Page 83 of Sunrise over Strawberry Hill Farm

‘Good morning,’ said Grams. ‘Did you have a nice time last night?’

Flora nodded. ‘Morning,’ she said, heading across to pour herself a coffee. ‘I did, thanks. Really great.’

Nico looked down at his plate of pancakes and lost his appetite.

‘Right,’ he said, suddenly standing up. ‘I’m just going to have a walk around and check on things in the campsite.’

Flora looked a little surprised but didn’t say anything.

He stepped outside of the cool farmhouse and straight into the warmth of the July heatwave. The long-range weather forecast was for the sunshine and heat to continue, perfect weather for camping.

As he crossed the courtyard, he came across Tyson tinkering with the motorbike.

‘Hey,’ he said. ‘You’re up early this morning.’

Tyson looked up and nodded at him. He was dressed in his school uniform and had obviously cycled over before classes. ‘Was thinking about the gearbox and needed to check something out,’ he replied, looking back at the bike.

‘What about school?’

Tyson checked his phone. ‘I’ve got five more minutes.’

Nico leant up against the wall and watched as the teenager began to reconnect the gearbox. ‘So do you enjoy school?’ he asked.

Tyson shrugged his shoulders. ‘Not really,’ he muttered.

Nico nodded. ‘I found it pretty boring myself,’ he replied.

Tyson looked up at him surprised. ‘For real?’ he asked.

‘I was never one for writing everything down,’ Nico told him. ‘Carpentry, on the other hand. That I loved. Anything where I could make something with my hands, get them dirty.’

Tyson nodded. ‘Yeah. Same.’

‘Are you starting your GCSE courses in the autumn?’

Tyson made a face. ‘Teacher keeps nagging me to choose them, but I haven’t had time to look. Kevin’s back in hospital and I don’t want to bother Mum.’

‘I’m sorry to hear that. I hope he’s okay. Well, if you want to run the courses past someone, I’ve always got time for you,’ said Nico.

Tyson looked pleased as he stood up. ‘Cheers,’ he replied, grabbing his bicycle.

‘Any time,’ Nico told him.

As the teenager cycled up the lane and away from him, Nico nodded thoughtfully to himself. It was nice to give something back, he thought. He was pleased to be able to support Tyson wherever he could. He didn’t appear to have many male adults in his life to guide him. Nico was thankful once more for the lifelong support he had received from Lorenzo. Heaven knows he never got any support from his own father.

The voicemails and missed calls had finally slowed down and Nico didn’t know whether that was a good or bad thing. Perhaps Paolo had given up on his beloved supercar. Truth be known, Nico didn’t want it. Other things were much more important to him now. Even more so than revenge on his father. Unfortunately the one thing he really wanted though, which was Flora, he couldn’t have.

He took in a breath of the fresh country air as he walked past the barn and waved at a few of the campers beginning to step out of their tents and into the fresh air. Nico stopped at the top of the hill and looked out across the hill to where he could see Harriet and Joe setting up the stall in the lavender field for hopefully another busy day.

He hadn’t bargained on making friends when he had first made the long journey to Cranfield. He hadn’t thought about staying on and enjoying himself that summer. He had been so low, so grief-stricken, and slowly Cranfield had brought him back to life. And perhaps, given him a new life as well. He yearned to stay on, to see and enjoy the changes of the seasons and perhaps make his next home there.

He suddenly saw Flora come out of the farmhouse and turned around to head further into the camping field. For once, he didn’t want to talk to her that morning.

Of all the things he hadn’t bargained on when arriving in Cranfield, beginning to fall in love was one of them.

50

Flora found that July was rushing past and suddenly, the following week, all the state schools would be breaking up for the holidays and the campsite would be completely full.