Page 48 of Falling in Love at Pennycress Inn

‘I’ll get the saw.’ Gerald frowned and pointed towards Charlie. ‘Sorry, mate, I can’t get past. Can you grab my toolbox from the back of my car, please?’

‘Let’s try again before we resort to cutting it.’ Charlie leaned back down and held the roots again.

Nodding in agreement, Gerald took up his position again.

‘Is everyone ready?’ Charlie waited until everyone had nodded before continuing. ‘Okay, on the count of three. One, two, three.’

Nicola angled the tree again and began pushing as the plywood scraped against the doorframe.

‘It’s moving, but be careful, so we don’t take any paint off the door. Push a little harder, but slow it down,’ Charlie instructed. ‘And go.’

As they pushed, the tree finally dislodged, causing Charlie to jump back as the plywood creation fell against the slabs of the pathway. Nicola reached out and grabbed Jill’s arm to save her from falling and Gerald gripped hold of the door handle to steady himself. As they all cheered, Jill gripped her husband as they ran outside to carry it to the small trailer attached to her car.

After watching them walking down the garden path, Charlie joined Nicola inside and chuckled. ‘It had me worried there for a moment.’

‘Haha, me too.’ Nicola smiled as Charlie wrapped his arms around her. ‘At least we no longer have a massive tree towering behind the reception desk.’

‘No, I can imagine that might have raised a few questions from your guests.’ Charlie kissed her on the forehead.

‘So, what was the plan, to slip in, take the tree and leave without warning us it was going?’ She grinned as she thought of what a surprise it would have been for her and Laura to suddenly notice the missing tree.

‘Nope, my plan was to pop in and try to get your attention.’

‘Really?’ She felt a flutter in her stomach as she thought about how often he was going out of his way to see her recently. ‘That would have been a nice surprise.’

‘Well, what can I say? I just like your company.’ He kissed her again on the top of her head.

Leaning her chin back, she studied his eyes. He liked her company? Did that mean he was feeling the same way as her? Not being able to wait until the next time they saw each other. The number of times they’d met up this week suggested it and she was trying, and failing not to read too much into it. ‘What about the farm? I thought you were super busy at the moment?’

He shrugged. ‘We are, but it’s all being taken care of. And, let’s be honest, the farmhands know what they’re doing more than me.’

‘I suppose they do.’ Wrapping her hands around his neck, she drew him closer. ‘I’m going to miss you so much when you sell Little Mead.’

Charlie slumped his shoulders, a shadow forming across his face. ‘I will too, but let’s not think about that now.’

‘I guess not, but we do need to talk about it at some point.’ She bit down on her bottom lip. As much as she didn’t want to, they both knew they had to face up to reality at some point. It was so easy to just push it to the back of her mind, to almost forget that he was only here for the time being, but on the other hand she knew she was falling for him and if they didn’t have that conversation soon, it might just be too late.

‘I know.’ He tucked his finger beneath her chin, their lips touching before he drew back again.

‘Hi, Nicola.’

Jumping back from him, Nicola turned to see Suzy walking into the hallway, the long train of her ivory wedding dress sweeping across the oak floorboards. ‘Suzy, is everything okay?’

‘Perfect. It’s just perfect.’ Her eyes gleamed with happiness. ‘I was just running up to my room to grab a present I have for Owen. I was going to wait until after everyone had left, but I don’t think I can.’

‘I can run up and get it for you if you like? Save you going up?’ Nicola smiled.

‘Thank you, but I’m happy going.’ She fiddled with the straps of her gown and laughed. ‘I need to readjust, anyway.’

‘Okay. Well, give me a shout if you need any help.’ Nicola smiled.

‘Charlie, isn’t it? You’ve taken over from Farmer Williams at Little Mead?’ Suzy turned her attention to Charlie.

‘That’s right. For the time being.’ Charlie nodded. ‘He was my uncle.’

‘You must stay, then. My dad used to work up there on Little Mead.’

‘Oh no, I’m not really dressed for the occasion.’ Charlie’s cheeks pinked as he tugged on the edge of his checked flannel shirt.

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