‘Oh, shit.’ Blake looked around. ‘We fell asleep out here.’
‘Yeah, I seem to remember us getting dressed and you pulling us back down for more kisses…’
He grinned. ‘The kisses were too good to stop.’
‘Yeah, they were,’ I agreed.
‘Last night was special, Daisy,’ he said then, wrapping his arms around me. ‘For me, anyway…’ he added uncertainly.
‘Me too,’ I assured him.
He smiled happily. ‘I guess we’d better get up,’ he said, stretching out his arms with a groan.
‘Let’s try.’ I eased myself out from under him and sat up, my body not enjoying the movement at all. I rolled my shoulders and rubbed the back of my neck. ‘We’re too old to sleep out like this.’ I giggled, thinking about summers here as a child and how I wouldn’t have thought twice about lying out on the grass. Now, my grown-up body definitely preferred a comfortable bed.
Blake stood up and held out a hand, helping me to get to my feet too. Then he held out his arms and I stepped into his embrace. He held me tightly against him and we stood there for a moment hugging. I hadn’t had a lot of affection recently and I wondered if Blake was the same as we leaned against each other, neither wanting to break the cuddle.
Until I heard a dog barking in the distance.
‘Maple is up,’ I said. ‘We better go and feed her and start the morning chores,’ I added with a sigh.
Blake let go of me but he dropped me a kiss on my lips. ‘You’re right. I need coffee first.’
‘You read my mind.’
We grinned at each other and set off for the farmhouse, holding hands like it was something we had always done.
The sun rose behind us as we walked, promising another lovely day. Right now, before the farm would be full of visitors next week, it belonged just to us and it would keep our secret that we’d spent the night together. I knew I’d never forget that night with Blake. It had shown me that you had to grab moments in life that made you feel alive. Even if you were scared of what might happen next. You would end up regretting it otherwise.
I had shied away from moments like that for a long time. Too scared of loss and pain and sadness. Of feeling grief again. Of losing people I loved again. But I knew I had missed out on so much by doing that. So, as we walked back into the farmhouse, I promised myself that it was something I wouldn’t do any more.
* * *
When Willow, Dylan and Uncle Adam returned, it was past lunchtime. I ran over to the driveway when I heard Dylan’s car coming up the gravel. I’d been feeding the chickens and collecting eggs while Blake finished the second coat of white paint on the pony enclosure he had built with Dylan.
‘I’m so glad you’re all back,’ I called out warmly as they climbed out of the car. I looked anxiously at my uncle. He looked tired and pale but he smiled back at me and looked at the farmhouse behind me with relief.
‘I’m so happy to be home,’ he said.
‘Let’s get you up to your room and you can have a nap—’ Willow began, the anxiety clear on her face and in her voice.
‘Love, I’ll go into the kitchen. I’ve only just left my hospital bed,’ he said gently but firmly.
‘And you say I’m stubborn,’ Willow told him with a roll of her eyes.
‘You both are,’ Dylan butted in. ‘Why don’t you both get comfy in the kitchen and I’ll make us all tea and we can have some cake?’ He gestured around. ‘The farm was in great hands so you can both rest for the day. No arguments. It was a long night,’ he said, so firmly that neither of them protested. He nodded. ‘Good. Let’s go. Ah, here’s Blake, so we can all sit down together.’
I turned around to watch him walking over, pulling a T-shirt back on after working shirtless and I got a lovely flashback of his arms around me last night. I blushed but luckily, the three of them were already heading for the farmhouse and couldn’t see my shy smile as Blake approached. ‘We’re all having tea and cake, no arguments, apparently,’ I said when we fell into step with one another.
‘The pony enclosure is all done. They are ready to spend their days in the strawberry fields. It’s looking really good out there.’
‘Not long to go now,’ I agreed. I had put the faux flowers in the watering cans. All we needed now were the picnic benches and the Portaloos to arrive, then set up the till table where people would weigh and pay for their picked fruit and veg, and for the Birchbrook Café van to pitch up, ready for visitors. Willow was almost done planting her pumpkins and then she could focus on the pick-your-own season.
We paused at the door to the farmhouse. I heard Maple greeting her family with boundless enthusiasm, Willow laughing at her dog and Dylan telling Adam to sit down. I felt a warmth travel up my body. I hadn’t heard family noises like this in a long time. I thought about Henry’s house. It had often been so quiet, I was able to hear my heart beating. I looked at Blake, wanting to tell him all of this, but his phone rang before I could.
‘It’s Sarah,’ he said, staring at it.
‘Go ahead,’ I said, although I really didn’t want her interrupting our nice day. But he had his own closure to deal with as I had with Henry. I knew I needed to be patient because he had been so with me. I’d been wearing another man’s engagement ring the whole time we’d known each other, after all.
