Читать книгу: «Spring on the Little Cornish Isles: The Flower Farm», страница 4
‘Sorry. Have to go back to work soon,’ she said, pulling her T-shirt over her head. ‘I can’t leave Will on his own for much longer. It’s not fair.’
Adam sat on the edge of the bed, still naked. ‘We can spend more time together when you move in … you’ll be in my bed every night. Come here.’
Jess joined him at the bed and stood between his legs. Even now the sight of him made her long to jump straight back under the patchwork cover with him. In fact, it was crazy not to move in with him as she already spent plenty of nights here each week. There was no reason to wait any longer and it wasn’t as if she had to move any further than half a mile from the farm. Everything could carry on as before, only much better. She held his head between her hands, leaned down and kissed him, feeling as if she could float on air.
‘Let’s talk about it tomorrow evening. Shall I come for dinner?’ she said.
‘Sounds perfect. Stay over and we can start moving your stuff in.’
‘I hope you can find room for my extensive collection of fleeces and wellies.’
‘Of course, but don’t bother with any underwear, will you?’
‘Ha ha,’ said Jess, brimming with excitement while also wondering what her mother’s reaction would be. Will would be happy for her, but her mum had dropped enough hints for Jess to work out that she didn’t think an island postman was good enough for her daughter. Jess wasn’t too concerned. She had long since ceased to care what her mother thought about her choice of partners and where Adam was concerned, she was resolved not to let her spoil her moment.
A buzzing came from underneath Adam’s abandoned boxers.
‘Yours or mine?’ she asked.
‘Sounds like mine. Probably Javid calling me about rowing practice …’ He glanced at his watch. ‘Oh shit, is that the time? I promised to meet him down at the gig sheds ten minutes ago. See how you’ve distracted me. I’ll call him to say I’ll be late.’
Jess moved away as Adam picked up his phone and frowned at the screen.
‘It’s not Javid … it’s a text … I don’t know …’ His voice trailed off and he stared at the screen for a few moments. His smile evaporated and he scrolled down further.
Jess joined him on the edge of the bed. ‘Adam? What is it?’
‘Nothing. It’s nothing.’
Her stomach turned over. ‘It doesn’t look like nothing. You’ve gone as white as a sheet.’
‘I’m fine.’ He threw the phone on the duvet. ‘It was just a junk message. Sick of them to be honest.’ Flashing a smile at her, he grabbed his shirt. ‘I need to get down to the sheds. Sorry …’
‘Oh. OK, I should be getting home anyway. See you tomorrow?’
‘Yeah. Sure.’ Adam pecked her on the cheek before scrambling into his clothes.
Jess looked at the phone lying face-down in the folds of the duvet. Adam’s reaction convinced her the text had been more important than he was letting on, but she certainly had no intention of checking his mobile. She trusted him to tell her if anything was amiss.
Adam saw her to the front door. He always stood in the porch watching her until she was out of sight of him – perhaps longer for all she knew. He still stood there today, but as she reached the point when she would lose that last glimpse of him, she turned around to find the porch empty.
She told herself she was being paranoid and she was tired at the end of a long summer of work … and sex. Then she thought back to the hasty kiss, the eager removal of his hands from her waist and to the empty spot on the cottage porch and shivered. She was probably overthinking things but she had the feeling that whatever was in that text, it had shifted Adam’s world on its axis and, with it, her own.
Chapter 5
Five and a half months later
Valentine’s Day
The Flower Farm, St Saviour’s
Well, it was one way to spend Valentine’s Day … Gaby took a swig of coffee from her mug as she and her fellow pickers enjoyed a quick break in the ‘staff rest area’, which was actually an old farm building with a couple of ancient sofas, a sink and kettle. It was the middle of the morning and she was more than ready for a break. Her back and arms ached already and it wasn’t eleven a.m. yet. Her dungarees were damp and despite the rubber gloves, her fingers were almost numb as she warmed them on her steaming mug.
The stems had grown thigh-high and the fields were aglow with blooms. Beyond the hedges, the Atlantic Ocean was topped by frothy whitecaps whipped up by the brisk February wind, while the other isles were green oases in the silvery-blue sea.
It had rained overnight; in fact, it had been raining for a few days now and the fields were thick with mud that threatened to ooze over the top of her wellies. However, the skies had now cleared and she’d been able to forgo the bright yellow oilskins provided by the farm. They kept her dry but also swamped her and Gaby felt like she was in a TV ad for frozen fish fingers when she was wearing them. There was still a keen wind gusting so she’d kept on the extra layer of luxury thermals she’d been given by Carly when she’d gone home for the Christmas break.
