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‘Glad he saw sense.’
‘Something like that,’ Holly said as Anne handed her and Mitch a bacon roll each.
‘That’ll be two fifty,’ Anne said to Mitch.
Holly laughed. ‘Mitch’s food is on the house.’
Mitch took the roll and bit into it. ‘Amazing. These are gonna be a crowd-pleaser.’
Anne blushed.
Holly finished a mouthful. ‘I’ve got a good feeling about today.’
‘Yes,’ Mitch said. ‘It’s going to bring loads in.’
Holly studied Mitch. There was a sadness in his eyes.
‘I’ve left my staff, Jason and Emma in charge. I’ve spoken to all the farmers, they’re set up and happy.’
‘Great.’ Holly longed to reach out to him and tell him how she felt. But it would have to wait until later.
‘If they have any problems, they’ll field their queries to me. So you only need to worry about issues on the nursery side.’
‘Thanks.’ Holly decided she would speak to Mitch that evening, without fail. She had to apologise properly. She could not help feeling responsible for the sadness in his eyes.
‘I have to go, but I will be on the end of the phone should any problems arise.’
‘Oh?’ Holly said, disappointed Mitch would not be on site. ‘Try and get back for the fair though. It’s going to be amazing.’
‘I’m sure it will. You’ve got everything under control here. So many people have stepped up. You’ve a great team around you.’
Holly looked around at the people milling about. She had felt isolated and lonely for months but now she was touched by the help and enthusiasm of the village. It felt as if everyone she knew was here. Ethan had turned up, bringing a crowd of their old college friends. Families from Eversley Burrows had arrived, including a few she knew from primary school. She turned back to Mitch, to tell him how much she appreciated his support, but he’d gone.
The customer carpark was completely full after twenty minutes of opening. The guy on car park duty was directing visitors through the opening between the nursery and farm land as Mitch had agreed to use his scrub for overflow parking – rather than messing up Holly’s spare grassy fields, which had been freshly cut for people to relax on. Jaz was at the gate, handing out leaflets and explaining what was on offer, giving Holly the heads up via text when any of the councillors arrived. Holly had spoken to a few of them already, including Nina, who was really enthusiastic. The excitement was starting to well up inside her.
Jaz texted to alert Holly that Trudy, the Arts Council representative had arrived with her husband and twin sons. Holly rushed over, wanting to show them around personally. After the introductions, Holly led the family to the shed, detailing the arts hub plans.
She pointed towards the blackened ruins. ‘The tragic fire was caused by an electrical fault.’ Holly would not be telling the wider public the truth she had learned from Tom. ‘I lost my business, home and all my artwork.’
‘That’s awful,’ Trudy’s husband said. ‘And whose paintings are these?’
‘They’re a couple of pieces I’ve painted since. And my landscape.’
‘Oh yes, from the competition in Wells, I thought I’d seen it somewhere before. You have a real talent,’ he said.
Holly blushed. ‘Thank you. I was determined for something positive to come out of this, so I’ve drawn up these plans for an arts hub.’
Holly noted that Trudy’s face seemed to light up as she spoke and her husband looked animated as she explained her proposals. Holly knew it would be a long road but this looked positive.
Trudy and her family went off in the direction of the fair. Holly turned to see David Bunning approach her, she was surprised he had shown up. His face was dark.Oh no – not now? she thought as she felt a panic start to rise, no doubt Grace had stuck her oar in, explaining how heartless, selfish and crazy Holly was. Grace may even have told him she was at his place of business yesterday, making trouble.
‘I’ve been meaning to call you, Holly, to tell you – you have my backing and that everyone’s up for it. I wanted to let you know before today, so we could tell the representative from the Arts Council. I’m so sorry, I’ve been tied up with business issues, and council issues. Is Trudy here?’
‘Yes, I’ve shown her around. She’s up at the stalls. I thought you might not want to support me because of Tom and Grace.’
‘Oh, that nonsense?’ He shook his head. ‘Grace is rather fickle. Love her to pieces but she does fall head over heels with the most unsuitable fellows, then loses interest. I’m sure she’ll grow out of it. And I do hope she had nothing to do with the break-up of your marriage.’
‘No, that was all Tom.’
