Ashton stretched out his back and rolled his shoulders. He’d better get some sleep. But as he was finally drifting off, it wasn’t Lacey who was in his thoughts, as she had been every other night since the split – it was Carla and the sweet look on her face as she’d cuddled the rabbit.
To her surprise, Carla found she was enjoying her regular goat walks before breakfast, and after just a few days she wasn’t nearly as breathless walking up the hill. She was starting to fit into the slower pace of life at the farm and felt better for it.
When she entered the kitchen, Dulcie was whisking up eggs in a bowl. ‘Good, you’re back. I’m making scrambled eggs for breakfast. Would you like some?’
‘Yes, please.’ She was hungry. ‘Can I do anything?’
‘You could pop a couple of slices of bread in the toaster.’
‘On it.’
Soon afterwards, she was sitting opposite Dulcie and tucking into her breakfast. Swallowing a mouthful, she asked, ‘Is there anything you want me to do today?’
‘Why don’t you take a day off?’
‘Youdon’t.’
‘It’s my business, my farm. You’re here to relax.’
Relaxing sounded good, but Carla knew she would feel guilty. She couldn’t just sit around while Dulcie and her sister worked so hard.
‘Actually, thereissomething you could do,’ Dulcie said after a second. ‘You could pop into the village and do some market research for me.’
Intrigued, Carla asked, ‘Such as?’
‘Have a mooch around the shops and see how they display things. I want to get some ideas.’
Carla felt a surge of excitement. ‘Does that mean you’re going ahead with the farm shop?’
‘Otto and I talked it over, and we both think it’s a great idea. It can’t hurt to have a dedicated space to display the goods properly, and having set opening times will be a godsend. Eventually, I hope to have an online ordering system, so people can pay and collect.’
‘Wow! You really are expanding, aren’t you?’
‘That’s the plan. The farm is almost at the point where it pays for itself, and I’m hoping this will give it the extra push.’
Carla was pleased for her. She remembered how out of her depth Dulcie had felt when she’d first won the farm, and how shehad considered selling up and moving back to Birmingham. It was wonderful seeing her so enthusiastic.
A trip into the village would be a welcome change, and she was looking forward to mooching around the shops. She also liked the idea of doing market research, especially as she had a vested interest in the venture, since the farm shop had been her suggestion.
‘Can I get you anything while I’m out?’ she asked after nipping upstairs to change and checking she had her car keys, purse and phone. As well as looking around the shops she might treat herself to a coffee and a cake.
Dulcie was staring at her computer and smiling. ‘Ashton has sent the photos through. They’re amazing. Take a look.’ She scooted aside so Carla could see the screen.
‘Oh, wow. Theyaregood.’
Dulcie was grinning. ‘In his email, he said that you’d taken a couple of them, and they were just as good as his.’
‘He said that?’
Her friend’s nod was emphatic. ‘He did. And I must admit, I can’t tell which ones are yours.’
A glow of pride warmed Carla’s insides, and she grinned back. He’d asked for her email address, and she wondered whether he’d sent her anything, so she took her phone out of her bag.
He had! And when she read the ‘I told you so’ comment, she laughed out loud and showed it to Dulcie.
‘To think he’s done all this for nothing,’ Dulcie said. ‘He’s definitely one of the good guys. I feel I should thank him in someway, but I don’t know how. A dozen eggs and a bag of pears isn’t enough. And he didn’t seem keen on a meal in The Wild Side.’
Carla thought hard. ‘Apart from photography, is there anything else he’s into? I’m thinking maybe tickets for a concert or a football match?’
