Page 18 of You Had Me At Pumpkin Patch
‘Helped me with my anxiety too.’ Luna was picking at her baguette as she said the words. ‘Some life stuff triggered it again a couple of years back.’ She glanced at her mum, her various piercings glinting in the firelight. ‘The cold of the water and being out in nature helps to bring me back to the present moment. It’s incredible.’
‘Yeah, nothing like freezing your tits off in an ice-cold lake to bring your thoughts slap bang back to reality.’ Bonnie threw her head back and laughed.
‘Some things you shouldn’t joke about, Mother.’ Luna tutted.
Bonnie squeezed Luna’s arm. ‘It’s been a right couple of years, love. Sometimes you’ve gotta laugh or you’ll cry.’
‘The water’s a great leveller,’ Mags added. ‘It doesn’t care about your arse size or your cellulite. And goddammit, I look gorgeous in a floral swimsuit. I shouldn’t keep me covered up!’ She threw her arms wide, spraying crumbs everywhere. ‘Ooh, sorry, Rose. I’ll clear that up.’
Rosie loved how Mags was shortening her name already, like Vix often did.
When it was Bonnie’s turn to share her reasons for loving the water, a look passed between her and her daughter. Rosie thought she detected a sadness in Luna’s eyes. Instead of speaking, Bonnie nodded at Rosie. ‘What about you, love? What brought you to the water and why do you like it so much?’
Rosie felt her chest tighten. ‘Erm.’ How could she find an answer that wasn’t a big stinking lie? She cleared her throat. ‘Troubles, I guess.’ She pondered it for a moment. ‘And you’re right. I did forget them the moment I hit the water earlier today. It makes you feel so effervescent, doesn’t it? Like before that second, you’d only been existing.’
Bonnie squeezed her arm. ‘Exactly that, gorgeous girl. Life can be short. Make sure you taste every delicious moment.’ She had doughnut sugar around her mouth and a blob of custard on her chin, and her eyes shone with a twinkle.
‘How about the swim retreats?’ Luna asked. ‘Any thoughts?’
‘Oh yes, Agnes said you were a whizz at planning these things, and that soon enough this place will be a retreat paradise,’ said Bonnie.
‘She did?’ Rosie scratched the back of her neck. She really must find Krista’s old notes and pray they held something useful. ‘I mean, of course!’
‘With not much of a budget,’ said Luna. ‘It’s a clever thing to pull off.’
‘Especially with Zain on patrol,’ said Mags. ‘Not to spook you, but he wouldn’t agree to Krista chopping so much as a blade of grass to accommodate her plans.’
‘Right,’ said Rosie, trying not to sound deflated. She was beginning to worry that her brush with watery danger earlier that morning had given her false confidence. Some of it was beginning to wear off.
Not to mention all of the pretence she was struggling to keep up. She’d need a cheat sheet to remind her of her various awkward untruths.
‘But you’re an expert, Rosie love,’ said Bonnie. ‘And didn’t Agnes say you were a painter too? You’ll make the whole place come alive with creative magic.’
Rosie gulped.
‘We believe in you,’ said Luna, topping up Rosie’s glass. ‘And Zain’s a sausage dog in wolf’s clothing.’
Rosie gave a smile because what else was there to do? When she took a minute to think about logistics, the whole idea was terrifying.
Maybe that was why her wayward mouth decided to overspill.
‘What do you think about the idea of pumpkin-themed retreats? Do you reckon people would be into them? And strictly between us and these walls, or a certain farmer might bury me in a distant meadow, where would you start?’ The words had escaped before Rosie had chance to censor them. But she came to be glad they did.
The afternoon stretched out lazily, with more treats appearing from bags and cupboards, and a whole lot of excited chatter about pumpkins. Rosie hadn’t felt brave enough to confide in her new friends aboutallof the secrets she was hiding – but at least the truth was out about Agnes’s unusual retreat USP, and the swim ladies had promised not to spill the beans. They’d even challenged her to start drawing up a few ideas. It was petrifying, but if she wanted a splinter of hope at saving things, she could at least grab a notebook and get nosy.
Once they’d said their goodbyes, Rosie knew she had words to type. She felt so enlivened that she knew she’d be writing well into the night, better than any insentient Kimberkoo Chat. Her novel was coming together, and somehow, she’d have to stick around at Autumn Meadows to find the inspiration to finish it – whatever themayhem.
She would need to let Agnes know she was ready to give this a real shot – beyond the one week she’d promised. Then it would be time to start phase one of her pumpkin retreat missions.
14
It was difficult to have a serious conversation with someone when they had a one-eyed chicken under their arm and a plethora of toast crumbs down their misbuttoned cardi. Luckily, Rosie was fast becoming the sort of person who didn’t run at the first sign of ridiculousness. She guessed that was a must if she was going to stick it out at Autumn Meadows Farm.
‘So I thought the new shower and toilet block could go right here,’ Rosie said, gesturing with her arms to the place where their open-air, poor excuse for a shower was.
Rosie had sketched up her new idea in her notebook and had tried showing it to Agnes, but her boss was too busy making clucking noises at her latest unfortunate stray. In fact, Rosie hadn’t got much sense out of Agnes all morning. She’d gone to the farmhouse to tell her boss she’d be staying, to which the woman had said, ‘Well, obviously,’ as though this unconventional role was the best thing since sliced pumpkins. Then she’d brought Agnes out here to talk through her winning concepts, but it was proving difficult to hold her attention.
Rosie cleared her throat. In fairness, she did feel a bit bossy, waving her pad around and suggesting a bunch of changes, but if she was going to start getting the place ready for retreat visitors this autumn, she ought to get a move on. And part of her was anxious to prove herself as a proactive, sparklingly brilliant employee, after being cruelly replaced by a piece of dumb software just a few days before.
