‘You should drink the rest. Leave the bottle outside my door when you’re done.’
He turned and strode off towards the farmyard without a backwards glance. As he disappeared from view, I drew my legs up to my chest, wrapped my arms round my knees, dipped my head and closed my eyes, trying to quell the rising panic. That wasn’t how I’d hoped or expected my first full day to start.
Anna Garstang deserved an Oscar for the performance she’d turned in when Mam and I viewed the farm. She’d played it brilliantly because there’d been enough truth presented alongside the lies not to set off any alarm bells. She’d been honest about the repairs needed around the farm although, as many of them were visible like the chimney damage on The Dovecote and the fencing, she couldn’t exactly have hidden them. When talking about the attraction, I recalled her exact words:there are loads of things you could do to get more visitors than we currently have. Except she’d omitted to tell us that the current visitor numbers were zero and, because we’d visited out of season when everything was closed, we’d never have realised that.
I raised my head and looked towards the pastures but I couldn’t see Willow from my seated position. Was there any chance she could have got it wrong or exaggerated the problems? Her love for the horses emanated from her and she clearly wanted to keep coming here so she was hardly going to make things up and blow her chances. Caleb’s sarcasticgoodluck with thatcomment last night certainly backed up that all wasn’t well.
I took another swig of juice and shook my head, a tumble of emotions whirling around inside me. Should I cry at the injustice of it all or laugh at being so stupidly naïve? Who in their right mind makes a decision to buy a business without seeing the detailed financial statements? Jude had repeatedly told me to make sure I did my due diligence but I thought I knew best and I’d forged ahead, feeling optimistic about the bright new future ahead of us – or rather wanting to feel optimistic.
Had that been the problem? Had I been so desperate to have that bright new future that I hadn’t wanted to check the accounts and unearth anything that might be cause for concern? I’d steered clear of the farm’s social media profiles and had avoided searching on the visitor review sites, telling myself I wanted to go into it fresh with my own ideas, but had I avoided them for fear of what I might find? Because I’d so desperately wanted to believe this was the endgame – the place where I was always meant to be, back with my family in the beautiful and sparsely populated county that had always held my heart – because, if it wasn’t, why had my marriage ended? There had to be a reason for that.
I took my phone out and scrolled through the emails from my solicitor, stopping at the one containing the visitor figures and turnover Anna had provided. What a joke!
I needed to talk to someone but not Mam and definitely not Maddie. Not until I had a plan. But I knew someone who’d be up at this time. I’d messaged her last night to let her know I’d arrived safely and would call her for a proper catch-up once I was settled in.
‘You can’t possibly have unpacked and settled in already,’ Jude said, answering the FaceTime request within a couple of rings. Her smiling face was like a warm hug.
‘No. I’ve barely done anything. Have you got five minutes? I could do with a sounding board.’
‘I do, but that sounds ominous and you don’t look too happy. Everything okay?’
‘Not really.’ I winced. ‘You know how you kept telling me to do my due diligence on the farm? Well, I didn’t.’
‘Oh no! Oh, Grace! What have you found out?’
I gave her the edited highlights – or should that be lowlights?
‘Can you think of any reason why Willow would be lying?’ I knew I was grasping at straws by hoping Jude would think of something I hadn’t.
She shook her head. ‘It wouldn’t make sense to lie, especially if she wants to keep volunteering. I guess you’ll find out for sure when you open.’
I nodded. ‘Just under a fortnight to wait for impending doom.’
‘Impending doom?’ Jude said, raising her eyebrows at me. ‘I think somebody’s being a bit dramatic there. Where’s my optimistic friend?’
‘Sitting next to a pile of crap and feeling like it’s a metaphor for my life right now.’
‘Sitting next to what?’
I panned the camera round to show her the manure pile.
‘Oh, my God! You literally are sitting next to a pile of crap! I know I shouldn’t laugh, but…’
Jude’s laugh had always been infectious and I couldn’t help laughing with her.
‘This is one of those moments where you laugh or cry about it,’ Jude said when we’d both calmed down. ‘I’m glad you chose laughter.’
‘Thanks to you. It was fainting before that.’
‘That’s a joke, right?’
‘I wish!’ I told her about that too.
‘You really are having a stinker of a day – also literally given where you’re sitting.’
That set us off laughing again but panic quickly set in. This wasn’t a laughing matter. This was my life. Mam’s life. Maddie’s life.
Jude evidently noticed the emotion switch.
