Page 30 of A Year at Appleyard Farm
Sam placed a finger gently across her lips. ‘I seem to remember a time when I should have listened to you, but I let a lot of years go by, letting my stupid pride have its way. We should look to the future now, not the past.’
Freya kissed his fingers, entwining them with her own. ‘It was Stephen who brought me home you know. He actually apologised for what happened between us, said it was all his fault. I’ve carried the guilt of that around with me for so long, Sam.’
‘I know.’
‘I think he’s going to be okay, though, Stephen I mean. He might even be growing up finally.’
Sam smiled, his eyes twinkling in the light. ‘Well, it is Christmas, Freya, stranger things have happened.’
She looked at the mistletoe on the mantelpiece, deep in thought. ‘Where is Amos by the way?’ she asked.
‘Gone to bed, he said he’d see you in the morning.’ He touched Freya’s face once more. ‘You know he’ll be gone soon, don’t you?’
Freya stared wistfully at the bauble on top of the tree, thinking of the man who had come into her life so suddenly and would no doubt leave it the same way. He would remain in her memory for a very long time. ‘Yes, I know. He’ll go whichever way the wind blows him.’
She watched the light for a moment sparkling on the rose-coloured glass, her eye now drawn to something she hadn’t seen before: a bright red velvet box, tied with golden thread.
Sam followed the direction of her eyes. ‘It was supposed to be your Christmas present, but you could have it now if you’d like.’
Freya grinned, trying hard not to jiggle with excitement. Sam lifted the box from the tree, motioning for Freya to come and sit down beside him.
He waited until she had wriggled herself comfortable, sliding onto his knees beside her and drawing a steadying breath. ‘Before I give this to you, will you let me tell you what I meant to say this morning? In fact, I should have said this a long time ago… I don’t blame you for what happened with Stephen, I never did, Freya. I pushed you away as much as he pulled you to him. I’d lived so many years losing things to him, that I viewed it as inevitable in the end. He’d taken so much from me over the years that when I saw him begin to take an interest in you, I thought I never stood a chance. I should have fought for you. What’s worse was that I never gave you the opportunity to tell me differently, and I’ve had to bear the consequence of my stupidity ever since.’
‘We’re both to blame, Sam. I was flattered by Stephen’s attention, and I let myself be seduced by his stupid promises. I knew deep down that he never loved me, but I so desperately wanted to believe everything he told me. I wanted to stay here, among the orchards, to follow in my father’s footsteps, raise my own family here. I thought that’s what he wanted too, but I knew really it was never the case. Time has shown me that.’
‘But is that what you still want, Freya, a life here?’
Her lip trembled. ‘More than anything. I thought I could start a new life, buy Merry’s shop and move away, be something different, but I can’t. This is where I belong. I have to try to find a way to make it work.’
He pressed the box into her hands. ‘Open it, Freya,’ he said.
She pulled at the thread holding the tiny parcel closed and let it fall away until she was left, with shaking hands, holding the lid. She closed her eyes and opened it.
Inside was a key.
She looked up puzzled for a moment, until it suddenly struck her what it was.
‘I’m giving you back Appleyard, Freya, so that you never have to worry about leaving again. The Sherbourne orchard has been here far too long to let it go, I want us to breathe new life into it…together.’
‘But—’
‘I’m asking you to marry me, Freya. To let me live here with you, and work alongside you, as equal partners, ’til death do us part and all that. We can make Appleyard whatever we want her to be, what she deserves to be.’
The clock on the mantel chimed midnight as Freya reached down to pull Sam to her, her lips only inches from his. She smiled softly. ‘It’s Christmas Eve,’ she breathed, ‘I wonder what we should do now?’
‘Well,’ grinned Sam, his lips tantalisingly close to hers. ‘I could always help you unpack.’
In the room, just above them, Amos gave a soft sigh and turned over in his sleep. He pulled the covers a little tighter around him, snuggled into his pillow, and smiled.
II
Spring
12
Merry screwed her eyes tight shut, and then opened them again. ‘Nope,’ she said, laughing, ‘it’s still a mess. Remind me again why we did this, Tom.’
Her husband slid an arm around her waist and surveyed the yard they were standing in. ‘Well, now let me see…’ He smiled at the baby strapped to Merry’s chest, reaching out to touch her downy cheek. ‘This little one made us think that we needed a different challenge, that running a country house hotel with a pretty huge income and a nice little pension pot was not the sort of thing we needed in our lives any more. So, we swapped all that for a house that hasn’t been lived in for a year, and a derelict shop that will need a miracle to get it open again.’
