Page 71 of Christmas at Hollybush Farm
The mood around the table dips.
‘He’s right. She was the one who threw us out. She’s not going to agree to us going back. She just wants to get the new clients to buy it.’
I look down at my phone. ‘I think,’ I say slowly, as the idea dawns on me, ‘I may just have a solution. Like you say, social media isn’t all bad.’
31
‘She said yes!’ I punch the air. The others, gathered around the kitchen table with a pot of tea, are staring at me standing in the doorway.
‘No way!’
‘Way!’
‘The agent selling the cattle-market lease said yes?’ Mae wants confirmation. It’s as if no one has been home. Last night they left, but they’re back this morning, with the snow settling on the fields overnight, sitting around the table waiting for news.
‘But how?’ asks Mae. ‘She wanted us off the site. They’ve changed the locks on the gate.’
‘Well.’ I lean in and pour myself a cup of tea. ‘It looks like she’s changed her mind,’ I say, holding up the shiny new key.
Mae gasps. ‘Tell us!’ she says, excited. She’s keepingan eye on her boys through the kitchen window. They’re having a snowball fight and playing with Dewi, who clearly thinks he’s having the best fun.
‘I recognized her when she turned up with her dogs. Actually, it was the dogs I recognized first when she was there at the market and said Jess needed to be on a lead. It took me a while to place her. Deborah Atkins is Dad’s new temporary neighbour, renting the cottage at the end of the drive for December. Her dogs were being a nuisance in Gramps’s field.’
‘And?’ says Mae, holding her cup to her chest.
‘The dogs I filmed the day we were late to meet you at the café and the locksmiths came in.’
‘And?’ says Mae.
‘Well, I suggested that maybe her bosses wouldn’t want to see footage of her and her dogs in our field when they were trying to build a high-end clientele here. I also suggested she needed to build some good relations around here. Take it from me, I know how social media can ruin your career.’ I feel as if a weight has been lifted off my shoulders now that I know I’m not going back to the hotel or to Seattle. I’m here for as long as I can be, and I have to try to make this work.
‘So you blackmailed her?’ says Myfanwy.
‘Well, I wouldn’t say … Actually, yes, I did. I said if she didn’t let us do one last night on the cattle market I’d post this to her bosses’ social-media feeds and let everyone know who she was.’
‘Bloody genius!’ says Dad, proudly.
‘And we’re on?’ asks Mae.
‘We’re on!’
‘Eekkkkk!’ she shrieks. ‘So when?’ She comes to sit at the table.
‘Well, we’re close to Christmas now,’ I say. ‘Shall we do it after Christmas in the lull before New Year?’
‘Or a New Year’s Eve food event?’ says Evie, taking Dad’s blood pressure at the same time.
Faint heart.I hear Dad’s words.I admire how brave you are. Llew’s voice is in my head again. I take a moment to look around the table. ‘Or … do we just go for it and make it a Christmas Eve feast? A place for families and friends to meet before the big day. Eat together, swap presents …’
‘Sing carols!’ says Dad, clearly feeling his old self.
‘It’s very short notice,’ says Mae, looking unsure. ‘How do we know people will come? Don’t we need a bit more run-up time? People are busy getting ready for their own Christmases right now.’
‘Could be just what we need around here, a bit of Christmas cheer! The town hasn’t had any of that for a while,’ says Evie.
‘That’s the thing about social media,’ I say. ‘We’re living in the now. It’s immediate. Look what happened when we did the live feed. People came, wanting to be a part of it.’
‘I’m in!’ says Mae, banging her mug onto the table.
