Lazy Days At The Farm On Muddypuddle Lane (The Farm on Muddypuddle Lane #7)

CHAPTER SIX

Carla held her breath as she pressed the shutter button, then she checked the LCD and silently showed Ashton the screen. He had taken the same shot and he showed her his in return.

They weren’t too dissimilar. Pleased, Carla grinned at him.

She and Ashton had been out on the hillside above the farm for the past couple of hours, taking pictures of the gorgeous scenery. Ashton had shown her how light and composition affected the outcome of an image, and she’d learnt a great deal already. But she had a feeling there was still a great deal more to learn.

She was so grateful to Ashton for accompanying her to the shop yesterday and helping her choose, because the number of cameras on display had been overwhelming. If she had been on her own, she would have probably been too confused to buy anything. Right now, she was having so much fun that she was glad she’d bought one, even if the purchase had been impulsive and not very wise under the circumstances.

The abrupt trilling of her phone shattered the peace, and Carla winced. She looked at the screen. It was Dulcie, and she wondered what she wanted. ‘Sorry, I won’t be a minute,’ she said.

‘No worries.’ Ashton moved away to give her some privacy. His retreating back was broad-shouldered and slim-hipped, and as she answered the call, her eyes wandered south to his backside. Realising she was ogling him, she snatched her gaze away.

‘Dulcie? What’s up?’

‘I’ve just had a thought.’

‘Ooh, that’s scary.’

‘You’re not as funny as you think you are, you know.’ Dulcie’s voice held a smile. ‘Why don’t you ask Ashton if he’d like to join us for lunch? I didn’t think to mention it before you went out. I can give him his voucher at the same time.’

‘Hang on. Ashton,’ she called. ‘Would you like to have lunch at the farm? I hear Otto does a mean Sunday roast.’

Ashton looked surprised. ‘Um, that’s kind, but I don’t want to intrude.’

Dulcie yelled down the phone, ‘Tell him he won’t be!’

‘Dulcie says you won’t be, but if you’ve got other plans…?’

‘My plan was a frozen pizza.’

‘Tell him we’re having beef with all the trimmings,’ Dulcie said. ‘Oh, poop, he’s not vegetarian, is he?’

Carla didn’t know. ‘Are you a vegetarian?’

‘No.’

‘In that case, you’re coming to lunch,’ Carla told him. ‘He’s coming to lunch, Dulcie.’

‘Great. I’ll set another place. Forty-five minutes?’

‘Fab.’ Carla ended the call. ‘We’d better get going.’

‘Okay. Are you sure you don’t mind?’

She gave him a sly look. ‘Not at all. It means more time for lessons – unless you have to shoot off afterwards.’

When he informed her that he didn’t, Carla was rather more pleased than the news warranted.

Aside from Ashton himself, there was Carla, Dulcie and Otto, Maisie and her fella Adam, as well as Beth (the girls’ mother), Walter (who was Otto’s dad and Beth’s partner) and another sister, Nikki, plus her son Sammy, who appeared to be about twelve or thirteen. Ashton felt a little overwhelmed.

‘No Gio today?’ Beth asked.

Nikki shook her head. ‘He’s working.’ She turned to Ashton. ‘He’s a copper.’

‘I know him. He can usually be seen in a Panda car,’ Ashton said.

‘That’s the guy,’ Nikki confirmed. She and her sisters all had the same fair hair, blue eyes, and high cheekbones. They followed Beth in looks. Carla’s dark hair and hazel eyes were a direct contrast, and his gaze kept drifting towards her.

Now and again, it also drifted towards Otto, and Ashton hoped the chef hadn’t witnessed his debacle on the night he’d proposed to Lacey. The evening was a bit of a blur, but he could remember the way everyone in the restaurant had fallen silent as they waited for Lacey to say yes, and how the silence had stretched out uncomfortably when it became clear she wasn’t going to.

Feeling overwhelmed, Ashton hung back, letting the conversation flow around him as he was invited to take a seat at the dining table.

‘Before we start,’ Dulcie said when everyone was seated. ‘I want to give Ashton something.’ She held out a small envelope.

