Page 19 of Sunrise over Strawberry Hill Farm

Libby asked direct questions of everyone but herself. She was still a closed book, even where her friends were concerned. Flora knew that there were secrets hidden there but would wait until Libby was ready to tell them.

The party was good fun as the drinks flowed and the conversation carried on.

From time to time, Flora watched Nico as he chatted away to her friends and when she caught up with Grams as the party began to wind down, she found her and Nico talking to Bob and Eddie about the steam train.

‘You’ll have to come and see it,’ said Bob to Nico. ‘It’s an absolute beauty.’

‘Are you going on about that bloody train again, Dad?’ asked Ethan as he passed by, rolling his eyes at Flora.

‘Stop teasing them,’ chuckled Grams.

‘You know, maybe one day we’re going to surprise you, lad,’ said Eddie. ‘And it’ll be trundling up and down the railway tracks once more.’

‘More chance of it flying, to be honest, Grandad,’ said Ethan. But he softened his words with a smile before turning to Flora. ‘Have you got a minute?’

Flora nodded and followed Ethan into a quiet corner, where they were joined by Ryan. ‘What’s up?’ she asked, looking from brother to brother.

‘We just wanted to make sure that you’re okay,’ said Ethan, his normally jokey stance replaced with a much more serious one.

‘Joe told us about you having to sell the farm equipment,’ added Ryan.

Flora sighed. ‘Oh. Well, it’ll keep us going for now,’ she replied. ‘Thanks for looking out for me and Grams. We’ll be okay. Even more so when the Italian playboy has wandered off into the sunset, hopefully very soon.’

Ryan looked surprised. ‘You don’t like him?’ he asked.

‘He’s just so fake,’ said Flora, making a face. ‘Just like his dad.’

To her surprise, Ryan shook his head. ‘I’ve met Paolo Rossi and that’s not the vibe I’m getting from his son,’ he said.

‘I agree,’ said Ethan, nodding enthusiastically. ‘He’s been chatting about the woodwork in here, as well as his family home. He doesn’t seem like a flash kind of guy to me.’

As she wandered back to join Grams, Flora found that she was surprised. All of her friends seemed to like Nico. She normally trusted their opinions, but surely they were wrong this time, weren’t they?

11

The following morning after Katy’s birthday party, Flora was feeling slightly delicate as she walked downstairs for breakfast.

She hadn’t felt drunk the previous evening but had obviously had more alcohol than she had intended and needed one of Grams’ special breakfasts to perk her back up.

However, Grams had begun to have a lie-in each morning and Flora found the kitchen empty. In fact, Grams was not even getting up at sunrise any more. Of course, there wasn’t any point as the fields lay empty, and yet, it was a change of rhythm and it unsettled Flora.

She wolfed down some toast and coffee by herself and then decided to go out for some fresh air. Once outside in the sunshine of the early morning, her feet automatically led her across the courtyard and past the large barn.

Until recently, it had housed all the extra equipment needed to work the land. But now it lay empty. Exposed on one side to the elements, she had no idea what else they could use it for.

She carried on past the barn and up to the top of the hill. It was her favourite part of the whole farm. She walked through the gate and stared across the land at the back of the hill. It still looked so odd to her eyes. After all those years of hard work, the fields were now just barren earth that had been left for the winter. She thought back to all those days going up and down the ploughed lines, but now it had been left to its own devices.

Feeling guilty at the failure, she turned away to look at her preferred view down towards the woods and the river. As always, it made her feel comforted. It really was quite something. Even from the top of the hill, she could see the river glinting down at the bottom of the valley. She could see the church spire and roofs of nearby Cranbridge. She could even see where the railway track began to wind its journey far beyond Cranfield and through the countryside.

There was a piece of a large fallen tree trunk nearby that had been left there many years ago and she went over to sit down on it with a sigh. Flora looked at the view once more, but it became blurry as tears pricked at her eyes. She shook her head, but the tears began to pour down her cheeks. It was just all too awful. She had tried to stay strong and steady for Grams, but here, on her own, she could finally let her emotions bubble to the surface. She felt utterly and completely lost, without hope for her beloved Strawberry Hill Farm.

‘Hello.’

She gave a start and looked up, hurriedly brushing the tears from her face. Then she saw that it was Nico who had silently come into the field.

‘Oh, hello,’ she said, deliberately looking away so that he couldn’t see the emotion in her face.

He didn’t reply and, to Flora’s dismay, he walked over and sat down on the tree trunk next to her. She kept her face turned away, trying to bring her hand up surreptitiously so he couldn’t see her wiping her cheeks.