‘It’s true, Dad,’ she said to back him up. ‘This really isn’t something either of us could have seen coming.’
‘I did enjoy it, for a very long time.’
‘But then why are you selling? Why not just get someone in to manage the place while you take a holiday?’ She felt like she had tripped and fallen into some sort of strange parallel universe where everything was topsy-turvy.
Their mother groaned. ‘I’m sorry, Gareth,’ she said. ‘I know you didn’t want to say anything to the kids about it but they need to understand our reasons behind this decision.’
‘No, Lindy.’
‘Yes. They deserve to know. They’re old enough and have independent lives and it’s not as if they rely on us for anything.’
Lettie’s stomach churned as anxiety coursed through her. ‘What’s the matter?’ she asked, unsure whether her mother was correct and if she actually was ready to hear what she sensed was bad news. She swapped a worried glance with her brother.
‘I knew it,’ Zac said. ‘You’ve been hiding something from us, haven’t you?’
Lindy nudged her husband. ‘Are you going to tell them, or should I?’
He scowled at her. ‘You started this off, so you can do it.’
Zac stood. ‘I don’t care who tells us, but I wish one of you would hurry up and do it.’
‘Do sit down, Zac.’ Their mother indicated the chair. ‘Your father is fine now,’ she began. ‘But he had a slight heart attack.’
Lettie gasped. ‘Is there such a thing?’
‘It seems so. He’s fine, mostly.’
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ Lettie felt her own heart race.
‘It means,’ their father said calmly, ‘that I’ve been advised to change my lifestyle. No more fry-ups, and less stress.’
But hadn’t they just had a fry-up? She glanced at his plate and hers.
‘Your father only had poached eggs with grilled tomatoes and mushrooms,’ their mother said in answer to Lettie’s unasked question.
Feeling terrible for having a go at him earlier, Lettie apologised, hurried over to stand behind his chair, slipped her arms around his neck and hugged him. ‘Sorry, Dad, I shouldn’t have been so quick to criticise you before. I was shocked about you thinking of selling the land – that’s all.’
‘Me, too,’ Zac agreed.
‘It’s not just that,’ Gareth continued. ‘You know as well as I do that looking after animals is a full-time thing. Going away always takes a lot of planning and with neither of you around much, well it’s not as if I can rely on either of you to step in at short notice.’
She realised guiltily that he was right. ‘Oh, Dad.’
‘I would never mind coming to stay here if you went away,’ Zac said, clearly hurt by his father’s accusation.
‘But you already work full-time, Zac, so it wouldn’t really be viable to expect you to take care of the farm too.’ Lindy took Gareth’s hand. ‘Your father’s right. We deserve some time for ourselves now you two are older and before we get too old to enjoy some of the fun things we want to do.’
Lettie felt like her world had turned on its axis. She stared at her parents, amazed they seemed so calm about having made such a monumental decision. She desperately wanted to help them, and unlike Zac she might be in a position to do so.
‘But selling the land from Hollyhock Farm?’ She heard the catch in her voice as her emotions almost got the better of her. ‘It won’t really be a farm any more if you do that.’
Her father finished his drink and set his empty mug back down onto the table. ‘That can’t be helped, I’m afraid.’
‘She’s right though,’ Zac said, his tone flat and his misery obvious.
‘All right, Lettie, what do you suggest we do?’ her mother replied. ‘I can see you’ve got something on your mind.’
Lettie’s mind raced, her thoughts scrambled as she tried desperately to come up with a sensible solution. She had thought life couldn’t get more perfect when she had been given her job working on promotions for the fashion house over the past two years – well, at least until things had started to go wrong between her and Scott. And then there was the meeting she had been called into the previous week. She hadn’t shared what had happened with her family yet, not wishing to worry them. And now this had happened. She couldn’t bear to stand by and watch her beloved fields being sold. The solution came to her unexpectedly and took her by surprise.
