Chapter 6
Nancy was safely on her way back to London after a morning of giggling and reminiscing, and of course helping Eliza sort her outfit for her first date with Luke.
Or at least Eliza was pretty sure it was a date.
She was here for three months, and other than finding a way to pay down her eye-watering debt, she was fully focused on one thing and one thing only.
Having her first ever rebound. One so hot that if Henry ever heard about it, his balls would retract and have him crying on his knees, begging her to take him back.
God that revenge fantasy was getting out of hand.
At one on the dot Eliza heard a car pull up.
As she poked her head out of the little kitchen window, trying not to get her face scratched by a rose thorn, she saw the rust-coloured pick-up truck come to a stop and Luke jump out casually.
Even that was attractive. She caught her breath as he walked towards the front door, once again blown away by how handsome he was.
What was the catch? How can he be so fit and single?
Before she could get her head back in through the tight gap, he spotted her, and with a flirtatious smile said, ‘See, you are spying . . .’
‘I wasn’t, more just checking it was you and not some creepy stranger.’ Could this get more mortifying?
‘Oh, really? Well, come on, let’s go, we want to catch the best of the day.’ He smiled in a way that made her swoon. His smile should really come with insurance.
She ran round, quickly checking how red her face was in the hall mirror, pleased to find herself only slightly rosy-cheeked, and opened the front door.
‘How’s the hangover doing?’ he asked. ‘Feel ready for a swim?’
‘No hangover here! I am totally ready to go. Let’s do it.’
Following him down the drive, he opened the passenger door for her and she jumped in, settling herself amongst all the dog hair and clumps of hay.
‘Sorry about that,’ he said, noticing her brush off a cloud of fur, ‘I’m a farmer, kind of goes with the territory, and Rose likes to come everywhere with me, but I left her at home today to look after the puppies.’
Wasn’t this her fantasy? Hot farmer, a few rolls in the hay. Eliza blinked at the sharp turn her life had taken and reminded herself she was happy. ‘Oh yes, the puppies, can I see them? I would love to!’
‘Of course, you can even have one if you want. Apart from one, they all need homes.’
Eliza laughed. ‘I’m not sure I’m ready for that kind of commitment just yet.
I’ll be back in London or travelling somewhere else in a few months, but I’m happy to stroke a couple!
’ She grinned out the window, wondering if Dan had caught sight of her going on a date with the hottest single man in the county.
‘So, tell me, where are you taking me? Should I be worried? Going into the wilderness with a strange man . . . ?’
Luke looked at her as he spun the pick-up out of the drive one-handed. ‘Well, I reckon you’re safer with me than some dodgy bloke you just met on Tinder!’
‘I guess that’s true!’ She laughed. ‘So where are we going?’
‘Well, it’s hardly the wilderness, but there is a gorgeous little Swallows and Amazons segment of the river that I love and it’s usually pretty quiet because it’s a bit of a walk, so not that many people trek down there. I think it’s beautiful and worth breaking a little sweat over.’
‘Well, I can’t wait to see it,’ responded Eliza, wondering if she’d ever heard a man speak so passionately about nature. It was definitely more romantic than she’d expected a farmer to be capable of; he was busting all of her stereotypes. ‘You really are quite the country boy, aren’t you!’
He grinned at her, turning down a narrow lane. ‘Yup, I’ve grown up on a farm, and couldn’t imagine my life without the big outdoors. Which must seem pretty alien to a city girl like yourself.’
‘I don’t know – I love it, too. My family all live in the countryside, and I grew up there so it’s not new to me. I think I just felt that in my twenties and thirties London might be a more exciting place to be. It just feels alive.’
‘And now?’
She turned to look at him, catching his profile and strong jawline, his perfectly formed lips. He was so goddamn beautiful.
‘Now?’ she said. ‘Well, for now I’m here, and I will say the scenery is looking pretty good so far.’
She saw his mouth turn up slightly at the corners, and as she felt herself start to blush, she turned to look out of the window.
‘Just up here,’ he said, pulling the pick-up to a stop on a grassy verge in what appeared to be the middle of nowhere.
She jumped out, pleased she had put on her old canvas Dunlops, and watched him retrieve a cooler bag from the back of the truck. Quite the modern man for a farmer.
‘Don’t tell me you’ve spent the morning making me egg sandwiches, have you?’ teased Eliza, slightly hopeful.
