Page 43 of Finding Love at Roseford Blooms
‘For bloody once!’ Lizzie’s blood was up, and she felt light-headed, despite the sustenance from the cake and coffee she’d eaten with Simon not half an hour ago.
‘If you’d only kept us in the loop, darling,’ her mother said, ‘we wouldn’t be here right now, urging you to sort things out.’
‘Things? This is my life, Mum! There’s nothing to sort out. And if there was, I’ll be the one to do it. There was absolutely no need for you to come here.’ Lizzie, who’d sat forward during the exchange with her father, slumped back against the cushions of the sofa as the dizziness threatened to overwhelm her.
‘That’s as may be, but we’re here now, so you might as well pack your things.’ John Warner could be very difficult to argue with when he was in full flow, and Lizzie realised that she’d have to fight hard if she wasn’t going to end up in the back of his Volvo XC90 that afternoon, on the way back to Surrey and an interview with Howard Harper.
‘No, Dad,’ she said quietly, but firmly. ‘You’ve tried to manage every step of my life since I was born, from where I went to school to what I did for a living. And I’ve gone with it, to the point where I became very successful. But enough is enough. I chose to sell Warner-Basset. I chose to come here to recover after my car accident. And I’m choosing to stay here, now.’ She held up a hand as her father started to interrupt. ‘And I’m thankful, Dad, that you’ve spoken to Howard, and offered me somewhere to go, but I’m happy with those decisions.’
John Warner stared back at her for a long moment. ‘And that’s your final word?’
Lizzie nodded. ‘It is.’
John turned to his wife and other daughter. ‘Come on, then. Let’s go.’
‘There’s no need to go yet, Dad,’ Lizzie said. ‘You’ve only just got here.’
‘Well, we can’t really stop,’ Lizzie’s mother replied. ‘We’re on our way to Bruton to pick up Hugo and Effie from school summer camp.’
Lizzie felt the dagger prick of rejection sharply. So this hadn’t been a special visit, then. It had been a pit stop on the way to pick up Georgina’s two children. Why had she expected it to be anything else?
Pulling herself together, she rose from the sofa. ‘Well, it was good of you to drop by,’ she said, eventually. ‘Send my love to Hugo and Effie.’
As her family made a swift departure, Lizzie closed the front door of Bee’s cottage and leaned against it. Had she really just stood up to her father for the first time in her life? To her shock she found she was shaking.
36
Simon had fired off an email to Cross Dean as soon as Lizzie had left, filled momentarily with confidence after their conversation. It was only later on, when the endorphins had stopped fizzing, that the doubts started to set in again. It was all very well in theory, but in practice? Did he really have it in him to go back there?
He shook his head in irritation. He was a grown man with bigger responsibilities. He didn’t need to worry about what happened during his cussed school days. Lizzie was right; it could be a valuable networking opportunity to gauge some interest and find some backers for RoseFest. It was time to look to the future, after being mired for so long in the past.
Simon’s phone pinged with a WhatsApp message. Heart leaping that it might be Lizzie, he was almost as pleased when he saw the message was from Finn, asking him if he was free for lunch.
Texting back that he had time for a sandwich and a cuppa, as his virtual in-tray was starting to mount up, he agreed to meet Finn at the BHF tea and coffee concession in about an hour. He knew Finn was heading off to the airport tomorrow, and was pleased that his friend wanted to check in with him before he left. After he’d answered a few more emails, it was time to meet Finn, and he locked his office and headed out into the sunshine.
‘Hey!’ he said as he caught sight of Finn, who’d already got a couple of coffees in. ‘Have you recovered from the celebrations?’
‘Just about,’ Finn replied, passing Simon a latte. ‘Got time to walk and talk?’
‘Sure.’ Still fortified by the cake and coffee that Lizzie had brought him, he wasn’t too bothered about more food. ‘Are you all set for your trip?’
Finn nodded as he sipped his own coffee. ‘Yeah. There’s something I wanted to ask you before I left.’ Finn glanced around briefly, making sure no one else was in earshot. ‘Not many people know yet, but since I’m headed out of the country for about six weeks, I was wondering if you could do me a favour?’
‘Of course,’ Simon replied. ‘Name it.’
They walked a few more paces until they were ambling along the ha-ha, which separated the manicured gardens from the fields beyond.
‘Can you check in on Lucy while I’m gone?’
‘Is she all right?’ Simon asked. ‘She’s not ill or anything?’
Finn shook his head. ‘No, nothing like that.’ He paused. ‘She’s pregnant.’
‘Mate! That’s brilliant news. Congratulations!’ Simon glanced around again, and lowered his voice, even though there wasn’t anyone nearby. ‘When’s she due?’
‘End of February,’ Finn replied. ‘We, uh, we weren’t completely sure until a couple of days ago, but we decided to do a test, since I’m headed off to Iceland tomorrow to assist on a new movie. Turns out the nausea she thought was a stomach bug was morning sickness.’ He raised an eyebrow. ‘We haven’t even told my mom yet.’
‘Well, I’m honoured you’ve told me,’ Simon said. ‘Does Lucy know you’re asking me to check in?’