Gaby still had to pinch herself from time to time, amazed she’d survived through the winter rain and gales and into the spring. When she looked around her, she stood in her own ocean: the flowers around her were a sea of cream, gold and green. She’d been harvesting two of her favourites: Daymark, with its creamy petals and bright orange cups and Yellow Cheer, a double-headed variety with a subtle but lovely scent.
Since arriving at the end of the summer, she’d alternated between the fields and sheds. She’d learned how to pick the tightly closed buds when they showed the merest hint of colour and carefully hold huge bunches under her arm before placing them in deep white crates called Proconas. They were then whizzed off to the packing sheds by quad bike and stored in a refrigerated room until the team were ready to arrange them. Over the months, she’d also learned how to grade and arrange the different varieties into bunches of tens and pack them in tissue-lined boxes ready to be transported to the St Saviour’s quay and on to the airport.
She’d guessed she’d have to work hard when she first arrived but nothing could have prepared her for how tired she’d feel. Even after tending her own allotment at her college and working for the commercial nursery, harvesting the narcissi was knackering – especially in the run-up to Christmas and the previous week as they’d worked into the night to make sure all the Valentine’s bouquets reached their recipients in time for today.
Gaby still remembered the look on Jess’s face when she’d first landed at St Mary’s airport almost six months previously – and the dismay on Len’s craggy features when they’d been introduced: not to mention Will’s horrified expression.
He was still brusque, impatient, and his jokes weren’t anywhere near as funny as he thought they were. However, she’d soon found out that even though he was the boss, he was prepared to take as much banter as he dished out. In return, Gaby had been determined to give as good as she got and the two of them had earned a reputation for sparky exchanges.
Slowly but surely, she’d settled in at the farm almost without realising it. Many were the times when she’d been so exhausted, so stiff and cold that she’d thought of swimming home to Cornwall. But with the help of her mates at the farm and at home supporting her, and a bloody-minded determination, here she was, a fully-fledged member of the team. Besides, no amount of back-breaking work or taunts from Will could ever compare with the tough times that she’d been through at home.
She’d also fulfilled her other ambition to visit Tresco Abbey Gardens. In fact, she’d invested in an annual pass and been half a dozen times, as there was colour and beauty in the exotic plants all year round. She’d spotted the red squirrels and had become quite a fixture, making friends with some of the staff and meeting up with them when she could get away from the farm. She felt she was slowly building a life on St Saviour’s – even though it was temporary – and although she still thought of her brother several times a day, there were times when hours passed and she realised he hadn’t been on her mind and that the remembrance of him didn’t come with quite such a sharp pang of loss as months before.
Thinking of Stevie and home she decided she would call her mum and dad after her shift today. Maybe they’d like a bunch of the narcissi she was harvesting. She could make up a special bouquet of her favourites and send them to her parents. The Carter family had an emotional day coming up soon so she had the perfect excuse to see how everyone was coping. It would have been Stevie’s twenty-second birthday later in the month and Gaby was sorry to be away from home on a day that was bound to be hard for everyone including her.
Gaby started to walk back into the field and back to work cramming the remains of a Mars bar in her mouth. That was one thing: she could eat what she liked with all the physical work and though she’d put a bit of weight on, even Carly had said she looked ‘miles better’ when she’d seen her at Christmas, ‘apart from the ruddy cheeks and farmer’s tan; I’ll send you some of my sunscreen, instead of that cheap rubbish you use’. She went back to her picking. Carly would be horrified if she saw her now: knee-deep in damp flowers with a wet crotch and hair like a scarecrow. She might take a selfie and send it tomorrow. Anything that could bring a smile to her family’s faces was worth doing.
Chapter 6
Jess drank in the scent of the blooms she was helping to harvest. She’d been working in one of the lower fields since early morning. The farm had safely got through the week leading up to Valentine’s Day with a healthy stream of orders that, thankfully, had reached customers on time without any major disasters. The days were lengthening and the temperatures slowly but surely creeping up. Spring was here.
She didn’t normally work outside and Valentine’s Day itself ought to be a time for a breather but the flowers kept on growing anyway and the farm had a large wholesale order for a supermarket to fulfil. Most of all, she was hoping that a busy day in the fields would help to blot out the event she’d wished would never come, but was actually happening.
