‘You are but I understand why. I’d do the same as you if the circumstances were reversed. I’ve been trying to raise funds to buy your father’s land before Damon gets back, hoping to present him with a fait accompli.’
She swapped glances with her brother and wondered if Zac was thinking the same thing as her. ‘Are you certain Damon even wants to do this as his future career?’
Her uncle didn’t reply immediately, which told her all she wanted to know. Clearly Uncle Leonard was the one encouraging their cousin.
Zac turned to her. ‘We all know that you’ve never done much farm work before, so you don’t even really know whether you’ll be any good at this. You’d have a probationary period in any new job, so why not this one? Then, if you feel you love it and you make a good go of it, maybe Uncle Leonard here will be kind enough not to hold Dad to any prior agreement to sell and let you take it on, at least for a while so you can decide if you can or want to continue farming.’ He turned his attention to their uncle. ‘You’ve also only ever been a dairy farmer until now, so maybe the crop side of farming won’t be right for you.’
Lettie sensed her uncle starting to open up to Zac’s suggestion and if it persuaded her father and uncle to give her time to prove she had what it took to run the farm, then it would be worth it. ‘Zac’s right. How about you give me a chance to prove myself? What’s the harm of me trying it out for a while?’
‘When you put it like that, I suppose there’s no harm in you having a go, Lettie.’ He shrugged. ‘Fine. I’ll speak to Gareth and let him know that I’m happy to give you time to have a try. At least thatway he will be able to take time away from the place with Lindy and you can see for yourself just how much hard work is involved.’ He stood and picked up the fork he had been using when they entered the barn. ‘And I won’t need to worry about finding the money just yet.’
‘Exactly.’ Zac gave Lettie a triumphant look, which she returned.
‘Thanks, Uncle Leonard.’ Lettie stepped forward and kissed his cheek. ‘I really appreciate you agreeing to this for me.’
‘Yes, well, I’m not sure I’m doing the right thing.’ He grinned. ‘I have a feeling I’m doing myself out of a good business deal, but we are family and you might not find this suits you once you try it. And I still have to speak to your father.’
‘Rather you than me,’ Zac said, his eyes twinkling with mischief. ‘He’s not going to listen to us about this, so we’re going to need you to persuade him that it’s a good idea.’
Lettie was astonished. How had she never known her brother was so persuasive before? He had obviously learnt a lot from dealing with stroppy musicians and their managers.
Leonard ruffled Zac’s hair like he always had done when he was small. ‘You, young Zac, are a force to be reckoned with – do you know that?’ He hugged Lettie. ‘And I’m proud of you for wanting to do this, Lettie. I know that secretly your dad must be too.’
‘Thank you,’ Lettie said, taken aback at his reaction.
‘Right then, I suppose we’d better break the news to your father that I won’t be taking over his business, at least not for the time being.’
3
LETTIE
‘Three months, but that’s all. One of them working with me, then by yourself for the two months your mother and I are travelling.’
Lettie saw the familiar determined expression on her father’s face and didn’t waste any of their time by trying to argue. She had explained her situation in London and suspected that her father and uncle felt too guilty about her being out of work and not giving her a chance to turn her idea down completely. ‘Thanks, Dad. You won’t regret it.’
‘I’d better not.’ He smiled at her and Lettie suspected her uncle had been right about him being happy that she wanted to give it a go.
Lettie gave her father a hug and turned to her uncle who, she noticed, looked pleased with the outcome. ‘Thank you, too, Uncle Leonard. I appreciate this isn’t what you had expected to happen.’
‘It isn’t, my love, but I would want your father to do the same thing should the tables be reversed and one of my boys had voiced his hope of having a go at running my farm.’
‘That goes without saying, I hope,’ Gareth said. ‘After all, beingable to hand our farms over to our kids has been both our dreams, as it was for our father and uncle before us.’
‘That’s right.’
Lettie listened to the brothers’ nostalgic chat and wondered if there might be an opening for negotiating a bit longer. ‘Maybe I should have a little more time to see how things go,’ she suggested quietly.
Both men stopped speaking, their heads snapping in her direction. ‘What?’
‘No,’ her father said shaking his head. ‘We’ve agreed three months. That’s more than enough time for you to work out whether this life is for you or not.’
She wasn’t certain how she could do very much at all in that period but didn’t want to push her luck. ‘It was just a suggestion.’
‘Yes, well keep the next one to yourself,’ her dad said, but his tone was jovial.
She gave her dad a squeeze. ‘I will, Dad.’
Zac smiled at her. ‘I think this calls for a celebration.’
