That wasn’t the first time he’d owned up to being wrong about something since he’d arrived and I looked at him with fresh eyes. He appeared different, standing next to Sophie. There was no tension in his shoulders and his brows weren’t pulled tight in a frown. It was refreshing to see him looking so relaxed.
‘It was your resignation that was the clincher, Tess,’ Sophie then joined in.
Clearly, she had been aware of the transformative awakening Dad had been going through during the previous few weeks.
‘You had decided to leave for good,’ Dad said to me. ‘And that was so brave and I recognized that I needed to be brave too. Work had been my refuge when your mother was alive but now . . .’
‘She’s gone,’ I said for him.
‘Yes,’ Dad nodded, ‘now she’s gone and I don’t need it anymore. Now, I have the chance of a whole new life. I can finally get to know my other beautiful daughter and spend time with her equally beautiful mother.’
He turned to Sophie and kissed her softly on the lips.
‘Does this mean that you two are together?’ Hope asked, wide-eyed.
Sophie looked at her and nodded and I could tell she was close to tears.
‘Yes, my love,’ Dad said to Hope as he kissed Sophie again. ‘We are and I’m going to be spending a lot more time here in Wynmouth.’
‘That’s wonderful,’ said Hope breathlessly.
She sounded absolutely thrilled and I wanted to match her excitement, but . . .
‘But it’s way too far to commute,’ I pointed out, ‘even if you only make the journey three days a week it will be too much.’
If he thought shuttling backwards and forwards was going to be an option then it wouldn’t be long before he was running himself even further into the ground and I was certain that was the last thing any of us wanted to happen. It sounded to me as though he had made great strides mentally when it came to thinking through his work-life balance, but that wasn’t going to transfer into reality if he spent all his time in the car.
‘I’m not,’ he shrugged.
‘Not what?’
‘Going to commute,’ he said, ‘that’s what I had written in your letter, Tess, but then I asked you not to open it because I decided it would be better to tell you in person.’
‘Tell me what exactly?’ I asked, my voice catching in my throat.
Dad grinned and I couldn’t recall a time I’d ever seen him look so happy.
‘This isn’t quite where or how I had planned to tell you,’ he said, looking about him.
‘Just tell me,’ I urged.
‘I’m selling the business,’ he said. ‘I’m selling up and relocating permanently to Wynmouth. And what’s more, Tess,’ he laughed, seeing the look on my face, ‘I think you should do the same.’
Chapter 28
By the August bank holiday weekend, just eight weeks later, my life had changed beyond all recognition, and I wasn’t the only person now living in Wynmouth who could say as much. We had been planning another beach party to celebrate the changes, but the good old British summer weather had other ideas and the event had been relocated to the Smuggler’s, not that anyone really minded.
Later, there would be musical entertainment from Harry and Delilah and storytelling from George – in much the same manner as there had been on the last bank holiday I had helped to organize – but the place was packed early today as everyone had turned out to see Charlie off on his travels. The Home Farm harvest was well on its way to being gathered, with friends drafted in to help with the rest and it was time for the eldest Upton brother to finally make the mark he wanted on the wider world.
‘So, tell me again,’ I said above the din, ‘where are you starting from?’
‘London,’ Charlie grinned, checking the straps on his gargantuan backpack for the umpteenth time.
‘She knows that,’ said Joe, rolling his eyes. ‘She means after that bit, you fool.’
‘All right,’ Charlie conceded, ‘Paris then. I’ll be staying in Paris for a couple of days and then spending the next three months travelling around Europe in a sort of clockwise direction before arriving back here for Christmas.’
‘And you’re going to be keeping us all updated via the blog?’
‘As long as I can get a signal,’ nodded Charlie, ‘then yes. I’m going to keep it as up-to-date as I can.’
There had been a lot in the news and on social media recently about the loneliness farmers in rural communities were facing and Charlie had joined a group called ‘The Farmer Wants a Life’. The group was made up of a dozen or so farmers up and down the country who were tackling the problem in unique ways and encouraging others to do the same by sharing their experiences via an online community. There had even been rumours about a possible TV series and Dad and I had been hard pushed not to step in and offer Charlie some advice. Old habits, as it turned out, died hard.
‘Taxi’s here!’ someone shouted from the door and we all spilled on to the road to wave our wanderer off.
‘You okay?’ Hope asked Joe, coming to stand next to where Sam and I stood with him and slipping her hand into his.
Joe nodded and cleared his throat as his brother gave one last wave before slamming the car door shut.
‘Yeah,’ he said, trying to sound more in control than he probably felt. ‘I’m okay, just a bit overwhelmed by the thought of being solely responsible for Bruce, that’s all.’
‘Don’t you worry about that,’ said Hope stoically. ‘I’ll have him to heel in no time.’
Hope had now moved permanently to Home Farm and I knew the pair were looking forward to having the place to themselves, aside from Bruce of course. The mad mutt hadn’t completely switched allegiance from me to Hope, but I was happy to leave her in charge.
‘I don’t doubt it,’ Joe laughed, kissing her on the lips. ‘You’ve already worked wonders.’
Hope was loving life on the farm and had wasted no time at all in helping convince Charlie that Joe’s potential diversification project ideas were all good ones. Joe was keen to carry on the environmental work his father had started and he had also offered Hope the use of the currently empty stable block which she could convert for her business if she wanted to.
I knew she was extremely excited about the idea, but didn’t want to rush too far ahead. Her re-kindled relationship with Joe was still getting off the ground and she didn’t want to put it under any pressure.
‘Did we miss him?’ said a breathless voice behind us.
It was Sophie and Dad. They were both clearly out of puff and I didn’t want to consider why. The look on Hope’s face told me she was thinking the same thing.
‘Just gone,’ said Sam. ‘You two look a bit flushed, did you jog here?’
Sophie looked embarrassed but the smile on Dad’s face was reminder enough that the pair were extremely happy together. Dad was currently living at Sophie’s now Hope had moved out and was thoroughly loving life by the sea. He’d even been spotted waiting tables in the café, which was something I would have to witness with my own eyes before I believed it.
‘I’ve had a call from the estate agent,’ he said to me, opting not to answer Sam’s question. ‘It’s good news.’