Hope looked at me and bit her lip.
‘God, that sounds strange,’ she whispered, and I was pleased I wasn’t alone in thinking it. ‘Don’t you think?’
‘Just a bit,’ I agreed, ‘but I daresay we’ll soon get used to it.’
That made us both smile.
‘I haven’t seen either of them,’ she then told me. ‘I tried the café phone earlier, but Mum didn’t pick up and she’s not answering her mobile.’
‘Perhaps they’ve gone somewhere together then,’ I suggested. When I thought about it, I rather liked the idea of the two of them being together. Dad deserved to have some fun and happiness in his life and I was certain Sophie could supply both in abundance. ‘They’ve got plenty to talk about, after all.’
Hope nodded in agreement but didn’t have time to comment further as Joe clapped his hands and the room instantly fell silent.
‘I think you’d better come and stand up here,’ Sam said to Joe, ‘both of you,’ he added. ‘That way everyone will be able to see and hear you.’
I felt my mouth fall open in shock. First, the pair had been civil to one another, in spite of their earlier argument, and now Sam was inviting both Upton brothers up behind the bar. Hope and I exchanged a look, both of us clearly as amazed as the other.
‘Thanks,’ said Joe, weaving his way across the room with Charlie close behind him. ‘That’s a good idea.’
‘I’ve had a few in my time,’ said Sam, lifting the bar hatch to let them through.
I couldn’t help wondering if this was damage limitation on Sam’s part. If Joe was going to talk about selling the farm and changing the face of Wynmouth forever then the crowd might take against him, but at least with the width of the bar between them, Sam could quickly usher the pair out through the kitchen if it looked like a fight was about to break out.
‘What’s this all about?’ someone shouted from the back of the room.
‘Yeah,’ joined in another. ‘Get on with it, Upton. I’ve shut up shop to come and listen to you.’
Sam rang the bar bell to quieten everyone again as a low muttering broke out and then stepped aside.
‘Thanks, Sam,’ Joe swallowed, before looking around, ‘and thank you all for coming at such short notice. I know not everyone could make it, but I daresay those of you who are here will be able to fill the others in so, here goes . . .’
‘What have you done now, Joe?’ the voice from the back shouted again. ‘You always were bloody bad news and I’m guessing nothing’s changed just because you’re a few years older.’
Charlie shook his head and stepped forward before Sam had time to make the bell clang again.
‘No,’ he said, his voice booming out and commanding everyone’s attention, even the person intent on stirring up trouble at the back, ‘this has nothing to do with Joe.’
I was as quiet, and confused, as everyone else now. Joe and Charlie exchanged a look and then Joe stepped back so Charlie could carry on.
‘I know,’ he began, ‘that a few of you have found out that Home Farm and much of its prime land has been—’
‘Sold!’ someone couldn’t resist calling out. ‘To Sunny bloody Shores!’
Charlie then had to wait while everyone digested the news that I had started to spread. I stared at my feet wishing the floor would open up and swallow me and, given the way Hope shuffled from one foot to the other beside me, I would have bet good money that she was wishing she could disappear too.
‘I knew the farm was struggling,’ said George, his voice only just rising above the others, ‘but I had no idea it had come to this. Why didn’t you tell us, Charlie?’
Charlie shrugged and shook his head.
‘We might have been able to help, lad,’ said another voice.
‘We might have been able to find a way,’ added a third.
I was pleased to hear sympathetic voices rising above the angry few.
‘This is all your doing, is it, Joe?’ shouted someone else. ‘You thought it the best chance you had of getting rid of the place for good!’
‘No,’ said Charlie, his voice rising above the rest. ‘No,’ he said again, quieter this time.
‘What do you mean, no?’
‘Joe has had nothing to do with it,’ he carried on, sounding choked. ‘I’m the one responsible. I’m the one who put the deal together. Joe had no idea about any of it.’
That didn’t tally with the side of the telephone conversation I had heard, but I knew better than to interrupt. I had already had one lesson that day in what could happen when you jumped to conclusions, and I wasn’t about to do it again.
Everyone was quiet now, waiting for Charlie to explain properly.
‘I’m not going to lie,’ he said, turning red, ‘I was sick of the place and I was sick of hearing about Joe’s great life away from Wynmouth and how he didn’t have to worry about crop yields and prices and long-range weather forecasts and on top of all that, I was bloody lonely too. When I was growing up at Home Farm, there had been three brothers and two parents and now there’s just me, and my stupid dog and . . . well, it’s all got too much for me . . .’
His words trailed off and Joe stepped up again. He placed a hand on his brother’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze.
‘The only thing I’m really guilty of,’ he said, picking up the thread, his voice wracked with emotion, ‘is that I didn’t know any of this. I had no idea that Charlie was at his wits’ end and worn out running the farm that I was, if I’m honest, jealous had fallen to him. I didn’t know he was lonely or how he had planned to rid himself of the place, before he did something even more drastic.’
There was a sharp intake of breath as everyone realized what Joe was suggesting might have happened.
‘So,’ he carried on, ‘when I came back to Wynmouth and discovered what was in the offing, I felt every bit as shocked as you lot. Not only because we were going to lose Home Farm, but also because I had been so divorced from the place, that I hadn’t seen the toll it was taking on my big brother.’
‘So, what are you going to do?’ Hope asked.
Her voice was soft and kind and Joe’s eyes gratefully sought out hers from the crowd, safe in the knowledge that there were people listening to him who were prepared to wait and hopefully understand before shouting the odds and causing more unnecessary concern.
‘Well,’ Joe carried on, ‘I’ve been working tirelessly for the last few weeks, sometimes from the farm itself and sometimes further away, to untangle the deal and see if we can unravel the contract.’
‘Is that where you’ve been going?’ Hope asked.
‘Yes,’ he said. ‘I daresay some of you thought I was still running away from Wynmouth, but I can assure you that wasn’t the case.’
At this point he looked at Sam and the pair shared, not quite a smile, but something close to it. Hope nudged me and I shook my head to indicate that I didn’t know what that was about either.
‘He was sorting out the mess I’d made of things,’ Charlie said, his cheeks flushed red again.
‘And has he managed to do it?’ Sam asked, his eyes still on Joe.