Page 74 of A Year at Appleyard Farm
Peter sighed and picked up the zester, peering at the lemon in his hand.
‘One…’ he intoned, but when Willow risked a glance at him, he was smiling.
The morning passed in a blur of lemon-scented industry, until the last of the elderflowers had been checked over for bugs and stacked in the waiting crates, and every work surface held pan after pan of the summery concoction. They could do no more until tomorrow when the syrup was ready to be strained.
Willow, however, was not finished with the day yet.
‘Do you want to make some ice cream?’ She grinned.
Peter, who had a glass of water halfway to his lips, nearly choked before he had even begun to drink it.
‘Now might not be the best time to mention that I don’t actually like ice cream,’ he said.
Willow grinned. ‘In that case now might be the perfect time to mention that that doesn’t matter in the slightest. Besides, I’ll soon change your mind.’
She enjoyed the teasing banter she shared with Peter. He was easy to talk to, but he never let their chatter get in the way of hard work. The morning had taken her mind off the images of last night; not removed them but pushed them firmly enough to one side so that she was able to concentrate on the task at hand. She had to stay focused now. She had to be smart if this venture was ever going to succeed, and simply making gorgeous cordials or ice creams wouldn’t be enough. She wasn’t just trading in yet another food stuff; instead, she was selling the hum of summer hedgerows, busy with bees, the feeling of sun on bare toes whilst walking country lanes, the soft quiet dawn turning to the pale violet close of the day. It was everything she held dear, bottled, packaged and enticing. She was selling the dream. And not only was she selling it, but she also had to convince some pretty important people that they wanted to buy it.
She glanced back at Peter who had now finished his drink and was waiting for further instructions. He had asked nothing of her during the morning, beyond the odd check that he was doing things correctly, or what to do next, but she could sense his curiosity. It was pretty obvious, particularly to someone with Peter’s intellect that her comment about branching out her business a little was not all there was to it, but she still wasn’t sure how much she should confide in him. She trusted him, that wasn’t the issue, but how did you explain to someone that everything you were doing, every decision you made was because of a feeling, a hunch, even a bad dream. It sounded kooky even to her.
She took some cream from the fridge. ‘The ice cream isn’t difficult to make,’ she said. ‘It’s basically gooseberry puree mixed with elderflower cordial and added to whipped cream, but I find it has a happy spot when you’re mixing. It’s hard to explain, but under or over the happy spot and it doesn’t seem quite the same somehow. I’ll try and—’
Willow was interrupted by the sound of her mobile ringing. She glanced down at the table, her face crossed with anxiety when she noted who the caller was. She picked the phone up immediately.
‘Maggie, is everything okay?’
She listened, nodding, for a few seconds, her expression growing more and more concerned. ‘I’ll come straight away. I can be with you in about ten minutes…Is Amy okay? She’ll be so upset about her sister.’
Peter looked up sharply when he heard Amy’s name mentioned and his eyes connected with Willow’s as she lowered the phone.
‘That was the school,’ she murmured, her hand fluttering to her throat. ‘Beth fell awkwardly in PE, they think she might have broken her arm.’
Peter took the phone from her hand with a glance at his watch. ‘Go and get your bag and keys. I’ll ring Jude, maybe he can pick Amy up later, otherwise I’ll go.’ He shooed her out of the room, already dialling the number. By the time she returned, it was all sorted, and he pushed the phone back into Willow’s hands.
‘Go on, go. We’ll look after everything here until you get back. Just keep in touch, let us know how you get on, okay? And give my love to Beth.’
Willow gave him one final look before turning on her heel. Her mind was already elsewhere.
* * *
Peter watched her retreating back as she hurried down the hallway. It was every parent’s worst nightmare, and he hoped that Beth was okay. He’d never really had any experience with children before coming to work for Willow, but Beth was bright as a button, and funny too. She’d had him in stitches one day trying to teach him tongue twisters. She was so much better at them than he was. Amy was quieter than her twin, a little more thoughtful perhaps, but just as adorable, and she would miss her sister dreadfully this afternoon. He didn’t think he had ever seen them apart.
He turned back to the table and looked at the two large pots of cream that Willow had put there moments earlier. The navy-blue notebook lay a little distance away, and he picked it up thoughtfully. He’d never made ice cream before, but maybe this would help to keep him occupied while he waited for news about Beth. After all, how hard could it be?
The gooseberries were cooling by the time Peter heard the back door slam, and the sound of running feet. He knew that Amy would head for the kitchen first, and as he pulled open the door to the stillroom, he was met with her tear-stained face racing down the hallway to find him. She barrelled into his legs just as a tired-looking Jude came through the door. He looked a little fraught.
‘I want to go to the hospital.’ Amy wailed into his legs. He suspected Jude had heard nothing else since he picked her up from school, but he bent down as close as he could to her level, pulling her gently away so that he could at least see her face.
‘I’m sure you do,’ he said. ‘I know if it were my sister that had hurt her arm, that’s exactly what I’d like to do too.’
The tears halted for a moment. ‘Then why can’t I go? Daddy says I can’t go.’
Peter took hold of her hand and started to lead her back down the hallway. He bent down to whisper in her ear.
‘Shall I tell you what I think? I think daddy doesn’t want you to go because then he’ll have no one to look after him while Beth and mummy are at the hospital. Daddies get scared too, you know.’
Amy looked up at him, her blue eyes large and round. ‘But you could look after him.’
Peter bit back a sigh, thinking quickly. ‘But I’m looking after you,’ he said.
