Page 50 of Silver Tears

We drive for another ten or fifteen minutes, both of us making polite conversation and feeling awkward as hell. I’m so relieved when he turns onto a side road and slows down the car. I side-glance him in confusion when I read the sign.

“Haybarn Children’s Farm.”

He grins, turning off the engine. “I thought you'd like this since you missed out on the zoo.”

I laugh. “But it’s for kids.”

Seb shrugs and winks at me. “So. Doesn’t mean we won’t have fun. Come on farm girl, we have goats to feed and a tractor ride to look forward to.”

“You’re serious. We’re really doing this?”

He arches a brow at me, his lips quirking as he climbs out of the car and leaves me staring after him. Okay, we are doing this. I follow him up to the entrance and we stand in the line for pre-booked entry. When we reach the counter, he hands the girl in the booth his phone and she gasps when she looks up.

“Your Seb Collings!” She blushes and sits up straighter. “I go to your school. Year eleven. Oh, hi, Milly. Are you two here on a date together? That’s so cute.”

Seb gives her his panty-dropping smile, that cute dimple in his cheek putting on a five-star appearance. He casually hooks his arm over my shoulder. “We are on a date, yes. So, if you can keep it on the low as we like our privacy.”

She nods her head, grinning at him. “Oh, of course. I won't tell anyone. My lips are sealed.” As we walk away, I glance back over my shoulder and see her busy typing frantically away on her phone.

“You know she’s on snapchat telling everyone she’s seen us here, right?”

Seb smirks at me, keeping his arm over my shoulder, causing us to walk close together. “Of course I do. I told you it was important that we’re seen out in public together. Now look at me adoringly because she’s about to snap our photo.”

My reaction is to turn and see if he’s telling the truth, but I fight the urge. Leaning up on my tiptoes, I press my lips to his. He kisses me back. When he pulls away, he looks at me with such heat it takes the breath from my lungs.

It will be all over the gram in five seconds. And strike me down right on cue, both our phones ping. I can’t help but stare at the photo for a few seconds. We really look like we only have eyes for each other. I swallow and pop my phone back in my pocket. I’m feeling so conflicted right now.

Seb guides me into the giftshop and insists on us both buying straw hats. He also insists that we have a selfie wearing them. He of course uploads it to his social media page with the caption, ‘Quality time with my girl is always the best.’

The day is such fun. I haven’t laughed this much in ages. The gossips can say what they like about Seb Collings, but you can’t help but have fun when you’re with him. He’s infectious. He’s just so carefree and fun. We head to the barn for the animal feeding and sit amongst the parents with their young children and hold baby chicks. I laugh my head off when we’re feeding the baby goats and one goat, in its enthusiasm to get to a bottle, knocks Seb on his arse. I, of course, pull out my phone to capture the moment. I just had to!

Next, we queue up for the donkey rides. Seb is too big for the ponies, but he insists I ride one. He watches with a satisfied grin, taking photos as I rode with the young children.

We make a dash over to the tractor ride, worried that we’ll miss it. We make it just in time. Seb grabs me by the waist and hoists me up, jumping up quickly behind me before the tractor trailer gates are closed. I’m jolted against him as the tractor climbs up and down the hilly field. Eventually I give up trying to maintain space and lean against him. Seb pulls out his phone to take another selfie when a lady opposite us offers to take it for us.

“Here, let me.” She gestures for Seb to pass her the camera, “You two are so cute together. Is this your first date?”

I flush red in the cheeks whilst Seb grins in response, telling her it is indeed our first proper date. She has us both say cheese, and Seb wraps his arm around me for the photo. The woman hands him back the phone, telling me she wished her husband had taken her on their first date to somewhere as fun as here. I have to say I agree with her. Today has been the most fun I’ve had in a while. For a few hours, I have completely forgotten about everything. I haven’t worried about Charlie and my mum, or my schoolwork, or my betrayal of my family. I’ve just been in the moment and enjoyed myself.

“What are you going to do when you leave college? I mean, do you know what you want to do as a career?” I ask him as we head over to look at the alpacas.

His smile drops slightly, and he clears his throat. “I’ll go into the family business.”

I nod my head, quietly watching him. “And is that what you want?”

He scoffs, shrugging his shoulders and half-smiling. “It doesn’t matter what I want. I have to carry on the family legacy and businesses. Do I really care at all about the courier industry? No. But what I want doesn’t matter.”

I stop in my tracks, making him stop and turn back to see what’s held me up. “What you want does matter,” I insist. “You have the right to say no and do what you want to do. Come on, tell me. If you could do or be anything you wanted, what would it be?”

He ponders my question for a short time. “I’d be a fireman.”

“Really?” I ask. I don’t know why, but that wasn’t the answer I was expecting. I was expecting something like an actor or a television presenter. After all, Seb is always the showman.

“Yes, really. I love the idea of saving people and hopefully saving their homes and businesses from ruin. Plus, I’ve always been a little in awe of fire and its sheer power and ferocity.”

We end the day with ice cream before we make the journey over to Droyton to check on Chops and make sure everything has been okay while we’ve been gone.

We knock on Peggy’s door and smile when I hear Chops’ cheery voice from inside. The door opens and Charlie stands before us with a big grin on his face.

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