Page 24 of Sunrise over Strawberry Hill Farm

‘But his offer is serious, isn’t it?’ asked Katy, with a frown.

‘I think so.’ Flora really wanted to trust him, but her trust was in short supply where it came to men. ‘Anyway, it’s all going to take ages to sort out.’

Libby shook her head. ‘But don’t you want to get up and running in time for the summer holidays?’

‘Of course,’ said Flora. ‘But we need to be steady and sensible. Not rush into things until the paperwork is all signed off.’

Libby gave a shrug. ‘Just get going, I reckon. Time is of the essence and all that.’

As her friends nodded, Flora felt rattled. She was still worried that it was all too impetuous. Everything needed careful consideration. But Nico was impulsive, sweeping Grams along with his recklessness and, it seemed, her friends as well.

It was down to her to keep him in check. After all, it was her home on the line, not his. He could run back to Italy and just pick up his old life. But if it all went wrong, it would be down to her and Grams to start over and that just didn’t bear thinking about.

* * *

When Flora returned to the farmhouse, Nico had already looked up their options on the local council’s website.

She felt slightly mollified that at least he appeared to be doing things by the book.

‘So we can have a maximum of ten tents,’ he told her.

‘That sounds like too many anyway,’ she replied. ‘Especially when we’ve never done this before.’

‘If you want to make any kind of profit, then I would definitely max out the number of tents you can have,’ he said.

His phone rang and he excused himself to take the call.

Flora was still worried about Grams, who seemed to be taking the idea all too well, as far as she was concerned, not even asking any questions or raising any doubts.

‘Are you sure that this is the right idea for us?’ asked Flora when the two of them were alone, sitting at the kitchen table. ‘For the farm?’

‘If the choice is to change our path or lose the place altogether, then I think we have to go for it,’ said Grams. ‘I don’t want to lose our home. Not after fighting this for so long.’

Flora reached out to take her hand. ‘I don’t want to lose it either.’

‘Then go down a new path and see where it takes you,’ said Grams, squeezing her hand. ‘You never know. You might enjoy not only the journey but the destination.’

Flora laughed. ‘Erm, why just me? Aren’t you coming along for the ride too?’ she said.

To her surprise, Grams looked a little sheepish. ‘Dear girl, you’ve been utterly amazing. I love you so much. But it’s time for me to retire and to pass all this down to you to do with whatever you feel is right.’

Flora took a deep intake of breath. Of course, she hadn’t expected Grams to carry on working on the farm forever and yet she wasn’t sure about going forward without her help. She had always been there through thick and thin and so taking a step back meant more responsibility. And Flora just wasn’t sure how much more she could take.

Grams took her hand and squeezed it tight in her strong, rough one.

Flora had a terrible thought. ‘You’re not thinking of leaving, are you?’ she asked, her throat thick with trying to imagine what life at Strawberry Hill Farm would be like without her grandmother by her side.

Grams shook her head. ‘Not unless you want me out of here,’ she said.

‘Never,’ Flora told her fiercely.

Grams smiled at her granddaughter. ‘Thank goodness. I’d hate to live anywhere but with you.’

Flora leaned back in her chair. ‘So what are you going to do with all the time that you’re going to have on your hands.’

‘Well, I’d like to help out with the campsite where I can,’ Grams told her. ‘It might keep me feeling young. But with my spare time, I’d like to take up ballroom dancing again.’

Flora looked at her amazed. ‘Ballroom dancing?’ she spluttered. ‘Since when?’