‘What is it?’ he asked.

‘Open it and see.’

He prised the flap open and sucked in a breath. ‘What’s this for?’

‘Because you refused payment, and you deserve something for your time and expertise.’

‘This is too much.’

‘No,’ Dulcie replied, her voice firm. ‘It’s not.’

‘I don’t know what to say.’ He knew he was blushing, and he felt rather embarrassed.

‘No need to say anything,’ Otto told him. ‘Right, tuck in before it gets cold.’

Relieved that everyone’s attention turned to the food, Ashton slid the gift card into the back pocket of his jeans. When he saw Carla smirk, he understood why she had been in InFocus previously the day she’d bought her camera. He narrowed his eyes at her and shook his head in admonishment.

Her smirk grew wider, and his gaze was drawn to her lips. A sudden urge to kiss them took him by surprise, and he swiftly turned his attention to his plate and tried to think about something else.

‘How’s business,’ Otto asked Adam, handing a platter of beef to Beth, who took a couple of slices of meat and passed it on.

‘Ticking along. I’ve got more work than I can handle to be honest, although things will calm down once the house is completed.’

‘When will that be?’ Walter asked. ‘Last time I was up your way, it looked almost done.’

Carla leant towards Ashton and murmured, ‘Adam and Maisie have a place somewhere on the mountain. He runs a machinery repair business, and Maisie is opening a kennels. They’ve got some building work going on.’

Adam said, ‘I reckon another week or so should do it. It won’t be perfect, but it’ll be habitable, so if that’s okay with you Beth, we’ll be moving out of the house in Picklewick shortly. It’ll be better if we’re on site.’

Carla offered Ashton another explanation. ‘The house was a shell, so he and Maisie have been living in Beth’s house in Picklewick while they do it up, because she’s moved in with Walter. It’s a bit like musical chairs but with houses and no music.’

Ashton had noticed. The names and addresses on letters were a giveaway, and he recalled that at one time Otto used to live in the cottage on the lane with his dad, before moving into the farmhouse with Dulcie. The musical chairs analogy was quite apt.

Beth cried, ‘That’s earlier than you expected. How exciting!’ She turned to Carla. ‘Have you been up to The Forever Home yet?’

‘The what?’

‘Adam and Maisie’s place. That’s what they’ve called it.’

Maisie said, ‘You must! It’s coming along a treat. I’ve got some photos of the way it looked before we started work on it.’

At the mention of photos, Carla sent Ashton a warm look, and he felt a corresponding glow in his chest. The Fairfaxes and the Yorks were a close-knit family, and he was acutely conscious that he was an outsider. Perhaps Carla also felt a little like that, he mused. They were two outsiders together (despite Carla’s friendship with Dulcie) with the common bond of a love of photography to bind them together, however briefly. It suddenly struck him that he didn’t know how long Carla would be staying at the farm. In fact, he knew hardly anything about her, and he realised he wanted to know more.

After the best Sunday lunch Ashton had ever eaten, he and Carla went outside to resume her lesson. Despite being secretly relieved, he felt rather guilty that his offer to help with the washing up had been turned down. Clearing up after all those people was a daunting prospect. Equally daunting was the thought of asking Carla about herself, and he didn’t know why he wanted to know – he just did.

‘So,’ he began, as they perched on bales in the barn for Carla to practice taking shots in low-level light. ‘How long will you be in Picklewick?’

Her expression clouded, and he wished he hadn’t asked. ‘Forever, if I have my way,’ she said with a sigh.

‘It is beautiful up here,’ he agreed, but he had a feeling the scenery wasn’t the sole reason for her reluctance to leave. ‘I wouldn’t want to go back to Birmingham after seeing this. Not that there’s anything wrong with the city,’ he added hastily, ‘and I’m sure it’s got some lovely parks and open spaces, but…’ He trailed off, not wanting to dig his hole any deeper.

She sighed. ‘It’s complicated.’

Ah, he thought, his spirits sinking. That sounded like man trouble.

