A Taste of Home by Heidi Swain (the beginning after the end read novel TXT) 📕

‘But we’re not a big business compared to the other places operating around here now,’ he was quick to point out.

‘And that’s why she’s so keen,’ I reiterated. I’d already explained that, but he clearly hadn’t grasped it. ‘That’s exactly why she’s so interested in us. She wants seasonal, fresh and local and not too much of it. She’s prepared to adapt her menu to cater for what we can offer, for as long as it lasts. She’s looking to work with a smaller business now she’s realised the other local farms will only supply her with massive bulk orders.’

‘I see,’ Grandad nodded, rubbing a hand over his stubbly chin.

‘I had a proper look at the menu while I was there,’ I told him, ‘and on the back she’s listed some of the other places she supports. Skylark honey and pork featured and I’m guessing that must be your mate Jake’s farm.’

‘Yes,’ he said. ‘That’s right.’

‘It would be good to see our name on there with his too, wouldn’t it? This deal could be as much about raising our reputation as selling fruit.’

‘Um,’ he thoughtfully said.

I busied myself at the stove and let a moment of silence settle. I wanted him to have the opportunity to mull it all over, like I’d had. I very much hoped he was going to agree to what Jemma had suggested, in principle at least.

‘I admit I have been concerned about what was going to happen to this year’s crops,’ he quietly said. ‘And to be honest, I didn’t think I’d be trading at all next year.’

There was a change in his tone and when I looked, I saw his bottom lip trembling. The sight of it, caused tears to prickle the backs of my eyes and a lump to form in my throat.

‘Last season,’ he carried on, ‘Chris Dempster, who runs a stall on the market, helped me out and Jake did too, but it wasn’t quite enough and we had some waste. They’ve both said they’ll carry on selling for me, but I’d already worked out there’d be quite a surplus of strawberries again.’

‘Jemma mentioned that they had stepped in,’ I softly said.

‘Between them they took the soft fruit and then Jake had the apples and pears for his cider and perry like he always does. The set-up worked reasonably well, but as I said, there was some waste. I had been thinking about ploughing up half the rows at the end of last year, but couldn’t bring myself to do it.’

Fenview Farm really was on the cusp of scaling down and possibly even closing its trading doors and I was grateful that Mum had found it within herself to write her letter and tell me about this place, even if the details had only been brief. Had I not been made aware of this other branch of the Brown family even for just a few months longer, then I might have been visiting a very different farm to the one I was falling under the spell of now.

‘Well, it’s just as well you didn’t get the plough out, isn’t it?’ I said, recovering enough to smile. ‘Jemma will be buying more than the surplus and the deal could give the farm a whole new lease of life. She’ll be playing up the local and fresh aspect and she’s prepared to pay well too. There won’t be any wasted fruit at all this year and consequently no financial loss.’

Grandad seemed to like the sound of that.

‘Did she say if she had any preference about the produce being organic?’ he asked.

‘No,’ I said. ‘Not that I can recall.’

‘It was something I had been thinking about before things went downhill. No one else around here is organic and I thought it might give the farm an edge. I was all set to try it, but then, like so many other things I’d dreamt up, it got set aside.’

He didn’t elaborate on what the other things were.

‘Well,’ I said. ‘I think now might be the time to pick those dreams up again. Are you interested in what Jemma is offering?’

‘More than interested,’ he said, his mouth breaking into the broadest smile I’d seen yet. ‘If Jemma takes a good share and Chris and Jake pick up the rest then we could be properly back in business.’

I felt the tension I’d been carrying in my shoulders begin to loosen its grip.

‘I think it really could be the start of an exciting new era for Fenview Farm.’

‘And I can’t tell you what a relief that would be, Fliss,’ Grandad swallowed. ‘I was convinced that I was going to be the Brown who failed after the success of so many generations who had gone before me. In spite of my recent spell of better sleep,’ he admitted, ‘the worry has kept me awake at night for a very long time.’

I knew that on its own, the contract with Jemma wouldn’t be enough to keep the farm completely afloat, but it would provide a much-needed life raft. It would help keep our heads above water for a while and with the strawberry season about to kick off, it really couldn’t have been better timed.

I was suddenly rather enamoured with Bec’s lack of discretion. Perhaps folk finding out who I was might not be such a bad thing after all.

‘We’re not going to let the farm fail,’ I said firmly, as I felt my determination to keep things going receive a hefty, potentially celestial, boost. ‘It’s not happening on my watch.’

Grandad beamed again.

‘I’ll get in touch with Jemma and invite her here so you can negotiate the contract as soon as possible.’

‘I’ll want you onboard for that too,’ Grandad quickly said.

‘I’d be honoured to help.’ I told him.

‘Oh Fliss,’ he gasped, reaching for my hand. ‘What a breath of fresh air you’ve brought to this place. And to me. Before you came along, I was practically resigned to selling up