‘They came for the supper club. And I could help with marketing. I think people would love to come up to this gorgeous spot.’
‘But only in summer, surely? Would they come all the way up here in winter?’
‘I think so! We know for ourselves that the views in winter are just as good – as long as it’s not raining and you can see a blessed thing.’ She paused. ‘And the food will be amazing too. Destination dining! I’m sure it’s a thing!’
‘And’– suddenly Fran was squeaking with excitement, all melancholy gone – ‘thanks to Roy, we could put the restaurant in the barn. If we made one wall glass, our guests could eat and look at the view!’
‘You mean because the planners have already agreed to “change of use” they’d agree to it being a restaurant?’ asked Issi.
‘I hope so! Obviously it’s a big project and will cost loads …’
‘I suppose we could ask if Antony can be an investor—’
‘In what?’ said Antony, coming into the kitchen.
Fran’s heart leapt with joy. ‘What are you doing here?’ She jumped up to hug him.
‘I cancelled all my meetings and took the day off so I could come back and be with you,’ he said, kissing the top of her head. ‘I thought you were probably feeling a bit weird about things.’
‘I was feeling very wobbly.’ She smiled at him. ‘I feel better now!’ He looked back at her, his love for her shining out, and she knew that while she had his love, she didn’t need anything else. But she also had a farm she had to make profitable. She took a breath. ‘I think Issi may have found the solution to my problems.’
‘Well done, Issi. What was the problem and what is the solution?’
‘I need to make the farm profitable. As you well know,’ said Fran, rolling her eyes at him.
Issibroke in. ‘Fran’s going to open a restaurant in the barn. But she may need you to invest in the project.’
‘A restaurant? Here?’ He thought for a few seconds. ‘I once went to a restaurant in Scotland you had to drive miles to. It was full every night it was open, apparently.’
‘So you think it might work?’ asked Fran.
The expression in his eyes told Fran that he had other things on his mind for Fran apart from restaurants and investments. ‘I do. I think you could really make a go of it. You could use it to market your cheese, too.’
‘I could really help with that,’ Issi said again, for Antony’s benefit. ‘It’s my thing, sort of, apart from my PhD.’
‘And,’ Fran said, ‘Roy has kindly applied for change of use for the barn and got it. Obviously we’d have to reapply to make it a restaurant but this could be the solution.’
‘It could. You will need to do something else to get Hill Top back on its feet. And I’ll help you in every way I can.’
Fran put her arms round his neck and pulled his head down so she could kiss him again.
‘Now, Fran,’ he said when she’d finished. ‘Let’s go and look at this quarry. I feel I should know where it is.’
‘Oh, can’t I show you later when I turn the cheese? I want to plan my restaurant.’
‘Showme now. It’s important,’ Antony insisted.
‘But, Antony—’
Issi laughed. ‘I think you should go right now,’ she said. ‘Antony wants to talk to you in private.’
‘It’s quite a steep climb,’ said Antony. ‘It explains why no one found it before.’
‘I wouldn’t have found it if it hadn’t been for the calf getting separated from its mum. I had to really conquer my fear of cows to get them back together. I told Amy. I think she liked it.’
Antony took hold of her hand. ‘Come on, let’s pull each other up.’
‘Do you really want to look at the quarry?’ Fran said.
