She wanted to reply and tell him she’d had a great time too, and to apologise if she’d seemed a bit out of sorts on the beach. She’d done her best not to let her feelings show after she’d spotted Ken, and she’d still joined in with Tristan and the boys in making sand angels, delivering on the promised brownies, but knowing that her parents had chosen to lie to her, rather than spend time with her, had undoubtedly weighed her down. She’d been convinced they’d picked up on it, but perhaps all those years of ‘acting’ the part of the carefree nomad had paid off. So instead, she kept her response short and sweet.
Holly
I had great fun too and the boys are brilliant. Thanks for showing me around xx
She’d deliberated about whether or not to include the kisses, but it had felt cold not to reciprocate when Tristan had put them on his message and, the truth was, he felt like the closest thing she had to a friend right now. Yet she hadn’t even known Tristan a week, which was pretty tragic when she thought about it. She couldn’t bring herself to respond to his comment about seeing him again, because she knew she couldn’t, even though she wanted to. Closing the door on that would have felt like pushing away the only friend she had left in Cornwall, and she couldn’tface doing that, despite knowing she had to get out of Port Agnes as soon as possible. Although it turned out her response had left the door a little bit too open.
Tristan
How about a proper tour of the farm tomorrow? The spring lambs are adorable, and you’ll really be missing a trick not to get some footage of them for your social media. Maybe we can take Merlin and Casper for a walk together afterwards too? xx
Holly stared at the message for a moment. Tristan was right. Content like that at this time of year would be hugely popular and she couldn’t afford to get complacent. It was why she was going to have to force herself to record a Woody’s Words of Wisdom slot whether she wanted to or not.
Holly
Okay, thanks, that would be great. Just let me know what time xx
She should have pushed for them to do the tour in the morning really, because her plan had been to get back on the road tomorrow, and she wanted to be at her next base by the time it got dark. She’d been thinking about visiting an area of the Brecon Beacons, where the carpet of bluebells at this time of year would make the perfect backdrop for new content. She could hike to some of the waterfalls with Merlin, who’d always loved water in every form. If she wanted to set up camp there by tomorrow night, sheshouldleave by lunchtime. But if Tristan came back to her and suggested they get together in the afternoon, she’d just have to see it as fate deciding that tomorrow wasn’t when she should leave. What was one more day? It was part of the joy of a lifestyle like hers – that she had the freedom tochange her schedule whenever she felt like it. Maybe she could talk about that in her ‘Woody’s Words of Wisdom’ slot this week instead; it would make her feel far less of a fraud than trying to wax lyrical about the concept of home. She hadn’t had one of those for sixteen years and she couldn’t imagine that she ever would again.
9
Tristan had replied to Holly’s text telling her that he would be spending the morning carrying out soil testing, but that he would be free after 2p.m. for a tour of the farm. Holly had stuck to her reasoning that one more day in Port Agnes couldn’t possibly do any harm. She’d offered to take Casper out on a long walk with Merlin while Tristan was busy, through the woods and on to the coastal path and, despite the warmth of the day, she’d worn a woolly hat and wound a long scarf around her neck until she was out of sight of the farm. She’d spotted her sister a couple of times since arriving, but Bex had been far enough away for her not to have recognised Holly even if she’d seen her. What she didn’t want to do was risk coming face to face with her and blowing her cover, now that she’d come this far. She’d be going tomorrow, she was certain of that now, and she’d picked her next location out.
She hadn’t made Tristan any promises when he’d asked her for a review, but he’d assured her that the location of the campsite would capture her heart and he’d been right. Even if Port Agnes had meant nothing to her, she’d still have loved it and shewould be recommending the site to her followers, but this had to be her last night, for her own sanity as much as anything else.
She’d woken up to an email from Ken asking Holly to call him as soon as possible and leaving his number. Ken had always seemed very reluctant to use his mobile phone, only ever contacting her by email, so the request to call had filled her with unease for a fleeting moment and she’d almost called him straight away. Then the realisation had hit her that he must have seen her the day before, when she’d spotted him in Port Agnes. He probably wanted to cover his tracks, by getting her to phone him and coming up with some convoluted tale about why he and her mum hadn’t gone away on a cruise after all. So she wasn’t in any hurry to phone him, because she knew whatever lies he told would just compound the hurt she was already feeling.
She’d call him when she got to Wales. Having a bit of physical distance between them might lessen the impact of the lies he was bound to tell her, or at least she hoped so. She loved Ken, she really did, but the thought that her stepfather could lie to her hit incredibly hard. It had taken her so long to trust him and now… she just wasn’t sure there was anything he could say or do that could make up for the lies her parents had already told, and if he was going to layer that on with yet more fabrication, she needed to be ready, and she definitely hadn’t felt ready that morning.
