‘Shortly after their introduction to Europe, tomatoes were given the name love apples due to their aphrodisiacal properties. Did you know that?’
‘Can’t say I did,’ Annie replied. ‘But we should totally bring back the name love apples. Much cuter than tomatoes.’
‘There we are. Something to remember our trip by,’ said Harri, tamping the compost down like it was coffee grounds. ‘I’ll send you pictures when they’ve grown, our little babies.’
Annie, he noticed, wasn’t saying anything now, and she’d withdrawn a little.
He wiped the soil from his hands. ‘Did you know,’ he began, ‘I wasn’t assigned to our flatshare at Aber? Not at first.’
This made her swing her head to look at him.
‘It’s true. I was meant to be sharing a private flat with three rugby lads in the town.’
‘No way?’
‘But Dad thought I’d end up boozing away my degree if I stayed with them.’
‘He was probably right.’
Harri played offended, hand clutched to his chest, to make her laugh.
‘So I asked to be transferred to campus and…’ Harri shrugged at the serendipity of it all.
‘And there I was,’ said Annie.
‘And there you were.’
‘So we might never have met if it wasn’t for your dad’s total lack of faith in you.’ She quirked a brow.
‘Only you could get away with saying that.’
She laughed again, pushing away from the potting bench and opening the basket at Harri’s feet, drawing out a bottle of peach tea that she shook before opening.
‘You’re lucky I like you,’ Harri said. She took a drink then handed him the bottle.
How he wished she was easier to read. Less closed off, always trying to be a one-woman island taking on the world alone. Now she was rummaging in the basket, taking out the sandwiches.
‘What are they?’ Harri asked.
Annie inspected the package, taking off the wrapping, quickly whipping her eyes to his when she realised. ‘PB and J!’
‘Your national dish,’ he joked.
Annie showed him the heart-shaped white bread sandwiches, nice and big, made from two fat slices. She tore the heart in two and handed him half, smiling wickedly the whole time, doing it to annoy him.
He looked at his torn half. ‘Thanks a lot.’ He still took a hearty bite and for a while all they did was perch on the low brick walls of the raised beds, chewing slowly, enjoying the feeling of being insulated from the winter chill beyond the thin glass.
‘It’s not easy having a daddy who’s tough on you,’ Annie said eventually, not quite out of nowhere. She’d obviously been considering something as she ate.
‘You don’t need to tellmethat,’ Harri said with a wry smile. ‘But you can talk about it any time.’
Annie brushed crumbs from her lap. ‘It kind of closes a person off, you know? When there’s someone in your life who’s supposed to be on your team but all they seem to care about is how others see them.’
Harri nodded slowly, listening, not wanting to spook her when she was sharing her feelings. They’d never really talked like this before, not before they made this trip to Devon.
‘And Mom,’ she went on. ‘She’s great and everything but…’
Harri already knew what she was going to say. He knew because his mum was the same. ‘But she defers to him?’ said Harri.