Placing her camera on the straw, she gazed at the rafters. ‘I’ve got a thing going on at work, a not very nice thing, and I’m on extended leave. I suppose you could say I’m hiding out here and trying to forget about it. I’ll have to go home at some point, of course, and I can’t impose on Dulcie for much longer, but at the moment I’m happy to be her goat walker and general dogsbody. She’s trying to get me to take it easy, but I’m not really cut out for relaxing. So, in answer to your question, I honestly don’t know how long I’ll be here. A few more days, a week. Who knows?’

Ashton was pleased she would be here for a while longer, yet rather deflated she had to go at all, as he’d found himself enjoying her company. She was funny and smart, and her eagerness to learn was a refreshing change to the complete disinterest Lacey had shown for his hobby. He appreciated that couples didn’t often like the same things, and he hadn’t expected her to pick up a camera and start snapping away. But her indifference had stung, especially since he’d always shown an interest in whatever she was doing.

He should have realised they weren’t compatible, but he’d been in love, and love, as the saying goes, is blind.

Ashton felt a pang when he thought of his ex, and sadness swept over him. If only Lacey could have been a little more like Carla, maybe they would have still been together.

Was there a name for when you think of something and then that very thing happens, Carla wondered, as the loud beep of an incoming message made her jump. She checked the screen and saw Vicky’s name flash up, followed by the message, I’ve got news!!! Call me!!!

Carla gasped. Surely she couldn’t have had the baby already? If so, the little mite was about four weeks early.

‘Do you mind if I make a quick call?’ she said to Ashton, realising this was the second time today she’d been contacted whilst out shooting photos with him. At least he’d gotten a nice lunch as a result of the first one. The only thing he would get out of this call would be boredom.

‘Go ahead.’

He made to rise from his bale, but she waved him back down. ‘It’s my friend, Vicky. She’s pregnant and says she’s got news, so if you don’t mind loads of squealing, you’re welcome to stay put. I’ll only be a minute, just to get the bare bones, then I’ll ring her later and have a proper chat.’

Vicky sounded breathless when she answered the phone.

Carla begged, ‘Please don’t tell me you’re in labour.’

‘ What? God, no. Is that what you thought? My bump is still here.’

‘What’s the news, then?’

‘You remember me telling you that I was going on a training course – though why they wanted to send me on it when I’ll be on maternity leave for the next six months, I don’t know. Anyway,’ she took a breath. ‘I met someone on the course who works in the Leeds office, where Yale transferred from. Guess what she told me?’

‘I’ve no idea.’

‘She asked whether I knew him, and when I told her that he’s my line manager, she wanted to know whether he was up to his old tricks yet. When I asked her what he meant, she said, ‘sleeping with his staff. ’ She didn’t mean with me obviously, because I’m pregnant and the size of a small family hatchback, but with other women in the office. Apparently, ’ Vicky stressed the word, ‘he had an affair with a girl in his department when he was there. Her name was Anita Campbell, and she was more into him than he was into her. She ended up resigning from her job. The woman I spoke to wasn’t a hundred per cent sure what happened, but from what she could gather, he’d made life really difficult for Anita, wanting to transfer her to another department. So she left.’

Carla was silent as she absorbed the news.

Vicky said, ‘Can’t you see? He’s got a track record.’

‘But does he though? It’s not a crime to have a relationship with someone you work with, even if the company frowns on it.’

‘The woman reckons it was tantamount to constructive dismissal and that he was trying to distance himself from Anita because he was worried his girlfriend would find out.’

That sounded more promising. ‘But it’s still my word against his, and don’t forget, his fiancée was a witness.’

‘She only saw and heard what Yale wanted her to see and hear, and you could argue that as he’s done this before, maybe his word shouldn’t be taken at face value.’

‘I dunno…’

‘Do you want to keep your job?’ Vicky demanded.

‘Yes.’

‘Well, then. But even if you didn’t, you’ll want a good reference.’

‘There is that,’ Carla agreed. ‘It’s all hearsay, though.’

‘Speak to her.’ Vicky urged.

‘The woman on the course?’

‘No, Anita. I’ve got her mobile number if you want it.’

