Page 41 of The Price of Love
‘Okay then. I’ll be at the place about seven. I’ll see you both down there.’ And he was gone, giving me no chance to stammer about taking Luke being a bad idea.
Chapter Nineteen
‘And it would make the mostsensationalweekend place.’ I was half-full of informative animation, and half-full of vodka and Red Bull. ‘You could take clients up there. Have corporate events, dinner parties, that sort of thing.’Sell it to him, Willow.
‘No harm in having a look, I suppose.’
That had been easier than I’d expected. ‘I’ll have more than enough money to buy it in my own right, so you don’t need to have anything to do with it if you don’t want to. I thought I could start up a business, maybe growing herbs or something. In the meantime, maybe I could let it out to Bree. She’s selling the rectory, and she’s going to need somewhere for her and the baby.’ I didn’t say that, if this was the case, I’d have to get a move on. Bree had woken up today swearing she was having contractions, but by lunchtime she’d decided it had probably been a dodgy prawn sandwich.
‘Steady on, Willow.’ Luke laughed. ‘If we buy anything, and we really should do it jointly, both names on the deeds, you know, for the insurance? So it will have to be suitable for both of us.’
‘There’re some barns around the back. You could keep cars there.’
‘And land, you said? How would it be for planning permission?’
‘You’ll see. We’re nearly there. Pull in over here, in this lay-by.’ I was a bit shocked by Luke’s immediate desire to change everything, but then he hadn’t had time to fall in love with the place as it stood yet.
‘There’s no access? Willow, how could you run a business with no road access?’
‘It can be sorted. Come on, down here.’
As we approached the end of the narrow lane, I covered Luke’s eyes with my hand. ‘You can look in a minute.’ And led him by the wrist until we arrived at the top of the meadow. ‘Now look.’ I uncovered Luke’s eyes and waited, heart pounding, for his verdict.
‘It’s very pretty.’
Was that all he couldsay? The sun and clouds were playing chase me across the fields, giving rise to an interesting stipple effect of light and shade. The breeze softly wafted the smell of flowers across to us and there was no noise, apart from the cry of a sheep. It really couldn’t be any more bucolic if it had the Wurzels in it.
‘Those are the barns I told you about.’
‘Very nice.’ Luke turned to me earnestly. ‘Actually, Willow, I think you might be on to something here. The potential is just . . .’ A wide-armed gesture said it all. ‘It really is fabulously sited. Look at the little river there.’ We walked towards the house. Cal was in the yard watching us approach. ‘Oh my God, these are genuine cruck-framed buildings. How oldisthis place? It’s fantastic!’
I introduced Cal to Luke. There was a moment of stiff-legged confrontation as they shook hands, then Luke smiled. ‘I really like your place, Cal. Fantastic opportunities here, yeah? Be worth a fortune to a developer. Can I look round?’
‘Help yourself. I’ll borrow Will to give me a hand with the goat.’ Limping, in what I considered to be an excessive fashion, Cal led the way out of the yard and down the lane which led up onto the hill. ‘He seems all right.’
I looked at Cal’s expression, because his tone had had the tiniest sting in it. It was bland and completely unreadable. ‘He is. He’ssogood for me, Cal. I never thought I’d meet anyone who’d actually want tomarryme, you know? I’m not the easiest person to be around. Not just with the, well, you know, but, withmy family and everything. I kind of got used to being me-ish, I suppose.’
We reached Winnie’s hideout on the hillside. Cal found the going increasingly difficult because the ground was uneven, pockmarked with hoof-holes and rabbit dugouts, like a micro-scale battlefield. ‘There’s nothing wrong with you.’ Cal sounded angry. ‘I don’t know why you think there is.’
‘I puke on blokes.’
‘Your system doesn’t cope well with emotional overload, that’s all. It’s not something so abnormal, sopervertedthat you have to marry the first man who asks.’
‘I’m thirty-two, Cal,’ I said slowly, wanting the words to sink in. ‘I know that’s not old in men-years, but in terms of woman-time it’s pretty nearly over the edge into Botox and suck-it-all-in underwear.’
‘You don’t have to get married, though, do you?’
‘Luke wants to. He says it’s more sensible to be married than just living together. Gives him “gravitas” as a businessman, and there’s more security for both of us.’
‘And you? What doyouwant, Willow Cayton? Hmmm?’
Banks burst. ‘I want to livehereand have babies that grow up being able to ride before they can walk, and milk cows and weave, and know what plants they can eat and what they can’t. I want to grow things and make perfume and medicines out of them, and cheese with plants in and candles with dried flowers and . . . stuff.’
‘Let me guess,The Good Life?’
‘Maybe. Maybe I’m just a hippy who missed the boat.’ By now Winnie had got fed up with eyeballing us from a quarter of a mile away and was sidling up, curiously.
‘You’ve got a very pastoral image of life, haven’t you?’
