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

I had my fingers crossed that my plans for Sunday would buck me up a bit. If they went according to plan, they should totally restore my zip and zeal and give Grandad a hefty dollop too.

‘Afternoon,’ smiled Grandad when I ventured down to the kitchen just after eight. ‘Good night, was it?’

‘It was interesting,’ I told him, as I rifled through the medicine cupboard for painkillers. ‘It didn’t end quite how I thought it might, but it was okay.’

Grandad narrowed his eyes. ‘I don’t like the sound of that,’ he frowned. ‘You got home all right, didn’t you?’

‘Oh yes,’ I said, quickly quashing his concern. ‘All safe and sound.’

‘That’s all right then,’ he said, sounding relieved. ‘Are you ready for a bit of breakfast? I was just about to scramble some eggs.’

‘That would be lovely,’ I gingerly nodded. ‘But first, I want to give you these back.’ I put the box containing the ruby earrings on the table. ‘I don’t mean for ever, just for safekeeping. I’d feel better if they were with the other pieces in your room, with the watch and everything, where they’ve always been. I haven’t got anywhere like that to keep them.’

Mum’s bangles were consigned to a jangling, and comfortingly familiar, pile on the nightstand.

‘That’s a good idea,’ Grandad agreed. ‘Did you enjoy wearing them?’

‘I did, but it took me ages to stop checking them. They’re beautiful, and the family history makes them even more precious, so I was terrified of losing them.’

Grandad smiled and I wished the farm had a safe or something, somewhere we could keep the contents of the box properly locked away.

‘I can understand that,’ he said. ‘I feel the same about the watch.’

‘But you did tell me yesterday that we shouldn’t save things for best,’ I reminded him. ‘Don’t you ever wear it?’

‘I haven’t been anywhere in a long time that’s warranted putting it on.’

That didn’t surprise me. As he’d already said, it wasn’t an appropriate timepiece to wear while picking fruit or convalescing and from what I understood, he hadn’t recently done much else.

‘Be a love,’ he said. ‘You go and put the earrings away while I get on with the eggs. It would save me having to negotiate the stairs again.’

‘I thought you were supposed to be moving a bit more,’ I pointed out.

‘I’ve been moving all morning,’ he tutted. ‘I had to walk across the yard to let the hens out and collect the eggs because you were in bed, sleeping the day away.’

Given that it was still much nearer eight than half past I thought that was slightly unfair but when you were used to getting up with the sun in the summer, I supposed my later than usual appearance did appear a bit lackadaisical.

After breakfast, during which we agreed that next time I was in town I should get another couple of sets of farm keys cut, I got ready to head outside. Grandad was full of enthusiasm for his laptop and planning to fire it up and get to know his way around it a bit better. Eliot had suggested it would be a good idea ahead of the internet being connected the following week.

‘That way I can hit the ground running,’ Grandad beamed, clearly looking forward to the delights of discovering life online.

‘That’s an excellent idea,’ I said, pulling on a pair of wellies.

It was too warm for them really. I would have to add a short pair, like the ones Amber at Skylark Farm favoured, to my shopping list. Though not designer ones. A functional Dunlop duo would be good enough for me.

‘What are you up to today?’ Grandad asked. ‘I had a look at the strawberry rows and there’s nothing that’ll need picking before tomorrow. The cloud cover yesterday seems to have halted putting the paint on them a bit.’

I was pleased about that because I did have something specific in mind to get on with, and it didn’t involve being bent over the strawberry rows. With the main fruit harvest beginning to peep over the horizon, I knew that my time was soon going to be limited so I intended to grasp the nettle while I could.

‘It’s a secret for now,’ I mysteriously said.

Grandad looked at me over the top of his glasses. With the laptop in front of him, he looked almost studious.

‘All will be revealed later,’ I told him. ‘In the meantime, if you can just stay inside until I come and get you it would be much appreciated. I’ll only be about an hour.’

‘All right,’ he agreed, looking at the screen again.

‘We aren’t expecting company, are we?’

Given what I had in mind, I didn’t want any interruptions, from anyone. This was strictly going to be for Grandad’s eyes only.

‘Not as far as I know,’ he answered.

‘That’s all right then. Now, you stay in here and I’ll see you in a bit.’

I walked down to the barn and took a proper look at the roof. It didn’t look in the slightest bit dipped to me, and the walls were sound and the doors were hanging straight, so I dismissed Anthony’s concerns about its safety and ducked inside.

It didn’t take me long to realise that having everything ready in an hour was an extremely optimistic target. Even within two hours, I still wouldn’t be able to have things exactly how I wanted them, but I would hopefully be able to make a decent enough presentation to convince Grandad to agree to what I had in mind.

Rather than launching straight in, I spent a few minutes, taking stock and getting a feel for the space before deciding how best to arrange it. Next, I pushed, dragged and carried everything I wouldn’t need to the far end, which left me with a large central area and space along the back wall.

Lugging the bales about kicked up a fair amount of dust, but eventually, I had things set as well as I could get them,