‘Um…’

‘Look, I’ll send it to you anyway. I haven’t spoken to her myself, but the woman on the course has, so she’s expecting your call. Think about it, yeah?’

‘I will,’ Carla promised.

After saying goodbye, the call ended, leaving her feeling dazed and confused. What should she do? Should she phone this Anita person? Or would she end up digging herself an even deeper hole?

Ashton cleared his throat.

‘Oh, hell,’ she muttered. She had forgotten he was there. ‘How much of that did you hear?’

‘Not much.’

She shot him a glance out of the corner of her eye. He was staring straight ahead.

‘Okay, quite a bit,’ he admitted.

‘Yeah, I was afraid of that.’

‘Do you want to talk about it or forget I was here?’

‘Forget—’ she began then paused. ‘No, actually I’d like to talk about it.’ Inhaling deeply, she blew out her cheeks. ‘My line manager is called Yale, and we were dating for a few weeks but were keeping it quiet because the company we work for doesn’t approve of line managers having romantic relationships with their staff, for obvious reasons. Anyway, one evening we went to this retirement bash and sneaked away for a quick kiss, and his fiancée caught us. Before you say anything, I had no idea he was engaged or seeing anyone else. He accused me of harassment and reported me to HR. I’m now on indefinite leave while they conduct an investigation.’

Ashton shook his head slowly. ‘That’s awful. I’m so sorry.’

‘The thing is, Vicky says he’s done something similar before,’ she said, then went on to explain, ending with, ‘I don’t know whether I should contact this woman. Would it do any good?’

‘Would it do any harm?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘On the other hand, might it be of any use?’

‘I don’t know,’ she repeated.

‘From where I’m sitting, I don’t think you’ve got anything to lose. But you’re the one who has to make the decision and deal with whatever you discover.’

‘I’ll call her,’ she said. Ashton was right, she didn’t have anything to lose and possibly everything to gain. ‘But not right now,’ she added. ‘I want to take some more photos.’

And neither did she want to waste any more of Ashton’s time. She would contact Anita Campbell tomorrow, because she intended to enjoy the rest of the day.

The Black Horse was a typical village pub with horse brasses on the walls, beamed ceilings, and a landlord who seemed to know everyone by name.

Ashton had stepped through its doors many times, always with a letter or two in his hand and sometimes a parcel. However, he’d never visited the place for a drink, so this evening broke the trend.

After a very successful afternoon of photographing everything and anything on the hillside above the farm and in the fields around, he and Carla had made their way down the lane and into the village. And now they were sitting in the pub, examining each other’s photos and contemplating an early supper. Ashton hadn’t thought he would be hungry after the delicious Sunday lunch, but he had surprised himself, and was now rather peckish. He didn’t want anything heavy, but a light snack would be most welcome.

Having ordered, they settled down with their drinks. ‘Tell me about yourself,’ he suggested.

Carla grimaced. ‘Don’t you know enough?’

‘That’s not you; that’s something a turd of a bloke has done to you.’ He saw her digesting this nugget of useless advice and cringed at how trite he sounded.

‘I like that’ she said. ‘It’s true.’ She took a sip of her wine. ‘What do you want to know?’

‘How long have you and Dulcie been friends?’

‘I’ve known her forever,’ she began, and that was the start of him getting to know Carla Mason. In turn, he answered her questions, and by the time they’d eaten their meal, he felt he was beginning to understand her better.

‘I’ve had a great day,’ she said as they set off along Picklewick’s main street, back towards the farm.

‘So have I. We must do this again.’ Even as the words left his mouth, Ashton guessed it was unlikely to happen. She could be gone tomorrow if she spoke to this Anita woman and decided her story was worth investigating.

‘I’d like that. Perhaps you could show me the canal? And maybe we could have a bite to eat afterwards.’

If any other woman had made that suggestion, he would have assumed they were suggesting a date. But this was Carla, so he didn’t, and he had no qualms agreeing as he said, ‘We’ll spot more wildlife early in the morning, rather than later in the day.’

‘How early is early?’

