Page 7 of Falling in Love at Pennycress Inn

‘But please, it’ll be free advertising for you…’ She let her voice trail off as he tutted, holding his hand up as if dismissing her before vanishing behind a stack of hay bales.

Closing her eyes, she sighed. She’d had one job. One job! And she’d failed.

4

Looking up from the computer on the reception desk, Nicola smiled as Laura closed the front door after waving off two of their guests. ‘They were such a lovely couple.’

‘I know. So sweet together and still so much in love, even after forty years.’ Walking across to the reception desk, Laura leaned her elbows on the dark oak wood and grinned.

‘Did they tell you where they went for their celebration meal?’

‘Yep, fish and chips from the local chippie and a walk along the river.’ Laura pulled a pen from the pot by the computer and began fiddling with it. ‘Apparently they couldn’t afford a huge wedding or reception, so they got married at the registry office in Stratford-upon-Avon before coming back to Meadowfield, where they used to live, and grabbing chips and going on their favourite walk.’

‘Aw, that does sound romantic. The registry office at Stratford-upon-Avon is beautiful. All beams and lots of light.’ Nicola glanced down at the computer screen, where she’d been updating the social media pages for Pennycress. She and Nathan had looked around the registry office a few months before they’d broken up. Whilst he’d been having his affair behind her back.

‘It sure does, doesn’t it?’ Laura looked across at her. ‘I know it sounds soppy, but I do hope me and Jackson can celebrate our fortieth wedding anniversary together.’

‘You’ve got to get married first! Have you given any thought to the wedding?’ Nicola laughed. Laura and Jackson may have only been a couple for a few months, but they already acted as though they’d been married for decades – minus the wedding of course. Maybe it was the fact Jackson had been Laura’s older brother’s best friend and so she’d known him for years or maybe they were just really well suited but ever since Laura had moved into Pennycress and discovered Jackson living next door, their relationship had gone from strength to strength. Yes, from what Laura had told her there had been more than a few up and downs before they’d finally been honest about their true feelings towards each other, but now they were together and already planning their wedding.

Laura scrunched up her nose. ‘You know better than to ask that! You’ve seen all the wedding magazines coming through the post.’

‘Haha, I know. You must have signed up to at least ten different magazine subscriptions.’ Not that she blamed her, she’d been the same when she’d been planning her and Nathan’s wedding.

‘Six. So not that bad.’ Laura’s eyes lit up as she spoke. ‘We’ve got so many ideas, though. There’s just such a huge choice out there. I mean, we could get married at some country manor, a castle, a barn in the middle of a field, or even elope to Iceland or Gretna Green or somewhere. The choice is endless. How’s anyone supposed to decide?’

Nicola shrugged. She wasn’t even going to think about the wedding she’d planned in her mind, her and Nathan’s wedding. She hit the return key and watched as a photo of Pennycress’ garden uploaded. She’d been so good at pushing him out of her mind until that reminder about the pizza oven delivery had come. Which she still hadn’t got around to cancelling. Tearing a page from her notebook, she scrawled a note on it to do it at lunchtime. ‘I don’t know. I guess you might find you’re just drawn to a certain venue.’

‘True. I hope so anyway or else all we’ll be talking about for the next forty years is what kind of wedding to have instead of actually getting married.’ Straightening her back, Laura took a deep breath. ‘I suppose I really should go and get the bedrooms cleaned.’

‘Oh, is Jill in today?’

‘Yep. She’s out the back, planting something or other,’ Laura laughed. ‘I must admit, I just let her get on with the gardens. I trust her skills and knowledge more than my own. I’d be completely lost if Jill hadn’t decided to start her own gardening business just in time to work her magic on Pennycress’ gardens.’

‘Okay, thanks. I’ll pop out and see her.’ Nicola frowned. She’d rather been hoping Jill wasn’t coming in today. It would have given her a bit more time to think how she could break the news that the carnival would be two floats down.

‘Is everything okay?’ Laura asked.

‘Yes. No. I offered to help with the carnival planning because Jill has so much on her plate already and she gave me one job and I managed to fail at it.’

‘Oh, what was it?’

‘I only had to confirm that we could still borrow two tractors and trailers from Little Mead Farm, and I managed to mess that up.’ Nicola tucked her hair behind her ears. It hadn’t been her fault she hadn’t been able to secure the floats. It had been the new farmer’s fault for being so grumpy and unsupportive towards his local community, but it didn’t stop her from feeling as though she was letting the whole village down.

‘Ah, I overheard some talk about the new farmer in the grocery store the other day.’ Laura grimaced. ‘He doesn’t sound particularly friendly.’

‘No, he’s not.’ Nicola raised her eyebrows. She’d bet her last ten-pound note on who Laura had overheard talking about him. ‘I don’t suppose it was Miss Cooke who you heard talking about him, was it?’

‘Yes, her and Paddy, the old postmaster. I didn’t hear much, but from what I did, I got the distinct impression it was a visit-at-your-own-risk situation.’

‘Hmm. That explains why she’d contacted all the other farms to check they were still lending their tractors and trailers and yet had conveniently run out of time to pop into Little Mead Farm.’ Nicola made air quotes around the words ‘run out of time’.

‘And she left you to wander up there, without warning you in advance of the welcome you might receive.’ Laura shook her head.

‘Yep, she sure did. I suppose she couldn’t very well risk having to report back to the community hub that she, Meadowfield’s own mayoress, had been refused the loan of our new resident’s tractors and trailers.’ Nicola grimaced. She’d had a feeling there must have been a reason why Miss Cooke hadn’t finished the task she’d begun.

‘There must be another farm local-ish you can ask?’

‘Maybe. Jill will probably have more of an idea. After all, she’s been organising the carnival for over ten years.’

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