‘I’ve got an appointment in a week’s time. I wish I could have seen him today but it’s a small branch; the managers don’t visit often.’
‘Well,’said Issi, ‘plenty of time to earn a bit of money by then. We could do another supper club, or even open a pop-up restaurant in the barn!’
Fran had to laugh. The barn was made of corrugated iron, open to the elements on two sides, and full of machinery. ‘Get that organised in a week? Easy-peasy!’
The following week, Fran noticed Antony in the car park while she was getting her ticket before her meeting with the bank. To her delight, he came up to her.
‘Hey!’ he said. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘Nothing nice. The bank have summoned me. That’s never good news, is it?’
‘Probably not.’ He cleared his throat. ‘Have you any idea what it’s about? Are you in a hurry, by the way? Time for a coffee?’
The best coffee shop in town was a step away. ‘Well, I have actually. I escaped early so Roy wouldn’t notice I was going.’
‘Come on then.’
They found a table and ordered drinks. As it was early, they came quickly and soon Fran was drawing patterns in the foam on her cappuccino. She wished she could just enjoy being with him while not surrounded by people, and didn’t have the meeting of the bank hanging over her.
‘So,’said Antony, putting down his espresso having taken a sip. ‘How’s it going with Roy?’
‘Actually, awful. He’s vile. And now I’ve got this meeting.’
‘Do you know anything about it?’
‘I can guess. When I first arrived here it was implied that all the financial stuff was sorted. But it wasn’t. I discovered there’s a loan from the bank which I think Amy must have forgotten about.’
‘Is it due to be paid back?’
‘No, but they are due a payment.’
‘Are you in a position to make one?’
She looked at him. ‘Of course not. Well – I doubt it. I don’t know how much—’
‘Would you like me to—’
‘No! Absolutely not. I owe you far too much anyway.’
He smiled at her outrage. ‘I wasn’t offering to lend you money. I was going to offer to come into the bank with you.’
‘How would that help?’
‘It’ll make the manager or whoever you’re seeing think you’re not just a girl down from London who doesn’t know anything about farming, let alone how to raise enough money to service their loan.’
‘Oh God, he will think that about me, won’t he?’
Antony nodded. ‘So what had you planned to tell him?’
‘I’mgoing to tell him how amazing the cheese I’m making is going to be and for what a lot of money I’m going to sell it for. I hope if I’m convincing he’ll let me extend the loan.’
‘On cheese?’
‘Erica said the other day that she thinks our milk could make a really good hard cheese, which I realise is long term – up to a year even – but until then I’ll have the soft cheeses, and I’ll do more supper clubs.’
‘So what will you say when he asks what you’ll do when the cows are dried off?’
Fran bit her lip. ‘You know, I’m kind of hoping he won’t know that cows do dry up.’
