Page 85 of A Year at Appleyard Farm
‘But how did you do that?’
‘It was quite simple in the end. I just played to his love of money. Andrew can’t run the business, he doesn’t have the skill, and he never has had. So despite what he thought of me, he needed me plain and simple…or someone else who could take my place, keep the company afloat, and keep Andrew’s investment paying out at a nice steady rate. Without that someone else, the company would fold, and bang would go Andrew’s income. Middleton Estates is currently holding two huge parcels of land that I acquired some years ago. Bought speculatively, but shrewdly, and which have now fallen into areas ripe for development. In fact, one has already had planning permission granted on it. If we simply sold the company outright, Andrew would get his payout, admittedly, but by staying in the game, he stands to net a huge fortune from the building of the houses too. So it wasn’t much of a choice after all. I’ve sold my share in the company to a third party, and Andrew gets to keep his millions. He might be a materialistic bastard, but he’s not stupid.’
Willow gazed at her husband, trying to take in everything he had told her.
‘But you’ve given up all that money too…’ she said.
‘Yep,’ grinned Jude. ‘I decided it wasn’t worth as much as I thought it was.’ He kissed her nose. ‘And besides, I’m not that magnanimous. I made sure I got exactly what I wanted.’
‘Which was?’
‘A certain sum of money—’ he winked ‘—but more importantly, my price included this house, the strawberry fields, all the meadows, the office…’
‘Henry’s house?’
‘Yes, that too. It all belongs to us now.’
‘You really have worked all this out, haven’t you?’
Jude picked her letter up from the table and waved it at her. ‘As have you if I’m not very much mistaken.’ He read the letter through again. ‘I even love the name Willowberries – it’s just perfect!’
‘Do you really? It seemed right somehow, but I probably wasn’t thinking properly at the time. I mean, we should have something that reflects both of us, shouldn’t we?’
Jude leaned forward and kissed Willow squarely before she could say any more. ‘No, I like it just the way it is,’ he said, eyes shining. ‘And our buyers are going to love it!’
Willow returned his kiss, her stomach fizzing with excitement at the prospect of what was to come. She was about to show him some of the things she had been up to when she remembered what she had to say to Jude. On the face of it everything seemed perfect, but there was still the possibility that things could come crashing down around her ears. She looked up into Jude’s clear blue eyes.
‘I have an apology to make,’ she said. ‘I’ve been going out of my mind these last few weeks, what with these dreams, and fears about what was going to happen. Everything has been so confusing, I almost didn’t know what to believe…but I should have talked to you about it. I should have told you my ideas for this place, asked for your help and support instead of arrogantly going ahead with what I believed was right. I feel like I haven’t trusted you, like I’ve let you down…’ Her eyes filled with tears.
Jude touched her cheek, his eyes shining with emotion too. ‘No, I should have told you…shared all of this with you before, but I was so scared I couldn’t make it happen. I wouldn’t have been able to bear it for you if we started to believe in what our lives could be like and then have it all taken away from us. It would have been the cruellest blow, and I thought it better if you didn’t know.’
‘Promise me that whatever happens in the future we will never keep secrets from each other again?’
Jude nodded gently. ‘I promise…although there is just one other tiny thing I ought to tell you,’ he added quietly, ‘but it’s a good thing, I swear!’
‘Is this about Henry?’ urged Willow. ‘Please tell me it is. I still haven’t figured out where he comes into this.’
‘Well, no one was more surprised than me, but a couple of weeks ago, Henry came to see me offering to buy his house. Outright, in cash for a quick sale. I really had no idea, but he’s completely minted…Anyway, I had to tell him what I was planning, but I swore him to secrecy. I didn’t even know myself at the time if it would be possible, but the more I thought about his offer, the more it made sound sense, for all of us. Yesterday, once I knew the deal was going through, I was able to firm things up with him. That’s when you saw us in town I guess.’
Willow blushed slightly remembering her wild thoughts of the day before. ‘Well, that does explain that,’ she said. ‘Although he’s never mentioned anything about buying the house before…’ Her eyes suddenly widened. ‘Hey, I wonder if this has anything to do with Delilah?’
‘Well, he’s asked to rent the first meadow from us as well.’
‘Really? Whatever does he want that for?’
Jude smiled slowly. ‘To keep goats on of course. Or, more accurately, for Delilah to keep goats on. I rather think they’ve fallen in love.’
‘Oh, of course!’ exclaimed Willow, and suddenly everything in her world fell into the most magical and perfect place.
45
It was the end of a very hot and very busy week, but sprawled in the meadow under the big oak tree, Willow had never been happier. Excited chatter and burbles of laughter reached her as she looked around at her group of friends enjoying a long cool drink in the evening sun. A slight breeze rustled the tall heads of the grasses that fringed the field and tickled their skin as they walked by, each of them revelling in the knowledge that, albeit for different reasons, life was about to get a lot more interesting.
As a result of the article inCountry Living, Merry now had more customers than she knew what to do with, but she was taking it all in her stride and looking forward to being able to make all the dreams she had for their shop come true a little quicker. And of course more customers for Merry, meant more people to buy Willowberries’ ice creams and cordials; not that it looked as though they were going to need many more customers just at the moment, because plans for their cookery courses and working holidays were coming along nicely too…
Henry and Delilah had to be peeled apart from one another at regular intervals as they forged ahead with plans for their new life together, and Freya and Sam had plans too, having finally decided to set a date for their wedding – after the harvest had been safely gathered in of course. The honeymoon would have to wait a while, but they would be pressing the first of their fruit together as man and wife and that was the most important thing. It all had the most wonderful symmetry about it, thought Willow.
Even Peter, who was lying flat on his back staring up at the evening sky would be a part of everything. Her idea to ask him to play a greater role in the development of Willowberries had not been hers alone. Jude had also spotted his potential, and, with a bit of frank discussion, Peter had been delighted with the offer Jude had made him. It had taken a while to organise, but by switching his course, he could finish his degree part-time, commuting the now much shorter distance to uni on the days he needed to attend and, on the others, honing his business skills. So far, he was shaping up to be a very fine apprentice indeed.
