Page 93 of A Colourful Country Escape
‘Right.’ Lexie nodded, remembering Jimmy at the pub saying the same on their first day.
Farmer Humphrey was driving the tractor towards them, mud spurting up from his tyres like great chocolate fountains. Lightning illuminated the sky behind him, making the whole scene look magical. Lexie could almost hear ‘Eye of the Tiger’ playing in her mind.
‘Look, I didn’t want to be an interfering minnie.’ Grace rubbed Lexie’s arm. ‘But the weather’s turning stormy and the forecast isn’t good. I couldn’t bear to think of you drowning out here when I’m rocking around Mum and Dad’s place totally bored while they’re off at the villa. I need you. Just for a few days, at least.’
Lexie sighed. She hadn’t been expecting to stay with Grace, but it did sound nice.
‘And no offence, but you really need a shower.’ Grace held Lexie at arm’s length, inspecting her paint-stained skin and sniffing her like she was an old sock. ‘And fresh clothes, something warm to eat … ’
‘OK, OK. I’m in,’ said Lexie, unable to resist any more temptation.
‘You had me at sausage roll,’ said Sky, already looking for her coat.
‘Who said anything about sausage rolls?’ Grace whispered.
Lexie and Sky yanked on their wet-weather gear and jumped down from the camper van with Grace, ready to consult Farmer H about the plan of attack. Grace reassured Lexie she could sit in the pillion seat of the tractor so she didn’t feel toorescued. Grace really did know her well.
Before long, the trusty tractor was pulling Penny Two from the mire and onto the safety of the road, with Lexie more or less at the helm. And even if she wasn’t exactly driving the tractor, she was certainly in control of the action plan for her future. At last. As she looked towards the horizon, she was sure she could spot the tiniest break in the clouds. Her heart was almost bursting with hope, the theme tune in her head switching itself to ‘Walking on Sunshine’. If Farmer H had looked a little less serious, she might just have hugged him.
When the farmer had unhooked Penny Two and said his goodbyes, the three girls climbed into the camper, ready to hit the road.
‘A spin through the carwash and she’ll be as good as before,’ said Sky.
‘Thank God for that because I’m selling her,’ said Lexie. ‘And I know a certain landlord who might just want to buy her.’
The other two gaped at her.
‘What? But you loved Penny!’ said Sky.
‘I did love Penny,’ Lexie confirmed. ‘But she belonged to an old life. And someone else’s old life, at that. A life on the road with Penny was Aunt Jasmine’s dream. Now it’s time for me to grasp my own.’
Grace gave her a fist bump. ‘Yes, girl!’
‘Penny Two was never the same anyway,’ Sky whispered, as though the van might get offended. ‘She’s not really mossy enough.’
‘I’m using the money to set up the new shop. And there’s a two-bedroom flat above it,’ said Lexie, sounding a hell of a lot braver than she felt. ‘We’ll just rent at first, but who knows. Maybe I could buy it one day, if I keep saving up.’
‘New shop?’ asked Sky. ‘Amazing! Will it be like Amy’s Inspiration? Or better! I’m totally great at working in shops. And you know what they say – nothing ventured comes to those who wait.’
Lexie was pretty sure nobody said that, but maybe they should.
‘And then?’ asked Grace, who was already up to date with the Tewkesbury shop dream.
‘And then I speak to Ben and find out what the hell happened in Morocco. I can’t hide from it forever.’
She also couldn’t hide from the racing she’d felt in her heart when she’d thought for a second it had been Ben up there in that tractor. She didn’t want to be saved and she hadn’t been quite ready to face him. And yet the thought of never seeing him again, of never finding out what had happened between them, was becoming more than she could endure.
Chapter 47
‘Being sneaky is hard work.’ Sky dropped another heavy box of paints down onto the wooden floor of the new shop and gave Lexie an accusatory look.
‘Tell me about it,’ said Lexie. It would have to end soon. She knew that.
Lexie and Sky had spent the last few weeks living at Grace’s house, making plans and flitting backwards and forwards to Lexie’s new shop on Tewkesbury High Street. As the shop had been empty for so long, she’d negotiated a great deal to rent it, and the flat above.
They would fill the shop with Lexie’s vibrant homemade chalk-style paints, old furniture repainted and découpaged to be beautiful, and the promise of new beginnings. She was all for it. Or at least she would be. She hoped.
The shop wasn’t open yet, and Lexie still hadn’t confronted Ben or let anyone at Nutgrass Hall know they were back in town, so all preparations had been in secret. They’d been hauling everything in via the back entrance to avoid being seen on the main street.
