Page 32 of Sunny Sundays at Primrose Hall

‘Yes, it’s been full-on getting ready for today, so it’s been a little stressful, only because Jackson’s not here and we all felt that we wanted to get it right for him. Looking around, though, I think we’ve probably managed it.’

‘Too right you have.’ Sophie grabbed hold of Tom’s arm and shook it gently in a gesture of support. ‘Well done.’ They locked eyes for a moment before Sophie dropped her gaze and her touch on his arm, as though she only just realised what she’d done. ‘Do you mind if we take the far path around the grounds? I’ve always wanted to go along there, it looks so inviting.’

‘Let’s do it,’ said Tom with a smile.

The path that Sophie referred to abutted Primrose Woods and was laid with bark and lined with wildflowers, painting a pretty pink palette. It was narrow and winding, but offered gorgeous glimpses into the woods. The tall redwoods, monkey puzzles and scattered oak trees rose above them and Sophie craned her head, looking all around her.

‘Isn’t it beautiful?’ she whispered. ‘To think that just around the corner there are all those hundreds of people milling about the car show and you can wander a short distance away and find all this peace and solitude. I think Jackson and Pia are so lucky to have this oasis in their back garden. Can you imagine what it must be like to live here?’

‘Pretty amazing, I’m guessing.’

A little while later, after following the path all the way around and ending up on the main terrace behind the hall, they found a bench where Sophie plonked herself down.

‘I could probably sit here all day and just admire the view. I’m sure I wouldn’t get any work done if I worked here like Pia. There’re far too many distractions.’

‘Yep. Sitting here makes me realise I probably need to move on from my flat.’ Tom laughed. ‘I mean, it’s done me well these last few months, but it’s pretty cramped and there’s no outdoor space. Even a small patch of lawn would be welcome, especially when you see something like this.’

‘Yeah, do you think you’ll start looking round?’

‘I will, and of course it helps working at the estate agents because I get to see new properties as soon as they go up on the market so there’s definitely some perks.’

‘You won’t move away from this area, though, will you?’

Tom turned to meet Sophie’s enquiring expression. She’d asked the question casually enough, but he wondered if it would matter to her if he did decide to move away to another part of the country. Not that he had any intention of doing so. Where would he go? Besides, now that he’d reconnected with his dad and Jackson, he didn’t want to do anything that might impact on those relationships. He’d spent all his life looking for that sense of family and belonging and now that he’d found it, there was no way he would allow it to slip through his fingers.

‘No, I’d like to stay round here. I’ve got my family here now.’ He felt a swell of pride as he said the words aloud. ‘And some lovely friends too,’ he said, his eyes snagging on hers.

‘Good,’ said Sophie, with a smile. ‘I’m relieved to hear it. Do you fancy an ice cream? I think I spotted a van over there?’

‘Ah, you’re a bad influence, Sophie Wright, do you know that? First you tempted me with drinks down at the pub along with a roast dinner and pud, then fishcakes and chocolatesround at yours, and now ice creams.’ He patted his stomach with the flat of his hand, blowing out his cheeks. He wouldn’t admit that she tempted him in so many other ways too. Just being with Sophie made him feel good, a feeling that excited and disturbed him in equal measure. He realised he was falling for her in a way that there was no coming back from. He suppressed a sigh. How had he even allowed it to happen when he’d vowed to himself he would be happy to stay single? Much better for his state of mind, he’d decided, but that was before Sophie had turned up unexpectedly in his life.

‘Ha, well, it seems to me you didn’t need much persuading. Come on,’ she said, laughing, and he realised, in that moment, that her smile fed a hunger that couldn’t be sated by ice cream alone.

They mooched around the show in companionable silence, their attentions distracted by the delicious cones they’d purchased. Sophie had opted for a stracciatelli while Tom had chosen strawberries and cream, and they looked every bit as enticing as they’d promised to be.

‘Oh, no,’ Sophie exclaimed, staring at her ice cream intently.

‘What’s the matter?’ Tom asked, immediately concerned.

‘I don’t know if this is off or something. There’s a very funny smell.’ Her nose crinkled up in distaste as she offered the cone up to Tom so that he could take a whiff. He leant forward and no sooner had he done so than she lifted the ice cream into his face so that he had the creamy concoction plastered all over his nose. She hadn’t been able to stop herself and quickly dissolved into laughter.

It took a second or two for Tom to realise what had happened, his face showing first confusion and then comprehension of what had just occurred.

‘Okay, right. I see how it is,’ he said, chasing after Sophie, brandishing his ice cream cone as a weapon, as she hot-footed it away.

‘No, don’t! Stop!’ she said, still laughing. ‘I’m sorry, that was mean of me, but I really couldn’t resist.’ She grinned at him and in that moment he thought he would probably forgive her anything. ‘Here, let me clean you up.’

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a tissue and stood in front of Tom, wiping away the vanilla and chocolate from his face. He cast his gaze to the side, plastering on an unimpressed expression. He couldn’t look her in the eye, not when she was standing so close, when he could catch the light fragrant scent of her, when it would be all too easy to reach out and place his hands on her waist, and lean across to kiss her. Honestly, what was this woman doing to him? Thankfully, something else caught her attention, and she spun round to look in the direction of the hall.

‘What’s going on over there? Who is that? It’s not…?’

Tom turned round to look and saw one of the old classic vehicles parked up outside the hall. What was it doing up there? On closer inspection, it looked like a vintage ambulance and if he wasn’t mistaken they’d gone the whole hog and someone had dressed up as an invalid in a wheelchair. It made him smile as he knew how some exhibitors liked to throw themselves wholeheartedly into these events, dressing up as characters from World War II or as if they’d just walked out of an American diner in the 1950s. Only, as Tom peered more closely, he saw Pia and Stu were there too, and that’s when he realised that it wasn’t someone in fancy dress after all, but someone else entirely.

‘It is…’ he said, shaking his head. ‘It’s Jackson. They can’t have let him out of hospital already, surely? Last time I saw him, he couldn’t even get out of bed on his own. Come on,’ he said, taking Sophie by the hand. ‘Let’s go and see what’s going on.’

22

‘Oh, my God!’ Pia repeated herself. She knew what she was seeing, but her brain couldn’t quite make sense of it. ‘They’ve let you home already, but I thought… No, that can’t be right. In fact, that’s totally irresponsible. What on earth’s going on?’

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