That had been a false hope judging by the way her stomach turned over when she heard the low-pitched drone of the plane engine in the sky above her. That sound meant the end of long-cherished dreams that she’d clung onto against all the odds for months now.
Will was walking towards her down the row between the narcissi. She took a deep breath, filling her senses with the scent, hoping he wasn’t going to offer her sympathy or she might actually cry. It was a forlorn hope because the first thing he said when he reached her was, ‘That’s Adam’s flight.’
She nodded. Adam and Will had remained civil and met up with their rugby and rowing mates, but Jess realised their relationship had cooled too.
‘How do you know?’ she asked him.
‘Patrick told me last night. Adam was in the pub and mentioned it. I’d guessed that Maisie told you too?’
She swallowed the lump in her throat. ‘I think Adam wanted me to know he was leaving today.’
‘You can’t know that for sure …’ She felt Will’s hand briefly on her shoulder, but then he removed it, probably not wanting to draw the attention of the nearby field workers. ‘I’m sorry, Jess.’
She gulped back a sob and dug her nails in her palm. ‘It’s not your fault.’
‘Maybe, but he is – was my friend. I wish I could have made him see what a dick he’s being.’
‘It doesn’t matter now. It’s over.’ She brushed her knuckles over damp cheeks.
Will dug a handkerchief out of his pocket. ‘It’s clean,’ he said as she hesitated.
‘Thanks.’ She took it and hastily wiped her face.
He grinned. ‘Sorry. Almost clean.’
She laughed but another sob bubbled up. ‘Oh, Will. Shit. Why am I bothered about him still? It was over last August, the day he got that text.’
‘I did try to ask him what the fuck was happening but he made it clear it was between you and him.’
‘That’s no help because he wouldn’t even tell me anything.’
She took a few deep breaths. When her mind had dwelt on why Adam had decided to end their relationship over the winter months, she’d tried to think of the good things like her family, her friends and her home. Many times, over the previous autumn and through the long dark nights of winter, she’d reminded herself how lucky she was to live in such a beautiful place.
The engine note changed as the Twin Otter climbed higher after leaving St Mary’s airport. It banked, heading straight for the farm. If she looked up, she might be able to see the passengers in the windows of the tiny aircraft. She imagined Adam’s face and wondered if he was feeling as devastated as her – or was he merely relieved to finally be out of her life for good?
‘I keep trying not to care but knowing he’s up there makes it feel so bloody final. The final nail in the coffin.’
‘I’m sorry. Life is shit sometimes,’ was all Will could offer, but he shaded his eyes and looked up at the plane too.
There was no possibility of a last-minute reprieve. He really was going. Already had gone. As Adam flew over, he’d be able to see the golden fields below and easily pick out the flower farm. He’d easily distinguish Thrift Cottage. Perhaps he would even spot her, standing in the middle of the field staring up at him. Would he be feeling as if his heart had been ripped out too? Would he be longing to turn that plane around and head back to Scilly and tell her that he’d made a huge mistake and ask if they could start again?
The plane was almost directly overhead. She was being silly. It wasn’t likely Adam was looking out for her. If he cared that much, he’d be here on the earth not leaving, because they had been happy once. Everything had been perfect until that bank holiday in August.
Something had changed in the moment he received that text. That message had sent him racing home to Cumbria to deal with a ‘family crisis’ and when he’d returned, he was a different person, as if he’d picked up a burden overnight. It had started a chain of events – all still a mystery to Jess – that had gradually seen Adam loosen his connection with her over the autumn until last October he’d said he needed a break. His reasons had been vague and no amount of questioning by Jess had ever unearthed the real cause, just that ‘he had to have some space.’ She’d been upset, then angry, before finally accepting that she might never know what had happened. Will had tried to ask him what the matter was and met with a firm rebuff, and even Maisie had tried to find out and got the same stony silence.
With Adam living and working in the same tiny community, it had been impossible not to bump into him around the island and in the local pubs. On those occasions, they’d barely spoken, although they’d exchanged plenty of looks. Occasionally, Jess had thought Adam was about to speak to her but other times, he’d seemed eager to be out of her sight as soon as possible. He’d walked out of the Driftwood a couple of times shortly after she’d walked in, once attracting comments from the regulars about leaving his glass half full.
