Lindon was confident and bubbly, just like his sister, and easy to talk to. He told me he’d studied art and graphic design at college but had set up his own business when he was only fourteen, selling drawings of people’s pets.
‘Do you still draw pets?’
‘Yeah. I don’t advertise it but I get lots of recommendations so I probably draw one every couple of weeks.’
‘There’s a bare wall in the café and Mam and I were just saying how it would make the perfect gallery for our animals, if only we knew someone who could draw.’
‘If only,’ Lindon said, laughing. He took out his phone and clicked onto his Instagram feed to show me his most recent creations. ‘Some of my customers want an exact match to their pet – almost like a photograph – and others prefer something illustrated which is clearly their pet but a bit more whimsical.’
‘You’re exceptionally talented at both,’ I said, scrolling through his feed. ‘I like the illustrated ones and I know Mam will too. We’ve got eleven horses and seven goats so if you could send me a quote for eighteen colour drawings, that would be brilliant.’
‘I can do that and, just so you know, another thing I do is setting up websites and social media accounts. I’ve done it for several local businesses.’
‘That would save me a lot of time. Thank you.’
Mam and I had gone back and forth as to whether to start from scratch or take over what Anna already had but, after what I’d discovered about the lack of visitors yesterday, curiosity had got the better of me last night and I’d done a quick search online only to discover that the website and Facebook account for the farm had already been taken down. The major review sites still had feedback, of course, but after spotting several negative comments, I’d closed my laptop. That wasn’t our business and there was no need to go down that rabbit hole.
We continued our tour, pausing so Lindon could take several photos of each animal from different angles.
‘Thanks for the tour,’ he said as we returned to his car a little later. ‘That was really helpful. I’ll start on the logo as soon as I get home and send you some rough ideas over tonight.If you and Frances can choose your favourite by mid-morning tomorrow, I can have a detailed version ready on Sunday.’
As I waved him off, a feeling of calm passed through me. Lindon had added that we could reject all his ideas if he hadn’t hit the mark but I felt confident that he’d come up with an amazing logo first time around. Handing over the setting up of the website and socials would be a tremendous help too. I was reasonably tech-savvy and could do it myself but an expert like Lindon could do it in a fraction of the time, leaving me to focus on the farm. It felt like we were already making great progress.
20
‘Auntie Grace!’ My eight-year-old niece, Lola, ran towards me the following afternoon and leapt into my arms. Holding her tightly round the waist, I spun her in a circle with her legs sticking out – our signature move every time we saw each other.
I placed Lola down on the ground and took a good look at her, noting a few changes since I saw her in February.
‘If you get any taller, we won’t be able to do that anymore,’ I said, hugging her once more.
My five-year-old nephew, Max, was acting all shy, hiding behind Hope’s legs. I hugged my sister then looked around me.
‘I thought my nephew was coming to visit, but he’s obviously decided not to come today,’ I said. ‘Such a shame because his nanna and I made some fairy cakes this morning and, if he’s not here, he’s going to miss out.’
As Max giggled, Mam picked up the mantle.
‘I was really looking forward to seeing my grandson too but I’ll just have to eat his cake. Yum, yum!’
‘I’m here!’ he cried, running towards Mam for a hug, then to me.
‘That’s better,’ I said, picking him up and stroking back his blond curls. ‘I’ve missed you and your sister. Would you like to see the animals first or have a fairy cake?’
They didn’t have any goats at Briar Stones Farm so Hope had told me that Lola and Max were really excited about meeting ours. I thought the animals would win – especially as the kids wouldn’t have had their lunch that long ago – but the cakes beat the goats so we went inside.
I’d expected to see Maddie in the kitchen, having called her when I saw Hope arriving, but it was empty. I wasn’t going to shout her again. She knew we were expecting visitors and had promised over lunch that she’d spend some quality time with her young cousins when they arrived. If she didn’t have the manners to come down and greet them, I wasn’t chasing her.
‘Where’s Maddie?’ Hope asked as I handed her a mug of tea.
‘In her bedroom. She knows you’re here but…’ I nodded towards Lola and Max. ‘Let’s say it’s been a challenging move and leave it at that for now.’
Hope nodded. ‘But I’ll get the full story out of you before I leave.’
‘How about I take these two to feed the goats and you show Hope the café?’ Mam said.
The suggestion was met with squeals of excitement from Lola and Max so they went outside and Hope and I followed with our mugs of tea.
* * *