She’d also woken up to a stream of messages about her latest video, telling her that her words had resonated, and how incredible she was for embracing a lifestyle that was clearly so good for her soul. Holly had spoken about stepping away from the treadmill that so many people on the nine-to-five found themselves on, pushing themselves to burnout in order to achieve the next goal, just in order to upgrade their car, or buy a bigger house. She’d hammered home the message that people were missing out on so much by always chasing those goals, and had talked about howthe freedom her life gave her provided far richer rewards than owning any kind of house or car ever could. She believed those things to be true, she really did, but what she didn’t mention was the price of rootlessness and the aching loneliness she’d felt in the hours leading up to making that video. She certainly hadn’t mentioned that a huge part of her would give anything to go back to being the girl in the photograph, in the blazer that was several sizes too big, so that she had the chance to do things differently.
After her walk with the dogs, she’d dropped Casper back to the garden of Tristan’s house, safe in the knowledge that it was far enough away from the farmhouse for her not to be seen. Then she’d spend some time finalising her plans to drive to Wales and responding to messages and comments online. She’d made a video of Merlin swimming in the sea, which had already been watched thousands of times. If she could get some good footage of the lambs, it would mean she wouldn’t need to appear on camera for a few days after her next ‘Woody’s Words of Wisdom’ slot. She also set up some interviews with people living in their vans full time close to where she’d be staying in Wales. It was the kind of content she knew was always popular with her followers, many of whom were contemplating living full time in some kind of alternative way, either through choice or circumstance.
By the time Tristan knocked on the door of the van, she couldn’t wait to get back outside. Thankfully, there was no need to pretend she felt cold, despite the spring sunshine, and wrap herself up in a woolly hat and scarf. He’d already told her that although they might bump into his cousin on the farm, he wouldn’t have the chance to introduce her to his cousin’s wife – his partner in the campsite business – because she’d gone to see her parents and would be having dinner with them. Holly had wanted to release the voice screaming inside her that they wereher parents too, and she’d desperately tried not to picture the cosy scene. Her sister would never be told that they were away on a cruise just to fob her off. But thinking that way wasn’t going to achieve anything, so instead she decided just to be grateful that there was no chance of bumping into Bex.
‘Are you ready?’ Tristan asked as she opened the door. His skin was already taking on the kind of sun-kissed glow that only someone who spent a lot of time out in the open would get at this time of year.
‘Absolutely.’ Holly turned back inside the van for a moment, checking that Merlin’s water bowl was full and placing a couple of treats next to his bed, where he was currently curled up recovering from the long walk down to the beach and back, plus the swim.
‘How do you feel about feeding the lambs?’ Tristan might as well have asked how she’d feel about being given a winning lottery ticket. ‘A couple of them have been rejected by their mums, so we’ve been bottle feeding them and they’re doing really well.’
‘That could be the biggest draw yet for the campsite and you could probably charge a fortune for people to have the chance of doing that.’
‘If we did, we might also be able to claim aGuinness Book of Recordsentry for the world’s fattest lambs.’
‘Yet another reason for people to want to visit the campsite! Although I think it’s got plenty of natural appeal.’ Holly locked the door of the van behind her and fell into step with Tristan as they walked across the field.
‘So does that mean you’ll be recommending us?’
‘Definitely.’ She couldn’t tell Tristan there had never been any doubt about that. The success of the campsite would have a directimpact on her nephews, and she’d never do anything to jeopardise that.
‘In that case, I’ll let you feed Lola. She’s the sweetest little lamb you’re ever likely to encounter and let’s just say the same can’t be said for her sister.’ Tristan smiled and Holly found herself wishing once again that she didn’t have to leave quite so soon. ‘But there are plenty of other things to show you first.’
The tour of the farm exceeded her expectations. The land was undulating, and traversing the fields had taken her breath away at times, but not nearly as much as the views from the highest vantage points, where the land seemed to fall away in the distance, and tumble straight into the sparkling blue sea. The lambs were playful, chasing one another across the fields, bleating for attention from their long-suffering mothers and nudging determinedly at soft underbellies for their next feed. There were the baby goats too, who seemed to be born entertainers and couldn’t help but make her smile. She knew running a place like this, a mix of arable and sheep farming, would be incredibly hard work, but it was idyllic too. Her sister had created an amazing life for herself, with the farm, her husband, and her three beautiful boys. Now she even had a campsite. That had been Bex’s ambition, ever since she’d started her first job at the holiday park, and she’d made her dream come true. Holly was so proud of her, but she knew Bex wouldn’t have accepted her congratulations, even if she’d been able to offer them.
They were in one of the barns now and the two little lambs inside began bleating in a frenzy the moment they saw Tristan, their tails wagging furiously, making them seem even more puppy-like than they already did.
‘This is Lola and Butty.’