He laughed. ‘Afraid not, but I did steal us some delicious-looking quiche from the café and some of today’s special – the courgette cake. And, of course, a chilled bottle of white.’
‘Great, I brought a bottle, too, but it might not be as chilled as it should be. Got to be pretty useful having a café at your disposal,’ she replied, as she narrowly missed being hit in the face by a branch. ‘What made you come up with that idea?’
Moving in front of her, he held back the next branch so she could walk through without getting whipped.
‘I guess I’m what you would call a serial entrepreneur.
Also, I love it around here. Whenever I leave, I just want to come back, so I decided to give the place a bit more energy.
Give people a place to come and chat – while I’m young, free and single, it seemed like the perfect time to do it! ’
‘So exactly how old are you, single Luke, or is that a little too personal?’
‘Thirty-nine, leading up to the big four-oh. Giving my parents heart failure that I haven’t yet found a bride and produced offspring.’
‘And why haven’t you found a bride?’
‘Why haven’t you found a groom?’ he quipped, holding out a hand to help her over a fallen tree trunk.
She smiled. In the absence of a good answer, she decided to change the subject. ‘Do you have any siblings?’
‘I have a sister, Fenella.’
‘And is she married?’
‘Not yet married, but engaged, and only thirty-three, so they’re less worried about her! Her fiancé is a bloke called Ross, he’s a good guy, I like him. She’s less of a commitment-phobe than me.’
Just as she was about to ask for more details about his sister’s wedding, they arrived at a beautiful riverbank that looked like something out of a painting.
As Luke set down the cooler and began to pull off his grey T-shirt, she wondered if it was actually the riverbank that was beautiful, or the person standing on the shoreline.
After all, it was just mud and trees. She tore her gaze away from his torso to slip on her yellow swimsuit – she could see there was going to be no way out of swimming, not if she wanted to show she was more than just a city girl.
The water was crystal clear – even she could deal with this.
‘Wow,’ she gasped, ‘this really is gorgeous. Who owns this part of the river?’
‘Oh, just one of the farmers,’ he muttered, as he started to take off his faded blue jeans and added them to a pile of his clothes under the tree.
‘Coming?’ he said, with a big smile on his face.
She barely had a second to appreciate seeing his abs of steel as Luke was already grabbing a rope hanging by the wizened old willow tree they were standing under, and swinging into the crystal clear waters.
Like Tarzan. She could feel her fanny start to tingle, and she started to giggle nervously.
It seemed that you really could make things happen just by manifesting them.
‘Come on, then,’ he taunted, ‘show us what you’ve got.’
‘What, on the rope? You want me to swing to you like Jane?’
‘Why not, what’s the worst that can happen?’
A lot, she thought, a lot of bad things could happen if I grab that rope and try to swing into the river. Nancy, of course, would have already done it. Bella, well, she couldn’t imagine Bella swinging on a rope.
‘Come on,’ he goaded again. ‘I promise to catch you if you fall . . .’
‘Right,’ she said, shaking all thoughts of Luke and Bella out of her head. In a rebound there was no space for jealousy.
‘Here goes nothing!’ She decided to grab the rope and went flying towards the river, much faster than she had anticipated. Damn, she thought, I’m too high. I definitely can’t let go. And she rapidly found herself swinging back towards the tree at high speed.
‘Enjoying it so much you’re not going to let go?’ laughed Luke.
‘I don’t think I can!’ she yelled.
‘Yes, you can, just release your grip!’
‘Not yet!’ she screamed. ‘I’m going too fast!’
She felt herself fly past him again and let out another scream, by which point Luke was laughing out loud.
He had the most gorgeous, deep laugh. His eyes so alive, his wet hair brushed back from his face.
She was so desperate to jump into his arms but also convinced she would do herself some great bodily harm.
In the end, after holding on for her third trip flying across the river, her arms made the decision for her, and she let go.
Her landing was catastrophic – flat on her back, nowhere near him and the water was bloody freezing. She was definitely a little winded. Mortifying!
‘Elegant,’ he said, gliding over to her as she came up for air, staring straight into her eyes, so close his breath was on her face again. ‘I mean, unbelievably graceful . . .’
And with that, he started swimming away. ‘Come on,’ he beckoned. ‘Now you’re in, I might as well show you some sights.’
Jesus, she thought, he doesn’t hang around.