Page 40 of Falling in Love at Pennycress Inn

‘Yeah. He really isn’t.’ She focused on their hands as he drew circles with his thumb across the back of her hand. ‘Our relationship hadn’t been perfect, I guess, but I still would have appreciated him finishing with me first before moving on.’

Charlie looked at her, a flash of anger flushing across his face before he frowned. ‘Please believe me when I promise you that I’d never cheat on you. I never have cheated and I never will.’

He’d never cheat on her. Did that mean what she thought it did? Was he saying that he could see a future with her? Or at least that he’d like to see where things led?

She squeezed his hand. ‘That’s good to know. Can I ask why you and your last partner split up?’

Jackson took a deep breath, the lines in his forehead deepening. ‘There were a few things. Our ideas of the future we wanted didn’t align and at the time neither of us had much time to invest in our relationship.’

‘Because of work?’

‘Yes, we were both working all the hours under the sun and our relationship just went to the bottom of the list of things to attend to, so to speak.’ He ran his palm across his face. ‘I’m not proud of it, of putting my work first, but that’s just how it ended up.’

‘Sorry to hear that.’ Nicola twisted her wine glass on the wooden tabletop. He worked long hours back in London, then? He did at the farm too, she knew that, but he’d made time to see her.

‘I guess it’s just one of those things that we need to learn from.’

‘Yes, that’s true.’ Did he split up with her, or did she break up with him? Did he secretly want to get back with his ex? She knew these insecurities stemmed directly from the way Nathan had behaved towards her, so she tried her best to push them out of her mind and focus on Charlie. He was here with her now and she just needed to take that at face value.

21

Nicola tapped the return button on the keyboard. That was another batch of photographs of Pennycress up and loaded onto social media. She flicked through them and smiled. The photographs made the inn look idyllic: guests lounging in the garden, Jill’s new plant pots brimming with colourful flowers by the front door, a slice of the fruitcake Laura had been painstakingly learning how to bake and perfecting for the last month or so before allowing their guests to be eager guinea pigs.

Nicola looked up as Laura came through carrying a tray full of used crockery.

‘I think we’ll have to build another cloakroom down here. This is their third pot of tea and they’re already onto their fourth.’ Resting the tray on top of the desk, Laura laughed. ‘And just to warn you, they’ve been trying, and failing, to teach me bridge, so if you do venture into the sitting room, they’ll likely try to accost you, too.’

‘Thanks for the warning.’ Nicola grinned. She loved the bridge club members, her mum being one of them, and the others all being people she’d grown up with around Meadowfield. ‘My mum gave up on trying to teach me years ago, so hopefully I’ll be safe.’

‘Oh, you might be lucky then.’ Laura smiled as she rearranged the empty cups and saucers on the tray. ‘I can’t believe it’s almost the Landownes’ wedding.’

‘I know. When they booked it, I thought it was so far in the future we didn’t really have to worry about it, but it’s come round so quickly.’

‘It has, hasn’t it? I just hope we can pull it off.’

‘We will.’ Nicola smiled. She knew how worried Laura was about hosting the wedding reception, but everything was prepared, and they were ready for the big day. ‘It’ll be fine. Everything is under control.’

‘Oh, I don’t doubt that. I’ve seen how you work, remember? I’m more worried about something going wrong on the day. The range breaking so Jackson can’t cook the wedding breakfast or the roof caving in. Or me tripping and spilling red wine on Suzy’s wedding dress.’ She began chewing her nails.

Reaching out, Nicola laid her hand on Laura’s forearm. ‘If the range breaks, Jackson will cook the food at the pub. If the roof caves in, well, the wedding party will be out in the garden, anyway. And if you spill red wine on the bride’s dress, then we’ll just test out the whole throw white wine over the stain to get rid of it theory. We’ve got this.’

Laura pulled her hand away from her mouth and relaxed her shoulders. ‘Thank you. I knew you’d have a solution to everything.’

‘Honestly, let’s just roll with it and enjoy it. You never know, this might be the start of a whole lot of people choosing to have their wedding reception here at Pennycress Inn.’

‘Now that would be wonderful, wouldn’t it? For us to be such an integral part of a couple’s special day. Although I’m not sure my stress levels could cope.’

‘Stop.’ Nicola grinned. ‘Suzy and Owen’s big day is going to be perfect.’

‘Yes, you’re right. You know what, I think I’m just going to try to put it out of my mind for now. Like you say, everything is prepared and ready to go, so there’s no point worrying.’

‘Exactly.’ Nicola nodded and pushed a fallen napkin back onto the tray.

‘Right, I’d best go and grab some more cake.’ Laura picked up the tray just as the front door swung open and Jill stepped inside with a few sheets of plywood under her arm. She was quickly followed by a group of at least ten young children all sporting bright blue T-shirts with the wordsMeadowfield Forest Schoolemblazoned in yellow writing across the front and carrying large pieces of card, paintbrushes and those squeezy bottles of paints which seemed to be a staple in every primary school classroom. Lowering the tray again, Laura glanced at Nicola, a look of pure horror on her face before turning to Jill. ‘Hi, Jill. Everything okay?’

Leaning the sheets of plywood against the wall, Jill scraped her hair from her face and bundled it into a messy bun, strands of her glorious red hair cascading down her back as it fought against the hairband. ‘Yes… No.’

‘No?’ Laura raised her eyebrows.

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