time on her mobile. If they didn’t hurry, they’d miss it altogether.
‘Oh look, is that them?’ Zac pointed behind them towards a couple walking down the steps of the decking surrounding the inn.
Grinning, Polly jumped to her feet and held out her hand to Zac. Once he was standing beside her, she stepped over their blanket and hurried across to Stacey and Freddie. ‘You made it!’
‘Of course we made it. You didn’t think I was going to miss my bestie’s first big event as the boss, did you?’ Stacey flung her arms around Polly before stepping back and looking Zac up and down. ‘Glad to hear you’re treating my girl right.’
Dipping his head, Zac ran his fingers through his hair. ‘I try my best.’
‘Course you do! Only kidding! Polly tells me everything and I know how much you mean to her.’ Drawing him in for a hug, Stacey laughed before introducing her partner, Freddie.
‘Zac, this is Freddie. Freddie, Zac. I hope you two get along because you’ll both be enduring many, many, many double dates.
Plus, of course, we’ll be coming and staying when you two finally get your own place. ’
‘Hello, mate.’ Freddie clasped Zac’s hand and patted him on the back.
‘Good to meet you.’ Zac grinned. ‘And you’ll both be more than welcome to visit.’
Glancing towards Brian, Polly grimaced. ‘I think he’s about to begin. Come and take your places. I’ve set you up a picnic blanket, telescope and flask of hot chocolate right by us.’
‘Lead the way.’ Looping her arm through Stacey’s, she followed as Polly led the way towards the back of the group.
‘Here you go.’ Turning, Polly gave Stacey another hug. ‘I really am happy you made it. It means a lot.’
‘I’m glad we did too. And this place is gorgeous, the inn and what we saw of the village as we drove through. I can see why you want to settle here.’ Stacey grinned before taking Freddie’s hand and lowering herself to the checked picnic blanket.
Settling back on their blanket, Polly snuggled her back against Zac’s chest as he wrapped his arms around her. Tonight promised to be good. Not only did she have Zac here but she had Stacey’s support too.
‘Yum, this hot chocolate is the best!’ Nicola called softly from her and Charlie’s rug a few feet away from Polly and Zac.
Turning to face her, Polly laughed before pointing to Jackson, who was sitting in front of them with Laura. ‘I may have had a little help.’
‘Haha, it’s Jackson’s hot chocolate.’ Nicola took another sip. ‘I thought I recognised it.’
Turning around, Jackson pulled a face. ‘Did I hear my name?’
‘I was just telling Polly how delicious her hot chocolate was.’ Nicola grinned.
‘Hey, I didn’t take the credit.’ Polly held her hands up, palms forward. ‘Even though I was tempted.’
‘I would have.’ Zac chuckled beside her as he held up the flask in Jackson’s direction. ‘I can see why Laura is marrying you now.’
Twisting on the rug, Laura glanced in their direction. ‘His famous hot chocolate isn’t the only reason, you know. He makes that mean French toast too.’
‘Oi! Charmed, I’m sure.’ Jackson wrapped his arm around Laura, drawing her towards him and gently ruffling her hair. ‘Well, I’m certainly not marrying you for your culinary skills.’
Squealing, Laura pulled away. ‘I’m learning. I can make a tasty version of Vivienne’s fruit cake, Nicola can back me up on that one. Even your mum said it was good, didn’t she?’
‘She did, yes.’ Nicola smiled.
‘When’s she going to teach you, Nic?’ Charlie joined in.
‘Umm, or you. Why can’t you learn to make my mum’s fruit cake?’ Nicola shook her head.
‘Because I’m slaving away on the farm, planting and harvesting the crops so you have the ingredients for your fruit cake.’ Charlie chuckled.
‘And I’m working my fingers to the bone at the inn!’ Nicola retorted.
Holding her hand against her chest, Laura looked at Nicola, mock-shock covering her face. ‘I don’t make you work that hard, do I?’
‘Well…’ Nicola broke first and burst out laughing. ‘Hey, Polly, maybe you can organise some cooking classes at the reserve next time.’
‘Now, that’s not such a bad idea. You could take everyone foraging around the reserve first and then go back to the classroom and cook with whatever you’ve found.’ Charlie raised an eyebrow.
‘I actually like that idea. I might just steal that.’ Polly grinned as Zac pulled the blanket over their knees and Brian began to introduce himself.
