Page 2 of A Forever Home at Honey Bee Croft

Ten minutes later, I stood outside Jeremy’s office and took a deep breath. The door was closed but I could see through the slanted blinds that Eloise was in there and they were sittingat the round table in the corner of the room engaged in what looked like a serious conversation. I took another deep breath and knocked.

When Eloise opened the door, my stomach lurched. She was usually all smiles, but she did not look happy today.

‘Come in, Joel,’ she said, indicating that I should join them at the table.

Jeremy looked up from a pile of papers and nodded his greeting to me. He was a great boss – really friendly and supportive – but he was one of those people who hardly ever smiled, so I couldn’t read anything from his expression.

‘We’re sorry it’s taken so long to come back to you,’ Eloise said. ‘We have some news, but I’m afraid it’s not what you’ll have been hoping for.’

My stomach sank. Clearly I hadn’t got the job, which meant I wouldn’t be free to spend more time with Imogen.

‘There’s been an unexpected development,’ Jeremy said.

He and Eloise exchanged looks and he nodded.

‘This is confidential at the moment,’ Eloise told me. ‘There’ll be a formal announcement to all staff at one o’clock today, but Mack wanted you to know first out of courtesy and respect.’

‘We’ve been taken over,’ Jeremy said.

My mouth dropped open. I hadn’t been expecting that. ‘Who by?’

‘Bramblecote Country Foods.’

Bramblecote had their origins in West Yorkshire but had embarked on a major expansion programme over the past decade, gobbling up smaller food manufacturers to increase their product range. I’d always assumed that Claybridge Fresh Foods would be too big for them but presumably their recent successful growth had provided the kind of capital they needed for a takeover bid.

‘It came as a shock to us too,’ Eloise said, as though reading my mind. ‘We’ve been instructed to put a freeze on all recruitment – even internal moves – and have been advised that they’re sending one of their production managers here a week on Monday to begin a handover with Jeremy. He’ll be here for at least a year while they implement some changes, which means?—’

‘That there’s going to be at least a year’s hold on the position,’ I finished. ‘Or possibly no position at all.’ Either way, I was stuffed. I felt as though I’d missed out on so much with Imogen already. No way could I wait another year.

‘I’m so sorry, Joel,’ Eloise said. ‘This isn’t the news either of us were wanting to give you today.’

‘Are there going to be redundancies?’ I asked.

‘We don’t know,’ they said together.

‘And what about the off-record answer?’

Jeremy shrugged. ‘I’ve seen lots of takeovers and mergers in my time and all of them included redundancies.’

‘Same here,’ Eloise said. ‘When or who is anyone’s guess and let’s be clear that itisonly a guess at this point. Mack wanted to tell you himself, but he’s been whisked away so he asked us to do it.’

It was good of Mack to ask them to give me the heads up. Everyone knew I’d applied for the job, and it would have been humiliating discovering that I hadn’t got it at the same time as my peers and my team.

‘I’m sure you have loads of questions,’ Eloise continued, ‘and I wish I could say we have answers but, right now, you know as much as Jeremy and me.’

Jeremy shuffling some papers was my cue to leave. I slowly pushed my chair back, feeling weary with disappointment.

‘Thanks for your time,’ I said instead, fighting to keep the frustration out of my voice. This was hardly their doing and I could imagine they were both feeling bad enough without mecreating a fuss. ‘I won’t say anything to Sal about what’s coming at one.’

Eloise fixed sad eyes on me and mouthedthank you.

I was about to pull the door open, but I dropped my hand to my side and faced them both. ‘If Bramblecote hadn’t come along, would I have got the job?’

‘We thought you might ask that,’ Jeremy said. ‘Yes, you would. You were head and shoulders above the rest. I wish…’ He sighed. ‘I’m sorry, Joel.’

I thanked them again and left. Unable to face returning to the office and Sal’s eager expression just yet, I headed through reception towards the exit. As soon as the second set of doors opened, the cold air wrapped round me and took my breath away. We were five days into March and, while the Midlands and south had been enjoying a recent warm spell, it was big-coat weather in the north.

The smoking shack was empty. It wouldn’t give me much relief from the cold but it might keep the wind off me. Somebody had left an empty can of drink on the ground and I gave it an almighty kick, showering fizzy orange over my trousers and boots. Great!

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