‘As if I’d just got out of bed having had a very nice time?’ Fran was relieved to have her gloomy thoughts sent in another direction.
‘Let’s just say you have a special glow about you.’
Fran glowed some more.
‘I am so sorry about Amy being ill just at this minute,’ he went on. ‘We should be having a lovely time together; there should be nothing but happiness just now. But instead you’re worried about losing someone who’s become dear to you.’
‘That’s true, but I’m ashamed to confess I’m worried about losing the farm, too. I know it’s awfully mercenary of me, but if Roy inherits, whatshallI do? I really don’t want to go back to London. I’m a country girl now.’
‘You could consider moving but not very far from where you live now? My house is big enough for two.’
She laughed. ‘Your house is big enough for two hundred.’
‘Only if we hire a marquee …’
‘You know what I mean!’ The joy of it was, he did know what she meant. She felt he understood her in a way no other boyfriend had, really. But was he a boyfriend? It seemed too flippant a term, really, for Antony. And it felt too flippant a term for how she felt about him. ‘Thank you very much for inviting me to stay,’ she said seriously.
He laughed. ‘It’s an open-ended invitation. For as long as we both shall live, to quote a rather famous line.’
‘Are you asking me to …’ she paused, ‘… live with you?’ Fran wanted to be clear about this. Getting it wrong would be dreadful.
He glanced at her again and didn’t speak immediately. ‘What I’m saying is, if you don’t inherit the farm, you could come and live with me – there’s no need for you to go back to London. I want you by my side for ever. But if the farm is yours, well, living arrangements can be discussed.’
‘Right, just so I can get it clear in my head, if I inherit the farm you may be willing to move out ofyourhouse and share my rather small house, which hasn’t got proper Wi-Fi and only a hand-held shower?’
‘Darling.’ He touched her knee briefly. ‘What I’m going to say can easily be misinterpreted but I do hope you won’t. You know I love you and also that I’ve always wanted Amy’s farm. Not only for the potential south-facing vineyards’ – he held up his had to stop her protesting at the thought – ‘which I now know are never going to be there, but for the wonderful position of the house.’
‘So you want me for my south-facing views?’ Fran was joking but suddenly things did seem a little different.
‘No! I’d want you wherever you lived. What I’m trying to say, rather clumsily, is that I don’t mind giving up my house to live with you in yours.’
‘OK …’ said Fran slowly.
‘But if you weren’t there I wouldn’t want your house. At one time, yes, but not any more.’
‘Golly,’ said Fran, knowing it was inadequate as a statement but unable to express herself properly.
There was a ping from her phone. It was Issi.Are you nearly at the farm? Come as soon as you can.
‘We need to hurry!’ she said.
‘We’re very close,’ Antony said calmly. ‘I’ll have you there in ten minutes.’
ChapterTwenty
Amy was in the local cottage hospital, so finding her bedside wasn’t as hard as it might have been. Fran ran after Antony who strode down the corridors as if he knew where he was going.
Amy was in a side ward looking heartbreakingly fragile. There were tubes giving her oxygen and a drip in her arm. She looked dreadfully old and ill and so tiny.
Roy got up when he heard their arrival. ‘She’s pretty much out of it,’ he said, far too loudly in Fran’s opinion. ‘I’m off to the pub. I’ve told the nurses not to resuscitate.’
‘What gave you to the right to do that?’ said Fran, utterly outraged.
‘I am her next of kin!’ declared Roy. ‘See you later.’
‘Ishe her next of kin?’ asked Antony.
Fran shrugged. ‘I have no idea, but we need to “un-tell” the nurses that this minute.’ She dithered,wantingto stay with Amy but feeling it was essential she saw someone in authority immediately.
