‘It’s a farm? You’ve brought me to a farm?’
‘Okay, okay, I get it,’ he said, the car rumbling slowly down the gravelled drive. The house hadn’t come into view yet. ‘But they only bought the farmhouse and an acre or two. They’ve got some sheep, a couple of cows and a couple of ponies for Benji. He’s eight and wants to be a farmer when he grows up.’
‘Must be nice to have the money to be able to indulge him,’ she said wistfully, thinking what she would do with millions of pounds and how many holidays she could send Jack, Rebecca and the kids on. Hell, she’d buy them a holiday home with a pool somewhere hot, by the sea. She’d buy them two, three.
‘It’s not about money though, is it? It’s about giving kids a stable and loving home,’ he said, bristling a little.
‘Yes, you’re right, it’s exactly that.’
He pulled the car to a stop next to a battered VW Polo, some kind of dusty four-by-four and a family sedan. ‘Paul’s already here, that’s his Polo,’ Nate said. ‘Alex isn’t here yet, and I don’t know how Lucia is supposed to be getting here.’
He grinned at her. ‘Come on.’
Laurel stepped out of the car and looked at the farmhouse. Huge didn’t cover it. It was obviously renovated and extended, sympathetic to the original structure and the pond in the front garden area was well kept and luscious. She sidled her way around the side of the car, eyes taking in as much of the smallholding as she could. She’d like to see the animals, see what it was like to be a non-commercial farmer, just doing it for fun.
Nate lugged her hastily packed case out of the boot and set it down next to his own on the gravel. She extended the handle, but Nate took it off her.
‘I’ll take it,’ he said, strolling across the driveway.
She trailed after him. ‘This is huge, Nate. Look at it!’
‘I’ve been here before, Laurel.’
She grabbed his arm, and he stopped and faced her.
‘Are you sure it’s okay for me to be here? I mean, I don’t really fit in with,’ she gestured around, ‘all this.’
‘Laurel, don’t be ridiculous. You’ll be absolutely fine,’ he put his hand on her arm reassuringly, and she relaxed a little. ‘We’re here to have a good time, so stop overthinking everything, okay?’
‘Okay, but if I give you the signal, you have to come and rescue me.’
He looked confused. ‘What signal?’
She nudged him lightly on the shoulder. ‘Oh, for god’s sake, Nate. You’llknowokay?’
‘Alright,’ he laughed. ‘Seriously, stop stressing. We’re here to have fun.’
Laurel took a breath. He looked so handsome, but this was not a date, regardless of whether he called her beautiful or not. Certainly not an overnight date. NOT A DATE.
Nate
He kind of got why she was worried, but she seriously had absolutely nothing to stress out about. She was beautiful, accomplished and his friends were just normal people.
‘Nate! I thought I heard a car,’ Jess called, gravel crunching under her little feet as she hurried over to them. ‘And you must be Laurel. I haven’t heard anything about you!’ She threw her arms around Laurel in a hug.
‘Oh,’ Laurel exclaimed, surprised but returned the hug. ‘Hello.’
‘Did you get here okay?’ Jess asked, sparing a cursory smile for Nate as she linked her arm with Laurel and led her away from the car.
‘Yeah, nice to see you too, Jess,’ Nate grumbled, grabbing both cases.
Laurel looked over her shoulder at him with a worried smile, but he just waved her on. Jess would look after her.
‘Nate, you’re in the room you were in before, drop the bags off and we’ll be in the garden,’ Jess called.
‘And Laurel?’
‘Yes, Laurel too!’
