Page 39 of A Forever Home at Honey Bee Croft

Amber shook her head. ‘No. I’m the project manager of the whole thing but I wanted to give Zara something to get her teeth into. Sourcing stock and merchandising excites her, but it does nothing for me. I’m better at the big picture vision stuff. I’m involved in all the key decisions about the non-farming activities, but I’m enjoying not having a clearly defined role. I’m a spare pair of hands for whoever needs it – usually the one who shouts the loudest.’

We crossed the yard and entered a stable block opposite the shop. The lights were already on inside and I counted four stalls on each side with horses looking out over six of them.

‘Morning, Milo!’ Amber called.

I hadn’t noticed anyone in there but a dark-haired man, probably late twenties, poked his head over one of the stalls.

‘This is Poppy. She’s staying at Whisperwood this week.’

‘Hi, Milo!’

Milo didn’t meet my eyes, mumbled something indecipherable, and ducked back down again.

I glanced at Amber, surprised at the lack of greeting but she mouthed,Nothing personal.

‘Do you like horses?’ she asked.

‘I like all animals, but I’ve never been around horses. Never ridden.’

She introduced me to all six, giving their names and whether they were owned by the farm or stabled there.

‘Do you offer riding lessons?’ I asked.

‘No. Barney gives the odd lesson on Munchie to Imogen – his best mate Joel’s daughter – but he doesn’t have the time or interest to offer lessons. We both ride and so do his parents and sister but not as regularly as we’d like. If you stay again and fancy a go, you’d be very welcome.’

‘I’d like that although, with Mary planning to sell up, staying at Whisperwood Farmhouse won’t be an option.’

‘Fair point, although my friend Samantha has holiday cottages at her place, Hedgehog Hollow. You could always stay there.’

I followed her back into the yard.

‘While we’re out of earshot, don’t worry about Milo. He’s brilliant at his job but he doesn’t do people. As I said, it’s nothing personal. He’s a bit grumpy this week. We have a groom but she’s off sick so it’s fallen on Milo to see to the horses and, eventhough he loves all animals, pigs are his passion and he’d spend all his time with them if he could.’

It was fully light now and showing promise to be another beautiful if chilly day. We headed down a wide track to the left of the stables.

‘This is the petting farm for our school visits,’ Amber said. ‘Natasha and Zara have been running them and we’ve had some great feedback so far. There’s a lot more we can do, but it’s a starting point.’

I took in the lawned area containing various wooden shelters, houses and runs in front of a wooden barn and smiled at the large sign –Welcome to Cuddle Corner–with some cute cartoon animals on it.

Amber hadn’t said what the third building at the bottom of the U-shape was used for so I asked her about it as we walked back to the garage.

‘We’re not sure what to do with it at the moment. We wondered about a holiday cottage but the location isn’t right. There’s too much going on around it so I could just imagine all the complaints about noise. We could expand the shop into it, make it smaller units for local businesses, expand the school activities…’ She shrugged. ‘Lots of options but nothing that screams for immediate attention.’

Before long, I was on the back of a quad bike and heading up a gently sloping track between the farmhouse and fields. It was such a thrill to be on one again, the wind blowing my hair and cooling my cheeks. In the distance to my right, I could see Whisperwood Farmhouse. We passed pigs, goats and then sheep. Bumblebee Barn was stunning and I really couldn’t have come to a better place. I wondered whether Sharon and Ian had suggested it because they knew that, as well as falling in love with the surroundings, this was a place where I’d be able torelax, switch off and find the person I used to be before illness dominated my life.

Another quad bike was parked by the gate of one of the fields containing Herdwick sheep and a dark-haired man was making his way towards us who Amber introduced as Barney.

‘I’d normally shake your hand but best we don’t today,’ he said, laughing as he wiped his hands down his mucky boiler suit. ‘This isn’t mud.’

‘What happened?’ Amber asked.

‘There was some string tangled round one of the Herdies and I thought I’d pinned her to remove it, but she dodged me and I landed somewhere bad. Typical day in the life of a farmer.’

‘You’ve got a gorgeous farm,’ I said, glancing around me at fields stretching out as far as the eye could see. ‘These views!’

‘Stunning, aren’t they? I’m so lucky to have all this and even luckier to have someone to share it with now.’

Barney and Amber exchanged loving smiles, making my heart melt. It had been a long time since anybody had looked at me that way and I really missed that connection with somebody special.

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