Page 32 of Where We Belong

Hope nodded and looked around at the familiar faces. ‘Thank you. I really appreciate your support.’

It was Ziggy who responded. ‘Zap, Rhys and I will each take a vehicle up to the gates and act as escorts as people arrive.’

Hope reached for her phone. ‘I’ve got an email here somewhere from Cam with a timetable showing where everyone is coming from and their best estimate at when they expect to arrive.’ She found the message and forwarded it to her uncles and her cousin. ‘There you go.’

Zap picked up his phone when it pinged and glanced at the message. ‘And I didn’t think it was possible for someone to be even more of a planner than you,’ he said with a chuckle. ‘You really are a match made in heaven.’

‘Zappa!’ Rowena hissed at her husband.

‘What?’ He looked around, face bemused as though he couldn’t work out what he’d said wrong.

Hope poured herself a mug of tea from the pot, and gave herself time to process the fact she and Cam had obviously been the subject of some family speculation. Raising the mug to her lips, she blew on her tea before surveying her mother over the rim. ‘Mum?’

Stevie’s cheeks flamed in an immediate tell-tale blush. ‘I might have observed that Cameron’s a nice young man and pointed out how well the two of you have been getting on together. I didn’t mean anything by it!’

‘Hmm.’ Hope turned her gaze onto her aunt next. Rowena was much less of a soft touch than Stevie and the look she returned had more than a shade of defiance in it. ‘If you think I’m going to ignore the bloody obvious and pretend the two of you aren’t half-smitten already, then you don’t know me at all.’

‘I’m not asking anyone to pretend anything of the sort,’ Hope said firmly. ‘But I do expect that you won’t interfere. Cam and I are perfectly capable of managing our relationship without any assistance.’

‘So, there is a relationship.’ Her aunt exchanged a look of triumph with her mother. ‘What did I tell you?’ With a sweep of her colourful kaftan, Rowena rose from the table and headed to the kitchen sink. ‘We’ll say no more about it. Bring your cups and plates those that have finished,’ she said as she tugged off her rings and set them on the windowsill.

‘Not another word, I promise!’ Her mother’s face was a picture of delight and Hope knew she had to nip things in the bud before they got out of hand.

‘Don’t start getting excited, we’re taking things very slowly and it might not even come to anything…’ Hope trailed off because her mother was already across the kitchen and whispering with Rowena.

‘Big mistake.’ When she glanced around at her cousin, it was to find Rhys grinning at her without an ounce of sympathy. ‘You never, ever let your guard down with them. Haven’t I taught you anything?’ Rising, he gathered his mug and plate. ‘A hundred quid says they’ll be picking hats out within a fortnight.’

‘By the way, Rhys,’ Aunt Rowena said without bothering to turn around, ‘I spoke to Mrs Davis yesterday and Daisy Riley has come down with an awful cold, so Amelia is going to be helping out around the place instead.’

‘Oh, I haven’t seen Amelia in ages, it will be lovely to get the chance to catch up with her, won’t it?’ Hope aimed a beaming smile at her cousin as she watched the back of his neck redden. She knew she shouldn’t encourage her aunt’s dream that one day Rhys and Amelia would get over themselves and realise they were still in love – that ship had long since sailed for both of them – but he deserved it after his smug remark just now.

‘I… er, I need to go and clean my teeth,’ Rhys muttered, turning on his heel and all but bolting for the stairs.

‘You shouldn’t tease the boy, Ro,’ Zap said as he carried his breakfast things to the sink. ‘You know they’re just friends.’ He softened the mild criticism with a kiss to her cheek.

‘I know,’ she admitted, pushing her wild hair out of her face with a dry bit of one soapy hand. ‘But I’m worried about him. That farm is tiring him out and now he’s a worker down after that mess with Keith, he’s taking on even more of the load.’

‘I’m in the process of sorting out some extra support for Rhys,’ Ziggy said from his usual spot at the head of the table. ‘The agency sent some CVs over and we’re going to go through them next week.’

Rowena turned to her brother-in-law with a smile. ‘I might have known you’d already have things in hand.’

Ziggy raised one shoulder in a kind of ‘what did you expect’ gesture then continued speaking. ‘Plus, Mikey popped over yesterday to catch up. He’s finished at Cirencester for the summer and is more than happy to put his studies into practice and put some money in his pocket at the same time. He’s starting on Monday.’ Michael Dobbs was another one of Ziggy’s success stories. A few years younger than Hope, he’d started to go off the rails after his father left home and his mother had struggled to cope with him acting up. Ziggy had stepped in, taking the boy under his wing. Hope didn’t know exactly what had gone on between them, but Mikey had eventually turned a corner and knuckled down at school. He’d come away with top grades and a bursary from Ziggy’s fund to study at the nearby agricultural college.

Hope’s phone buzzed and she checked the screen, only slightly disappointed to see the message was from Declan rather than Cam. ‘Declan’s just arrived, so I’m heading up to the site,’ she said, swiping two spare pieces of toast to take with her. Splitting one slice in half, she offered the pieces to Sooty and Sweep. ‘Come on, you two.’

Declan already had the welfare office unlocked and the kettle on by the time Hope arrived. He stood in the open doorway of the cabin and beamed down at her. ‘Lovely morning for it.’

‘Isn’t it just.’ She moved around to the back of the Range Rover. ‘Can you give me a hand to get these two settled?’

‘Sure.’

Having the puppies with her had never been a problem at her office, but she’d been at a loss at what to do with them over the summer when she’d be back and forth between there and the site. It wasn’t fair to leave them at home all day. Ziggy had said he would look after them, but she hadn’t wanted to burden him when he was already taking back some of the stuff he’d normally rely on her to do so she would have more time to focus on the dig. A chat with Declan about site safety had resulted in him constructing a little doggy den in between the two cabins. Secured with Heras fencing on all sides, he’d constructed a sunshade from some old pallets and Hope had brought up a couple of their old doggy pillows and water bowls. This way, Sooty and Sweep could see what was going on, had enough space to wander about and still be kept safely out of the way.

‘In you come, lads,’ Declan said as he lifted the front fence aside to let the dogs in the compound. Rather than close it up immediately, he bent to accept their licks of greeting, laughing when they showed a great deal of interest in one of his pockets. ‘Can’t hide anything from you, can I?’ Declan pulled a couple of chews out and tossed them onto the pillows in the shade. The dogs dived for the treats and were settled in moments, gnawing away at the rawhide treats.

‘You’ll spoil them,’ Hope admonished as he secured the fence behind him, though she said it with a smile.

Declan gave her a sheepish grin. ‘What can I say? I’m a soft touch. I’ll take them for a walk later once we’ve got the morning arrivals briefed and I’ll make sure they run it off.’

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