Page 108 of Summer At Willow Tree Farm

So everyone had picked up on that too. Fabulous.

‘And three,’ Annie added, not waiting for a reply. ‘He never ever lets a woman get too close. As soon as there is even a whiff of commitment in the air, he’s gone. Ask my mate, Daisy. So the fact he didn’t notice you were getting too close – I think that’s hugely significant.’

Who knew Annie was such a hopeless romantic? Or capable of clutching so hard at straws? Ellie would have been charmed, if only the conversation wasn’t making her start to feel angry with Art now as well as hurt.

How could he have let her think she was special, knowing the whole time she wasn’t? Because if what Annie was saying was true, his behaviour was beginning to look deliberate. He’d protected all the other women he slept with but not her. Had she actually meant even less to him than she thought?

Thank goodness she’d always had an exit strategy – her return to New York suddenly looked like a lifeline.

Josh and she would be able to make a clean break in three weeks’ time from this misery.

She’d get over any lingering feelings for Art again like she had the last time. And when that happened she’d be able to come back and visit. But until then, it would be healthier for her to put the distance between them she needed. Three thousand miles distance to be exact.

‘Annie, can we stop talking about Art now?’ she said, letting the weariness show in her voice. ‘We’ve still got ten more of these centrepieces to prepare. And I don’t want to be still here at midnight.’

Before Annie could say anything, Jacob and Melody crashed into the room holding armfuls of ivy.

‘Hey, you wouldn’t believe how much we managed to find,’ Jacob said.

‘Where’s Toto?’ Ellie asked, pleased to be able to change the subject.

‘We bumped into Art in the woods. Toto went back with him.’

Ellie’s heart throbbed painfully at the mention of the man, the gaping hole still there and still making itself felt. Yup, she needed distance. Thank goodness she was going back to New York, because as long as she was still here, the hole would never heal.

Brushing his hands on his jeans, Jacob knelt beside his bride-to-be, his smile sweetly reassuring as he rested his palm on the small mound of her belly. ‘Hey, good-looking, what you got cooking?’

‘Maddy’s got a baby cooking,’ Melody said, having climbed onto her mother’s lap, then promptly stuck a grubby thumb in her mouth as everyone chuckled.

Jacob ruffled Melody’s hair. ‘Clever girl.’

‘Can I go to bed now, Mummy?’ Melody yawned, round her thumb.

Tess lifted her daughter to take her home. ‘I’m afraid I’m going to have to desert the field, ladies,’ she said. ‘Are you OK, Ellie?’

‘Yes, of course, I’m happy to put in another couple of hours, if Maddy and Jacob will have me,’ she said, deliberately misinterpreting the question.

Tess left, and Annie stayed and the three of them worked together, doing the last of the work to make sure Maddy’s wedding would be glorious, while Jacob cooked them all dinner and kept the wine flowing. As always, Ellie found herself enjoying the camaraderie. She was really going to miss moments like these when she returned to the US. But it was better not to linger.

Nobody mentioned Art again. And Ellie was glad.

Because really, what else was there left to say?

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Maddy and Jacob’s wedding day dawned bright and clear and crisp. The slight chill in the air a signal that summer was drawing to a close.

Ellie spent the morning in the shop – the original plan had been to schedule the celebration for the evening, because they hadn’t wanted to lose a day’s trading and Saturday was their busiest day. But, in the end she, Dee, Tess and Annie had made an executive decision to close up at one o’clock despite Maddy’s objections. They could make up the sales the next weekend with a leafleting push in Gratesbury and Salisbury. Both Maddy and Jacob had put in so much to the project and they deserved to have their special day properly marked… Plus, Ellie knew there were bound to be tons of last-minute details to see to that would require all hands on deck. The late arrival of the guys who were erecting the gazebo and a mad dash to Gratesbury to buy extra tea lights just two of the things that ended up on Ellie’s troubleshooting list.

By six o’clock, with the ceremony due to start at seven, she had finally downgraded from whirling dervish to multitasking maniac.

Entering the house after decorating the gazebo with Annie and Tess, she found her mother putting muslin covers on the trays of canapés she’d prepared for the reception. With an apron slung on over a royal blue body-con dress, her salt and pepper hair arranged in an elegant chignon, Dee looked the picture of calm, competent class.

‘Mum, you look gorgeous.’ Ellie’s stomach rumbled, she’d missed lunch in the melee – but everything was finally done. ‘And so does the food.’

The gazebo was ready for the guests to arrive, the tables for the wedding feast had been arranged and decorated in the shop forecourt, the flower arrangements her mother had got up at dawn to finish looked beyond beautiful in the rustic fall colours. Rob had begun to light the jam jar lanterns they had dotted around the grounds as the sun began to sink towards the horizon and the band Rob and Mike had booked were setting up for entertainment later in the evening.

The group of students they’d hired from Salisbury’s catering college to serve the meal, so that Dee could join in the festivities, milled around the k

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