In November, Adam flew home to Cumbria and was gone again for a few days at Christmas, presumably to see his parents. He’d visited them before and they’d stayed with him a few times but Jess couldn’t help wondering why he was going back so frequently, as it was an expensive and time-consuming business. Even though she’d been angry and hurt, she hadn’t stopped loving him, which seemed the cruellest thing of all.
‘He’s still renting the cottage. I know that much,’ said Will, returning his attention from the plane to Jess. ‘Maybe he does plan on coming back.’
‘It’s probably because he can’t get out of the cottage lease. There’s a few months left on it. I know that because he took out a year’s contract on it last spring.’
‘Hmm. If he was too much of a coward to even explain properly why he’s leaving, then you’re better off without him. Oh, shit. There’s Mum.’
Jess groaned as they both spotted Anna crossing the yard at the top of the field. Fortunately she walked straight past the entrance to the field and headed in the direction of the barn where they stored the animal feed and other farm supplies.
‘Phew, for a moment there, I thought she was coming over to give us the benefit of her views on Adam again,’ said Will, toeing the soil with his Hunters. ‘Not to mention our love lives, or lack of them.’
‘Yes, she doesn’t have the greatest view of men in general and Adam specifically. A postman was never “good enough” for me, according to her, and now her lack of faith in him has been proven.’
Anna had been quick to subscribe to the theory that Adam had a secret girlfriend or even wife and told Jess ‘it was typical of bloody men’ – in other words, she considered Adam in the same league as her ex-husband. Jess knew Adam wasn’t the same as their father. At least she hoped he wasn’t. But maybe her mother was spot on and Adam had been seeing another woman and his reluctance to explain himself had merely been guilt. There probably wasn’t some great mystery behind his change of heart, just someone else who he cared for more than Jess.
Will heaved a sigh. ‘Well, I’d better be getting back to work. If you need me, you know where I am. If you want to get out tonight, why not come down the Gannet for a few drinks?’
Jess had never felt less like going out, but maybe drowning her sorrows was better than moping. ‘Thanks. I may just do that.’
‘You can keep the hanky,’ he said and, with a consoling squeeze of her fingers, he went back to supervise the harvest in the top field.
Jess tore her eyes from the plane and bent low to twist and pluck a stem from the earth. She had to get a grip. Adam had clearly moved on and it was time she did too. For the next half an hour, she threw all her energy into furiously plucking flowers. Yet she couldn’t shake off the thought that something dramatic had changed while Adam had been away from Scilly in the dark nights of the previous autumn. Although she’d hardly spoken to him, his behaviour had seemed erratic to say the least. Over those autumn and winter months, she’d caught his longing looks, the moments when he’d been about to say something to her and stopped. If she could only have got through to him, reached him somehow but it was obvious that all meaningful communication between them was long over. And … then in January, she’d finally found out that Adam was leaving Scilly for good.
In contrast, Maisie’s life had changed dramatically over the past six months – for the better. Jess was delighted for her friend, although it seemed as if the two of them had exchanged places. She so wanted Maisie to be happy, although the contrast in their lives since last August couldn’t have been bigger. Since then, Maisie had found love again with Patrick McKinnon, a handsome Australian who had come to work in the Driftwood Inn – and stayed. He and Maisie were now having a baby after a whirlwind romance and had moved in to a cottage near the pub.
Jess heard voices and laughter from the seasonal staff. They included Gaby who stood up and stretched her spine. Her oversized dungarees hung off her and her hair was caught up in an old-fashioned headscarf like one of those Land Girls you saw in wartime TV series. She was peering at the plane as if she knew Adam was on board too. Gaby caught sight of Jess and raised a hand in a half wave.
Jess waved back before pretending to inspect a bloom. Gaby didn’t need Jess being a grumpy arse too. She had enough to put up with, with Will’s scathing comments and grumpiness. For some reason, he behaved very strangely around her, although Jess was pleased that Gaby gave as good as she got. She’d surprised Jess with her resilience; that inner core of steel Jess had glimpsed had really shown itself and Gaby had become a valued member of the team.
Thinking of the staff reminded Jess of how many people depended on her getting on with things and that’s exactly what she was determined to do. Besides, she had a family wedding to look forward to at the end of the month as her cousin, Julia, was marrying a guy who worked in the same hotel as her on St Piran’s island. Will and Anna were going of course, and the farm was supplying most of the flowers for the venue. The wedding was set to be one of the biggest on the isles for years. Now wasn’t that exactly what you wanted when the person you loved had just flown out of your life forever?