The last few months had been a whirlwind, with the flat sale going through, Zac starting his new job and Declan awarding her the promotion.
And spending her first Christmas together with Zac at Pennycress, which had been magical and everything she’d hoped for.
‘And, in a moment, I’ll ask you to use the telescopes in front of you, but this is what you’re looking for, the star constellation of Taurus.
This particular constellation from this particular location should be very clear at this time of the year.
The joys of January.’ Giving his audience a few moments to ingest the map of the stars from the screen, Brian then turned it off, plunging them into darkness, before talking them through how to pinpoint the constellation in the sky.
Leaning forward on her knees, Polly closed one eye and peered through the telescope. Frowning, she moved the end of the telescope around a little, trying and failing to find Taurus. Sitting back, she shook her head. ‘I’m actually terrible at this. I can’t tell one star from the other.’
‘Sure you can.’ Resting on his knees, Zac looked through her telescope and repositioned it before turning to her and ushering her forward. ‘Here, come take a look now. Just keep the telescope super still.’
Doing as she was instructed, Polly once again closed one eye and looked through the lens. Nothing had changed. She still couldn’t find the star pattern Brian had instructed them to look for. ‘I still can’t see it.’
‘Do you see a cluster of stars which look like a V?’
She could feel Zac’s breath against her hair as he spoke softly next to her, and she resisted the urge to giggle. Instead, she squinted again, this time looking for a V shape. ‘Yes! I see it. I see the V.’
‘That’s great, that’s the Hyades star cluster, the head of the bull. Now, kind of in the middle of the V, do you see a really bright star?’ He brought his hand to her face, gently tucking her hair behind her ear as he spoke. ‘It’ll be brighter than the ones surrounding it, so it should stand out.’
Polly grinned. ‘I see it.’
‘That bright star is called Aldebaran. Now if you pan out slightly, you’ll be able to see the whole constellation, the bull.’
Polly widened her open eye. She could see it. For the first time in her life, she’d been able to spot a constellation. Leaning back, she looked at him. ‘Wow, how do you know all that?’
Zac shrugged. ‘Every weekend I stayed at my grandparents’ place, my grandad would pack up the car on a Friday night and we’d drive into the middle of nowhere. During the day, he’d teach me how to fish and, come the night, he’d teach me about the stars.’
‘Wow, how didn’t I know this about you?’ There was so much she needed to learn about him, so much she wanted to share with him too.
‘I don’t know.’ Zac grinned.
‘You know what?’ Polly leaned back against him as he wrapped his arms around her. ‘I can’t wait to move in with you, to spend every moment of every day together.’
Zac chuckled. ‘We basically do anyway, what with working in the same office and staying at Pennycress.’
‘That’s true, but still, I can’t wait to get our own place.’ Polly looked through the telescope again, focusing once more on the constellation.
‘Maybe the one we’re going to view tomorrow will be the place where we decide to put our roots down.’
Quickly leaning back on her haunches, Polly whacked her eye against the lens of the telescope.
Rubbing it, she looked at him. They’d been searching for somewhere to rent for a few weeks now, but every time they found somewhere they liked the look of, they rang up and were told it had already been let. ‘Which one? Which house?’
Zac grinned. ‘Not a house. A cottage.’
‘You got a viewing for a cottage? How?’ She’d thought the rental market was quick and the properties sparse back in Featherford, but here, in Meadowfield, they were like gold dust. No, rarer than gold dust.
‘I have my contacts.’ Zac tapped the side of his nose with his index finger.
‘Aw, no, you’ve got to tell me now!’ She slumped her shoulders. ‘You know what will happen, don’t you? We’ll get a call in the morning cancelling the viewing and telling us it’s already been let.’
Shaking his head, Zac chuckled. ‘Not with this one. It’s the cottage Nicola used to rent down The Twistle. It’s not even on the market yet. The tenants are moving out in two weeks’ time and we’ve got first dibs.’
Polly let her mouth drop open. ‘Seriously?’
‘Seriously.’ Leaning forward, Zac cupped her cheek. ‘This is going to be our new start, Polly.’
Biting down on her bottom lip, Polly stifled an excited squeal. This was it. This was what she’d always dreamt about, moving to a village, falling in love and moving in together. She just hadn’t guessed that the man she fell in love with would be one she’d known all along. ‘I love you, Zac.’
‘I love you too, Polly.’