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‘Sorry, I just…’ She blushed. ‘I wasn’t expecting you to…’ She trailed off.
‘Yeah. Sorry, I don’t know why I did that.’ Rory looked awkward. ‘It was just an instinct. I didn’t mean anything by it.’
‘I know,’ she said. There was a brief silence, in which Carrie thought,Is he embarrassed because he sort of did mean something by it, or am I overthinking that?
Definitely not overthinking it,Claire’svoice said.Mr Hot Chef over here clearly has the hots for you.
He does not, Carrie argued, weakly.
It was the rabbit that did it, Claire added.Men love a woman who goes gooey over small, furry things.
Shut up, idiot, Carrie willed the voice.
‘Come on. Veggies await,’ she said, instead, walking on and admiring the farm.
The three white polytunnels sat at the centre of fields, and to the right, far back, there was a large red brick farmhouse where Carrie guessed that the owners lived. Crops grew in the fields, stretching into the distance: on one stretch, Carrie could see the orange humps of pumpkins like night lights under their wide leaves.
As they walked into the polytunnel, Carrie took in a breath of surprise.
‘Impressive, huh?’ Rory nodded. ‘I was the same when I first came here.’
Carrie nodded, gazing at the rows of perfectly ordered vegetables that seemed to explode in a riot of colour before her eyes. Yellow and orange peppers hung from firm green stalks on one side of where they stood, while a profusion of deep purple and green sprouting broccoli stood tall, further along in the orderly beds. To Carrie’s left, large-leafed plants displayed huge, long, deep and light green courgettes under them, and a raised bed with a canopy displayed green and purple lettuces. A further bed was filled with orange, green and purple leaves, which Rory pointed to.
‘Chard. Look at how rainbow-coloured it is.’ He grinned. ‘Almost a shame to cook it.’
‘This is amazing,’ Carrie marvelled. ‘I can see why you like to come here.’
‘Yeah. There’s a whole other tunnel just dedicated to herbs, too, and another one for fruit. Everything they can grow in season, and some out of season too,’ he said, as they walked along. Rory was making some notes in pencil on a small notepad he’d pulled out of his pocket. ‘Shopping list,’ he explained. ‘They also have potatoes, onions, carrots – all the usual things. I buy those ready bagged.’
‘What do we do with this stuff?’ Carrie gestured to the vegetables around her.
‘We can choose what we want, and they’ll put it all into some crates for us.’ Rory scribbled something down on the paper. ‘I like to look at the produce and think about what I can make with it. That’s how I do the menu, most of the time. So, today I’m thinking, stuffed peppers, maybe. And something with the chard. It’s good with anchovies and chilli, maybe with spaghetti or tagliatelle.’ He chewed the end of his pencil.
‘That sounds delicious.’ Carrie’s stomach rumbled. ‘I could eat that now.’
‘Me, too, actually,’ Rory agreed. ‘Okay. Let’s get the order sorted, and then I’ll make you lunch when we get back. How’s that for a deal?’
‘It’s good.’ Carrie nodded. ‘Let’s do it.’
* * *
‘Look, I’m sorry I was a bit of an idiot to you last night at work.’ Rory edged in the last crate and closed up the back of the jeep. He hadn’t let her carry any of them to the back of the jeep, doing all the heavy lifting himself.
‘You weren’t.’ Carrie dusted off her hands and got back in the jeep. She’d been so relaxed at the farm, but now she was facing another drive, she could feel the tension returning.
‘I guess I wanted to explain, a little.’ Rory got in to the driver’s seat and turned to her. ‘When I was in the navy… I was kind of a different person. I loved it, loved the adventure, but…’ He trailed off. ‘I look back and I don’t like who I was then.’ He looked like he wanted to say something more, but he shook his head and started the engine. ‘Anyway. I can be a bit touchy talking about it, I guess.’
‘We’ve all got difficult things in our past,’ Carrie said, trying to keep her voice even. ‘And we’ve all changed from when we were younger. Don’t they say that your body essentially replaces itself every seven years, or something? Regrows, renews itself? Or, parts of the body, anyway? So, in many ways, you’re not the person you were seven years ago. Mentally and emotionally too, probably.’
‘I didn’t know that. That’s quite a thought.’ Rory raised an eyebrow in consideration as he reversed slowly onto the dirt track that led in and out of the farm.
‘I hope it’s true, anyway,’ Carrie sighed. ‘I could do with not being the same person I was six months ago.’
Rory pulled onto the quiet country road at the bottom of the dirt track and shot her a concerned look. ‘What does that mean?’
‘Nothing.’ She opened the window again and let the cool air wash over her, taking in a few deep breaths.
‘You sure?’ He glanced at her as he changed gear. ‘Sounds kind of a dark thing to say.’
