Page 29 of Daydreams at the Farm on Muddypuddle Lane
Adam’s spirits sank as he spotted two strange cars parked on his parents’ drive. He had stupidly assumed that dinner would be a family affair – just him, his mum and his dad – but it looked as though there were going to be at least two additional guests.
Then he recognised one of the cars and his spirits dropped another couple of fathoms.
The Bentley belonged to Linda and Karl Spencer, long-standing friends of his parents. They were nice enough people, he supposed, but not his cup of tea. Linda and his mum enjoyed nothing more than gossiping about various friends and acquaintances or their latest holidays, while Karl and Dad either played the one-upmanship game or talked shop. Dad usually tried to draw Adam into theconversation, but Adam didn’t have anything to be one-up about (and if he had, he certainly wouldn’t boast about it) and neither was he interested in his dad’s accountancy firm.
It looked like he was in for a boring evening, because he suspected the owners of the other car would be equally as— Damn! He had a horrid suspicion he knew who it might be. His mother was a stickler for symmetry and there was no way she would have invited two other couples plus him, because that would mean seven at the table. He would be the odd-man-out, and in his mother’s eyes, that would never do.
Which meant that the driver of the Lotus was probably Linda and Karl’s daughter, Verity.
Like him, Verity was single. Like him, Verity’s parents would be delighted if he and Verity were an item. Although he suspected Verity’s parents would only be happy with that unlikely situation if Adam were to join his dad’s firm.
Despite Adam being the sole beneficiary when his parents (god forbid) passed on, and would therefore be a wealthy guy, Linda and Karl didn’t approve of what he did for a living. A blue-collar worker wasn’t what they had in mind as a suitable husband for their only daughter.
Adam had hoped that they would have knocked the idea of him and Verity getting together on the head by now, but if his suspicion was correct and this was indeed Verity’s car, then they clearly hadn’t given up yet.
In a petty act of defiance, Adam took a second to gather his hair into a man-bun on the top of his head. In his father’s eyes, long hair could be kind of forgiven if one pretended that the owner of the hair hadn’t had time to visit the barber for a while, but a topknot was a deliberate style (or lack of it) statement.
Adam also unbuttoned the cuffs of this shirt and rolled up the sleeves, displaying several tattoos, and undid the neck of his shirt another notch. Then he moved the van so it was parked immediately next to the gleaming Bently. It was childish of him, but with the prospect of an awkward and boring evening ahead, he had to take his fun where he could find it.
Adam didn’t bother ringing the bell, sauntering in to find everyone in the sitting room.
Dad and Karl were standing by the mantlepiece, pre-dinner drinks in hand, and Mum was perched elegantly on the edge of one of the armchairs, her legs neatly crossed at the ankle. Linda and Verity were sitting at either end of one of the sofas.
All of them stopped talking and turned to look when he walked into the room.
‘Adam, darling.’ His mum rose to her feet in a fluid practised move and greeted him with a kiss on the cheek. Only he could hear her as she hissed, ‘You could have made more of an effort.’
‘Linda, Karl.’ He nodded at his parents’ friends. ‘This is a surprise. I wasn’t expecting anyone else to be here.’
He shook Kevin’s hand and pecked Linda on the cheek. Then he turned to Verityand gave her an even briefer peck than he had given her mother.
‘I see they’ve roped you in too,’ he said. His smile was sympathetic. Verity was an attractive woman. A year younger than him, she was pretty, self-assured, and polished to an inch of her life from the top of her shiny, expensively cut hair, to the manicured toenails that peeped out from gold high-heeled sandals.
‘Drink?’ his mum asked. He could tell she was gritting her teeth.
‘No, thanks. I’m driving. I’ll have a glass of water with the meal.’
‘You could always stay the night,’ she suggested. ‘Then you can let your hair down.’ Her wince when she realised that she had drawn attention to his bun, was quickly concealed.
‘My, that’s an interesting hairstyle, isn’t it, Karl?’ Linda’s face was full of disapproval.
‘I think it looks good,’ Verity said. ‘It suits you. You’ve got a rock star vibe going on.’
Linda’s gaze shot to his hands and the oil that he could never seem to fully wash off, no matter what product he used or how many times he scrubbed them. He sincerely doubted a rockstar would have such workaday hands as his.
Dinner was as cringe-worthy as Adam suspected it would be. The main topic of conversation centred around the proposed merger between his father’s and Karl’s companies. Karl, it appeared, wanted to take more of a back seat and would be content for Martin to run it. Even Adam, who had zero interest in his dad’scompany, could see how lucrative it would be for both parties.
He quietly tipped a glass to his father. Good luck to him, he thought, if that was what he wanted. As long as Dad didn’t try to rope him in, Adam was happy for him.
As usual when she was hosting a dinner party, his mum had brought in outside caterers and serving staff, so when the meal was over and brandy and coffee were being poured, Adam took the opportunity to slip into the hall and send a quick message to Maisie.
How is your evening?
She was at work, so he didn’t expect an answer straight away and was surprised when she sent an immediate response.Busy. Yours?
Boring. Dad talking shop. Looking forward to tomorrow evening.
Me too. But I might bore you by talking goat.
