‘Here you go,’ said Sophie, just as I was about to start, ‘this’ll cool you down.’ It was a lovely tall glass of iced tea. ‘You look a bit flushed. I hope you’re using sunblock when you’re soaking up the sun, my love.’
I was feeling hot, but it had nothing to do with the weather.
‘I am,’ I told her.
‘I’ll leave you to it then.’
In the end, I stuck to efficient and formal. Tendering my resignation from Tyler PR had to be dealt with professionally. Emotion-laden accusations and explanations addressing the contents of Mum’s diary could come later. Business first had always been Dad’s mantra and, on this occasion, I was willing to stick to it. Once I’d got this out of the way we could revert to being father and daughter again. Perhaps that’s what we would have been better off as all along.
‘Therefore,’ I muttered under my breath, as I read through the mail again before hitting send and setting the wheels in motion, ‘I am resigning from my position in Tyler PR with immediate effect and in the hope that, if you haven’t already, you will promote Chris, enabling him to officially take over my role within the company.’
I hadn’t gone into the whys and wherefores, the details of how I had become increasingly disillusioned with my role and unwilling to babysit and spoon-feed adults who were old enough to know how to behave and conduct themselves. I was certain my resignation would be a big enough shock for Dad to deal with and, even though I was still appalled by how he had treated Mum and their marriage, I felt there was nothing to be gained from rubbing salt into the wound by revealing my distaste for the firm he had spent the best part of his working life growing.
To close the mail, I veered a little on the side of personal, stating that I was in perfect health and happy, although I omitted to mention where I actually was. I knew I was pushing my luck in ‘resigning with immediate effect’ but as it was my Dad who owned the firm, I hoped he wouldn’t use the weight of the law to make me honour a period of notice. That perhaps wasn’t particularly professional of me, but there had to be one perk I could use in my favour after all my years of dedicated service.
‘All done?’ Sophie asked, as I returned the laptop to her yet again.
‘Yes,’ I said, swallowing hard, ‘all done.’
*
I had thought that having finally acted on my decision I would be feeling footloose and fancy-free, but as I later prepared for my visit to Joe’s family farm, I discovered that wasn’t the case at all. I couldn’t pin down the reason why, but the lump I had felt forming in my throat in the café was very firmly fixed and if I turned around, or stood up too quickly, there was a definite feeling of dizziness waiting in the wings to catch me out.
I knew my physical reactions weren’t the result of worrying about the financial implications of what I had done because I had already made some rough calculations of my assets and knew I would be okay. If I sold my beloved car and the impersonal apartment, in which I had a sizeable chunk of equity, I would be able to afford a move, possibly even to the Norfolk coast, and still have a little money left over.
There wouldn’t be much, and it would be one heck of a lifestyle downsize, but I would be all right. For someone my age, I was in an enviable position, so my body’s responses to the more practical parts of the situation were in no way justified and I decided the best thing I could do was ignore them.
‘All set?’ Joe asked, when he turned up to collect me.
‘Just about,’ I said, checking I’d locked the back door.
He had insisted that he would taxi me to and from the farm, for the sake of my beautiful car’s suspension and, given that I wanted to get every penny that I could for it in resale value, I was grateful about that.
‘You’re looking good, Tess,’ he smiled, ‘very freckly.’
‘Thanks,’ I smiled back. ‘I’ve spent most of the week chilling on the beach. It’s been a total indulgence and I’m feeling pretty relaxed right now.’
As I had decided to ignore the moments of light-headedness, I didn’t mention them.
‘Oh dear,’ Joe winced.
‘What?’
‘Well, that’s all about to change, I’m afraid,’ he warned me. ‘Say goodbye to blissed out, Tess.’
‘Why?’
‘Because I’ve had to bring Bruce,’ he said apologetically. ‘So, you’d better brace yourself for impact, and an assault on your eardrums, because I’ve got a feeling that he’s going to bark like mad when he spots you.’
And he did. It had been a while since I had seen the loopy mutt and I was pleased that he was secure in the back of the Land Rover and that we were separated by a metal grille and the back seats.
‘Hopefully he’ll have settled down by the time we get to the farm,’ I said to Joe, shouting above the din. ‘Perhaps he won’t be bothered by the time we get out.’
‘Yeah right,’ Joe laughed. ‘Do you want to bet on that?’
Fortunately for my bank balance I didn’t, because even though Charlie was in the yard to meet us and clipped a lead on Bruce before letting him out, the dog still launched into a frenzy of tail thumping, whining and jumping up when he saw me close to.
‘The training’s going well then,’ I laughed.
‘You must be joking,’ said Joe. ‘I reckon he’s beyond help.’
‘He just needs taking in hand,’ I said, eventually managing to pat Bruce’s head as he finally quietened and sat panting at my feet.
‘That’s a job you fancy, is it, Tess?’ asked Charlie.
‘No chance,’ I told him. ‘It’s good to see you again, Charlie.’
‘And you,’ he nodded, then turned to his brother. ‘It’s going to get hot before it breaks, Joe,’ he added, ‘so I’ll keep Bruce with me if you want to show Tess around sooner rather than later.’
I was grateful that I wasn’t going to have to share a tractor cab with the dopey dog and hoped it was air-conditioned because Charlie was right, it was getting hot.
‘Good idea,’ agreed Joe, ‘but don’t worry about this storm. I’ve had a look at the radar and I don’t reckon it’s going to clip us after all.’
‘Yeah, well,’ said Charlie, leading Bruce away, ‘we’ll see about that, won’t we?’
Joe nudged me and we wandered over to the tractor.
‘Climb in,’ he said, opening the door. ‘It’s going to be a bit bumpy, but you’ll be able to see more in here than if we take the Land Rover.’
He wasn’t wrong. From the elevated cab, which was thankfully blissfully cool, I was able to see the whole of the farm and the fields, as well as some of the coast, in all its glory.
‘This is amazing,’ I said to Joe as he took us right to the very edge of one field which had the most stunning sea views. ‘You can see for miles.’
Joe nodded in agreement.
‘This is my favourite spot on the whole farm,’ he said, ‘and it was Dad’s too.’
‘I can see why,’ I smiled, then I remembered the reason why he had returned to Wynmouth. ‘I’m really sorry the farm is in so much trouble, Joe.’