He smiled, flashing me his dimples again. ‘With you by my side, I think maybe I could do anything.’
My heart soared. I turned back to look at the stars and felt Blake do the same, but our hands stayed locked together.
‘Me too,’ I said after a moment.
* * *
The next day, I got up early to finish the flower arch before I went with Blake to see his family. Willow continued making her trail while Blake finished painting the pony enclosure.
Dylan was at the cottages clearing the two that were empty ready for the renovation to begin. He had ordered a few shrubs to plant around the cottages to spruce up the outside of them so when he mentioned they needed picking up outside of town over breakfast, Blake suggested that we could collect them for him after we dropped by his family home.
As lunchtime approached, we finished up our work. Willow said Blake could drive her car as his was being repaired, plus it had plenty of space for the shrubs. Her eyes seemed to twinkle knowingly as Blake and I left the farm together. I hadn’t told her about our kiss yet. It felt too new. I wanted it to be our secret for a bit longer. And until we knew what we were going to do.
But I was sure that she could see we were growing closer.
The sky was the colour of corn flowers as Blake drove us out of Birch Tree Farm. The sun cast a warm, golden light down on us as we passed through the farm gate and out into the countryside around Birchbrook. Blake’s family lived in a small town about a forty-five-minute drive away. The plan was to go to the High Street and surprise his dad at the antiques shop first then head over to see his sister at the family home, which doubled up as her riding school. Blake could see his horse too. And then we’d stop off at the garden centre on the way home to pick up Dylan’s shrubs and be back to Birch Tree Farm for the evening. It was a relief to not worry about Henry for the day. I had to see him tomorrow but I pushed that to the back of my mind.
‘Tell me about your dad and sister,’ I said as I settled back in the seat and watched green fields pass by the car window.
‘My dad is the most reliable man I’ve ever known. I always knew he was there for me and my sister, no questions ever. But also for the community. He’s the person you go to in an emergency or crisis. He can fix anything and everything. He loves the past. He reads history books, spends any free time finding things for the shop, and he loves watching old movies. My sister once said he was like a cosy slipper that you can’t bear to part from.’ Blake smiled as he spoke, his fondness for the man clear and bright. ‘I like things from the past too. Especially music. My sister loves to take the piss out of me and my love for seventies music. I don’t know anyone modern. Sarah bans me from playing music when she’s around.’ He shrugged like it didn’t bother him. ‘I guess that’s why I’m not great with technology either. Or dating apps.’ He glanced at me with a smile.
‘Better that than someone who can write the perfect message but when you meet face to face, has zero conversation. I went on a few internet dates and the best messagers turned out to be the worst dates.’ I shuddered, remembering some of the ones I’d been on before I met Henry. I decided I would never use apps again and I would be sticking to that, whatever happened next. ‘What about your sister?’
I liked hearing Blake talk. His voice was deep and calm and he really thought about what he was saying. I hadn’t known him long but somehow, being with him was relaxing.
Blake shook his head. ‘Bronte is a live wire. If you describe me and my dad as quiet and sensible, she is the opposite. She’s fun and feisty and lives life to the beat of her own drum,’ he said, smiling but still with the same fondness with which he spoke about his father. ‘She always tells you exactly what she thinks. Not in a mean way, although she can be brutal if you need to hear it.’ Then his smile faded. ‘I guess things haven’t been quite the same between us this last year. Since I moved away to be with Sarah. Bronte thought I was making a huge mistake.’ He shifted in the car seat. ‘She made it clear to Sarah too. So, I haven’t seen her since the day I introduced them to one another. It didn’t go well. I’ve spoken to both my dad and Bronte on the phone but I haven’t been home for a year.’
‘I’m sorry you guys fell out like that. I’m glad you’re going to see her today. Family is important.’
‘God, I’m sorry, Daisy. I shouldn’t be laying any family drama on you when…’ He trailed off, unsure how to finish his sentence.
‘It’s okay. I know it must be difficult. I just think that you’ll regret it if you don’t make things up with them. They sound important to you, so don’t let, I don’t know… pride maybe… stop you seeing them. Even if you do see what happened with Sarah as a mistake, it’s still okay that you didn’t listen to Bronte’s advice. We have to make our own mistakes in life. I’m sure she’s made some too. When you’re in love, you don’t always see things clearly.’
There was a pause as Blake absorbed what I said. ‘Do you think you and Henry might turn out to have been a mistake?’
‘I made a lot of mistakes, I’m realising,’ I admitted. ‘I shouldn’t have gone along with what he wanted, hid who I was really was, put up walls to protect my heart and let myself sink into this life that I never decided I wanted. And I regret waiting so long to call off the wedding. But his mother planning my future for me was the wake-up call. I knew then it was a mistake. Because I didn’t want what they were planning for me.’
‘It’s understandable that Henry gave you safety and security, that you wanted that after all you’ve been through,’ he replied gently.
‘I’m scared of not having that any more,’ I said. ‘But I know that’s not a reason to stay with Henry.’
‘There was a moment – when I realised Sarah had another man in our apartment – where I thought about leaving and pretending I hadn’t walked in… pretending I didn’t know she’d cheated on me. Isn’t that pathetic?’
We drove down a long, winding lane framed by trees that swayed above us on the summer breeze. Sunlight poured through the gap in the leaves, creating shadows on the car. It was a beautiful place. I couldn’t believe how I’d forgotten how lovely the landscape was around here. How much I had enjoyed living in the countryside while I was growing up. The city felt very far away right now. And I was glad of it.
‘No, not pathetic,’ I said. ‘You knew if you acknowledged she had cheated on you, everything would be different and so you had an instinctive reaction to keep things as they were. But you didn’t, right?’
‘I paused for a second and then I banged the door shut, so she could hear it. She came running out of the bedroom in shock. I had been supposed to be out all day looking at potential office spaces while she worked on the app but the last one cancelled on me so I came home early. I asked who he was. He had been her “friends with benefits” she said before she met me. Said he didn’t mean anything to her. I walked out and when I came back, he’d gone and she begged me to stay. But I packed my things and rang Dylan. And now she’s followed me. She seems to think I’m overacting. That what we have is love, and he’s just someone she calls for fun sometimes. That’s not what I want in a relationship.’ Blake sighed. ‘But you’re right; it’s not that easy to let go of something. Something you thought was going to be… everything.’
‘It isn’t easy at all,’ I agreed.
22
We reached the outskirts of Blake’s hometown then. It was pretty like Birchbrook with a pedestrianised cobbled High Street dotted with rose bushes that were bursting with colour. Blake parked in the small car park behind it and we walked together towards the shops. I glanced at him. He’d gone quiet and seemed nervous. I remembered the nerves I had seeing the farm after five years. I hoped he would feel better once he saw his family again, like I had done.
Halfway down the street was his father’s antiques shop. It had a red sign with the name in cream –Daniels’ Antiques.There was a black chalkboard outside with,We buy and sell antiques at fair priceswritten on it in white chalk, and a smiley face for good measure. The High Street was quiet despite the good weather and when we walked in, I could see the shop was empty of any customers.
The bell rang out merrily on the door and Blake held it open for me. Inside, the shop was long and narrow and bursting at the seams with treasures. Everywhere I looked, there was an object. Furniture, paintings, trinkets, mirrors, clocks, jewellery; everywhere there was space, something had been placed in it. I thought you could spend a whole day looking around but still miss half of what was in the shop. At one end was a counter and a till behind which a man stood replacing a battery in a watch. The radio behind him played softly. He looked up at our entrance and did a double take.
