Page 91 of Christmas at Hollybush Farm
‘What about Matthew and his companion?’
I turn to look at the drive. ‘If I’m not very much mistaken, Matthew and his companion are leaving now.’
He looks at me. ‘And you, are you going with them?’
‘No, I’m not going anywhere! Corporate life is out of mine for good! This dream is not for sale! This is about all of us building this place together.’ I stop smiling. ‘I thought you’d left.’
‘I thought you might leave.’
‘But you didn’t.’
‘Nor did you!’
I laugh.
‘What?’ he asks, and laughs back.
‘That idea, about the outside gym, healthy bodies and minds, here on the farm,’ I say. ‘You could …’ I swallow and take a deep breath ‘… you could always stay here. If it worked,’ I say quickly. ‘If you wantedto. I mean, if … you, me … if you thought …’ I’m rarely tongue-tied, and I think I’ve got my words out, roughly in the right order. ‘You could run your boot camps from here. Have people to stay at the farm and get them working out here.’
‘I thought you’d never ask!’ he says. ‘I don’t have a lot to offer. But I promise you, I’ll put my whole heart into getting the food market off the ground. I’ll help you.’
‘The pay’s not great, but there’s always a cuppa and a Welsh cake, and a pot of cawl on the go.’ I smile. ‘And there’s this place, the barn,’ I say looking around. ‘Thought I’d make it into a classroom, teach local businesses about social media, how it can help them. Creating a community. And, of course, we’d need Owen back working here, as farm manager.’
‘Definitely. And you could do all sorts of classes too, wreath-making at Christmas, knitting classes with Evie.’
‘It’ll need doing up.’
‘Looks like I’ll have to roll up my sleeves.’
‘Sounds perfect to me.’
‘If we can make this work, if we can all work together, create our own little village, here at the farm, we could all benefit from it.’
‘Let’s hope we do.’
‘I like the sound of that, Hope food trucks in the fields … maybe a farm shop and workshops.’
‘Let’s hope this goes well, then!’
‘Looks like we should probably stay here together.’
‘I think we should. We’ve got a lamb to look after between us.’
‘Yes, the custody battle could’ve been messy.’
‘Think you might have to change your car.’
‘You’re right.’
‘I just came to the car to fetch these for you,’ he says, closing the boot and handing me a box.
‘What is it?’
‘I told you I had something for you in the car. A present. It’s just been so busy, I kept forgetting to give it to you. Until Matthew arrived.’
‘But you left when they were making their offer. I thought you were leaving.’
‘I knew you’d make the right decision. You didn’t need my input.’
