Lettie thought of how organised her friend always was and how much she enjoyed looking after the interests of others. ‘You’ll be fine. You’re brilliant at what you do, and I’ve never seen anyone type faster than you can, or be more organised.’
‘Let’s hope your faith in me is warranted. I worked out how much I could earn an hour as opposed to the salary I was on and thought it was worth a try. Kyle has been very supportive and assured me that if I don’t like it, or can’t make it work, then I can always go back to working for someone else.’
Lettie wondered if now was the perfect time to admit her plans to her friend. Tina knew her better than most people and was always honest with her. ‘I’ve been hoping to do the same thing,’ Lettie announced, excited to think of the pair of them starting new ventures at the same time.
Tina had been about to take a sip from her coffee but instead lowered the mug back onto the table. ‘You’re setting up as a virtual assistant, too?’
‘What?’ Lettie laughed to think that she could ever be good at that job. ‘No. I’m hoping to take over running the farm.’
Tina frowned thoughtfully. ‘What? Not Hollyhock Farm?’
Why was everyone so surprised to think of her doing just that? Lettie wondered, hurt at the thought. Not wishing to react badly to her, Lettie took a calming breath. ‘Yes, my parents’ farm.’
‘But, I don’t understand. You’ve always had the ambition to make a name for yourself in the fashion industry and I thought you were hoping for a promotion soon.’
‘Yes, well that never happened and just before I came away my boss told me that they were probably going to have to let me go.’ Lettie saw the concern in her friend’s face and as they drank their coffees she carried on explaining about why her father had come to that decision.
‘Wow, I never imagined your dad giving up the farm.’
‘I still can’t quite believe it either.’
‘And your uncle has agreed to all this?’
Lettie tilted her head from one side to the other. ‘Well, tentatively. I think he’s just trying to pacify me, which is understandable, I guess. I know I don’t have long to show what I can do, but I’m going to give it my best shot.’
Tina gave her a high five. ‘That’s my girl. Good for you. If anyone can do this, you will.’
Tina stared at her for a moment, obviously concerned about offending her.
‘What are you thinking? Go on,’ Lettie urged. ‘Tell me. I think we know each other well enough for you to say what you truly think.’
‘Look, I don’t doubt you could do anything you set your mind do,’ Tina began.
‘Really?’ Lettie couldn’t believe how relieved she felt to learn that her friend had such faith in her abilities.
‘Of course.’
Lettie heard the change in tone. ‘I sense abutcoming.’
Tina looked shocked. ‘Not because I think you can’t, or even shouldn’t do it, but because I thought you loved living in London.’ She sighed. ‘No offence, Lettie, but it all sounded very glamorous and exciting, and I can’t imagine why you would choose to give all that up to look after a herd of goats, or sheep, or whatever it is your dad farms now.’
‘Goats, chickens, the alpacas and the girls.’ She smiled as she thought of the beautiful dished faces of the cows. ‘And I’m getting more interested in learning about farming organic produce, too,’ Lettie said, trying her best to sound confident. ‘I see what you mean though.’ Was she being silly wanting to make such a drastic change to her lifestyle? ‘I’m not even sure why I’m so keen to do this, if I’m honest. But for some reason I feel compelled to.’
Tina stood. ‘I think this calls for the hard stuff.’
Lettie laughed, aware what Tina was about to do. She watched her friend fetch a small foldaway step and stand on it before reaching up and taking a huge bar of chocolate from one of the high cupboards.
‘I’ve been so good lately – not letting this tempt me – but I think we both need a few squares.’
Lettie thought she needed at least half the bar to even begin to calm down, but was grateful to Tina for sharing any. ‘Thank you. Milk chocolate is exactly what I need.’
Once they had both consumed several of the chunky chocolatey cubes, Tina steepled her fingers. ‘I think you need to take a bit more time to think about this. First, you should decide why you want to do it. Is it because you’re actually tired of your current job, living in the Big Smoke, or is it because you’ve had enough of trying to avoid Scott?’
‘Probably all of those things.’
‘Fine. You grew up on a farm, so do you actually think you can make a good go of running it, with all the long hours, crappyweather, trying to balance the books, and whatever else it includes. Or,’ she added thoughtfully, ‘are you just reacting to your dad’s shocking news?’ She pushed the bar towards Lettie. ‘Go on, take another couple of chunks. I think you need it.’
‘You’re sure about this?’ Lettie teased knowing how possessive Tina could be about her chocolate stash.
