Page 101 of Chasing Dreams in Eversley Village

‘Val’s still got a lot of living to do. Eighty-two isn’t old, is it? Not these days. I should have taken her to the doctors weeks ago. They might have picked it up. It’s all my fault.’

‘Holly, stop!’ Jaz said.

Holly jumped.

‘You can’t go on, beating yourself up like this. It’s awful, and I’m worried too. Val means everything to me as well. But she wouldn’t want us to think this way, would she?’

Tears streamed down Holly’s face. She knew Val wanted her to be happy, she knew Val loved her, through and through. But at that moment Holly felt overwhelmed with fear that she would never see her again.

She took a deep breath. ‘You’re right, Jaz.’

* * *

Three days later,Holly had not seen Mitch. She told herself she needed to focus on work, but in truth all she was doing was thinking about him. Remembering his kisses. Remembering how it felt when they made love. Remembering the perfection. But life was never that perfect and everyone she loved left her. She had to be strong and, if she saw him, she would crumble. She needed to be someone else, otherwise she would not be able to get through the wait – to see if Val would recover. Knowing she was in such a dark place, she wanted to preserve what they had in Croyde. The last thing she wanted was to taint what they had experienced over those couple of days away. No, it was better to put him off until she had calmed down.

Needing to check the sheds were ready for the farmers’ market, Holly stepped out of the caravan and walked towards the huts then stopped when her phone rang. She fished it out of her cargo shorts. It was Jill. Hesitating she considered leaving it to go to voicemail, but answered it.I have to face it,she thought.

‘I wanted to call, rather than send a letter,’ Jill said. ‘Now I don’t want you to get upset. But there’s a chance we’ll have to go to court.’

Holly puffed out. ‘What? I thought you said it would never come to that? That we needed to stand our ground.’

‘Unfortunately, his cowboy solicitor has recruited a new guy. Peter James, I know him from old. I’m afraid he knows his stuff and plays hardball.’

‘That’s all I need.’ Holly’s bottom lip quivered. ‘Are you saying I have to sell the land and give half to Tom?’

‘Hopefully not, but we might need to make an agreement. Although it’s taking months at the moment to be allocated a court date.’

‘But I don’t have months. I’m developing the nursery and hopefully will be receiving money from the Arts Council. I can’t take the money and then sell up down the road. I need to sort this out within the next month. I need certainty.’

Holly’s hand shook. She saw Joe lift his eyebrows. Realising she had raised her voice she turned around, speaking in a loud whisper. ‘Isn’t there something we can do?’

‘You don’t necessarily have to sell up. You could cut him in on the deal? Say you will rent his half of the land?’

‘He owes me money. And I’ve told you. I know he’s still got it.’

‘And that will now form part of our dialogue with his team. We could offer twenty-five percent of the property with an understanding that he will rent it back to you on a twenty-year lease. There are all sorts of options.’

‘I don’t want an option that involves Tom in my life.’ Her voice shook.

‘You need to stay calm, Holly. Especially now.’

‘I’ve got a farmers’ market and a fair to hold. This will have to wait.’

‘With Tom stating that you have a temper, you need to tread carefully.’

Holly counted to ten in her mind.

‘Perhaps you should come into the office,’ Jill said breaking the silence.

‘I have so much on. I’ll come in after the market. I’ll probably have a clearer head by then.’

‘I’ll have everything ready for you to consider. I’ll consult a conveyancer in the meantime.’

Holly ended the call.

‘Hi, there.’ She swung around – it was Mitch. ‘I wondered if I could cook you something tonight?’

Holly tried to smile but she was too angry. If she told Mitch about Tom, she would lose it and start ranting. If he mentioned Val’s name, she would be in floods of tears. She wanted her time with Mitch to be perfect, but at that moment there was no perfect and she would only trash it and ruin everything.

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