Page 70 of Falling in Love at Pennycress Inn

‘Oh.’ The sound caught in her throat, resulting in a noise close to a gurgle and a cough. She watched as he jumped down from the stage and began walking down the aisle between the rows of chairs towards her.

‘Go on.’ Laura jabbed her in the side, signalling her to go towards him.

Without thinking twice, Nicola jumped out of her chair, squeezed along the row and ran down the aisle straight into his open arms.

Wrapping his arms around her, he spoke into her hair. ‘I love you, Nic.’

‘I love you too.’ Looking up at him, she searched his eyes. She needed to know if this was actually happening or whether it was some elaborate, cruel joke. ‘Are you really staying?’

‘I am.’

‘But why? How?’ She had so many questions whirring in her mind, she could hardly hear the applause surrounding them.

‘Come on, let’s go outside.’ Kissing the top of her head, Charlie took her hand in his and led the way out, thanking Miss Cooke as they hurried past the stage.

As she walked with him, she glanced quickly at Miss Cooke, half expecting her to demand they sit down and listen to the rest of the village meeting, not that she cared. Nothing would stop her spending this time with Charlie. Not even the quite fearsome Miss Cooke.

Once outside, Charlie closed the door on the meeting before turning to face her. ‘Nic, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have left…’

She rubbed her hand over her face, trying to make some sort of sense of it all. ‘I don’t understand. You’d gone back to work, you’d moved back to London.’

Stepping towards her, he tucked her hair behind her ears. ‘I couldn’t do it. As soon as I stepped foot inside my office, I knew I’d made a mistake. I realised what you’d been telling me all along, that my uncle’s farm was special, that it was his legacy, the legacy of all my family before him, too. But, above all, I realised that I just didn’t want to be without you.’

She shook her head. ‘I don’t want you moving back here just because of me. We can still visit each other, like you said. I?—’

‘Nic, I don’t want to be anywhere else. I want to be here, with you in my life. Every single day, not just on a snatched weekend here and there. I want to be with you. And I want to run my uncle’s farm. I want to be part of the craziness that is the Meadowfield community. I want Claudette in my life. All of it.’

‘You missed Claudette?’ She spluttered out a laugh. If this wasn’t some elaborate joke, then was it a dream? Had she finally dropped off to sleep?

‘Yes! I missed Claudette. Not as much as you though…’ He grinned.

‘I should hope not.’ She fiddled with her bracelet, twisting it around her wrist. ‘Are you sure, though? Are you sure you want to throw away your career, your life in the big city?’

He stepped closer and cupped his hands around her cheeks. ‘I haven’t been surer about anything in my whole entire life. I want you, Nic. Just you.’

Bringing her hands to the nape of his neck, she drew him towards her, her lips touching his.

This was real.

This was happening.

EPILOGUE

‘Mind the puddle, Mum.’ Nicola guided her mum around the two large puddles left from that morning’s rain and towards the metal gate leading into the farmyard. What with the excitement of Charlie staying and with how busy life had been at Pennycress Inn, the rest of the summer had sped by and Nicola could hardly believe it was already autumn. She looked across at the golden leaves, still glistening with the sheen of the earlier rain, and smiled before turning back to her mum.

‘Can I take this off yet, love?’ Vivienne lifted her hand to her face, ready to pull off the pink spotted blindfold.

‘No! Keep it on, just for a couple more minutes.’ Nicola laughed as she tapped her mum’s hand away. She’d been planning this surprise birthday for her mum for weeks now and she wouldn’t let it be ruined when they were so close.

Her mum paused and sniffed the air. ‘Umm, I think I might just know where we are.’

Nicola raised her eyebrows. ‘Why? Where do you think we are?’

‘At Charlie’s farm? I can smell hay, mud, hens.’

Nicola slumped her shoulders. Trust her mum to guess so easily, but what she couldn’t have guessed was what sight would be waiting for her when she pulled the blindfold off. No, Nicola had sworn the whole village to secrecy. ‘Just a couple more steps.’

Charlie, looking every each the farmer he now officially was in one of his uncle’s faded flannel shirts, stepped forward and quietly opened the gate to the farmyard.

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