‘Five a.m.’ He chuckled as her face blanched. ‘Patience, the ability to stay still and quiet, and unsociable hours are often the minimum requirements for photographing wildlife.’

‘Yeah, but five in the morning?’ she protested.

‘I’m usually up way before then,’ he reminded her, ‘So it’s second nature to get up early on my days off.’

‘Don’t you ever have a lie in?’

‘That’s what cold and rainy winter mornings are for.’

‘I wholeheartedly agree! There’s nothing nicer than snuggling under the duvet when it’s pitch black and belting down outside.’

Ashton had a vision of Carly’s dark hair on his pillow, and he coughed. Where had that come from? It wasn’t an unpleasant image, but it was hardly appropriate.

The image refused to go away though, lingering in the back of his mind as they negotiated Muddypuddle Lane, and he was more conscious of her than ever. He could feel the heat of her skin as her bare arm brushed against his, and he was acutely aware of the light floral scent she wore and the way the evening sun illuminated the shine of her hair.

Ashton didn’t need this reaction to her, but he couldn’t seem to prevent it. Thankfully, she hadn’t noticed, and when he realised that she was checking out her surroundings with her newly acquired photographer’s eye, he smiled.

‘Ooh, toadstools!’ she cried, veering to the side of the lane and crouching down to peer into the hedgerow.

Ashton followed her and lowered himself onto his haunches. The fungi were beige-brown in colour, quite tall, and the shape reminded him of a witch’s hat.

‘Do you know what they are?’ she asked.

‘Afraid not. My speciality is animals.’

‘I wonder if they’re edible.’ She stretched out a hand.

‘Don’t you dare!’ he cried, nudging her aside.

Unbalanced, Carla wobbled and began to topple, but before she connected with the ground Ashton’s arm shot out and he grabbed her around the waist. Her momentum nearly took him down, and he pulled her towards him. Then his legs gave way, his backside plonked onto the tarmac, with the result that Carla was now sitting in his lap.

Sorry.’ Ashton was mortified. ‘I didn’t mean to—’ He stalled. Her mouth was perilously close to his, and he had the strongest urge to kiss it.

His brain disconnected from his body as his gaze focused on her lips, pink and luscious as they parted to reveal her teeth. And when she ran her tongue over her bottom lip, he found himself leaning towards her, his heart hammering and every nerve ending tingling.

Without conscious thought, his eyelids drifted shut and their lips met, sending a bolt of desire through him. Then she was kissing him back, urgently, frantically, and he wrapped both arms around her, drawing her tight against him.

God, she felt so good .

His reaction was unmissable and instantaneous, and he let out a groan.

A blast of a car horn cruelly broke their connection, and Ashton dragged his mouth away. Looking around, he saw a hulking big truck slowing to a halt in the middle of the lane.

He leapt to his feet and held out a hand to Carla, who looked mortified. He guessed he did, too. He certainly felt it.

When he noticed who was behind the wheel, he groaned. Trust it to be someone he knew and not a random delivery driver.

Adam was grinning down at them.

Shamefaced, Ashton scooted into the side, almost burying himself in the hedge as he did so, wishing it would swallow him whole.

The truck’s window glided down. ‘Want a lift?’

It was Carla who answered. ‘No thanks, we’re fine.’

Laughter billowed out of the cab. ‘I can see that. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t.’

Ashton began, ‘We were— It’s not what—’ But it was too late. Adam was revving the engine and he tooted the horn as he drove past.

Ashton waited until the truck had rounded the bend and was out of sight, then said, ‘I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have—’

‘Don’t.’ Carla’s voice was strangled.

He winced. Way to go, Ashton , he thought sourly.

‘I’m not,’ she said.

‘Pardon?’

‘I’m not sorry.’

‘You aren’t?’

She shook her head.

‘Actually, I’m not sorry, either.’ He was shocked to discover it was true. He should be, but he wasn’t. The kiss had been freaking marvellous, and he desperately wanted to do it again, but he held himself in check and they walked the rest of the way in silence.

When they reached the farm, Ashton asked, ‘Will I see you again?’

‘I hope so.’

‘When?’

‘Up to you.’

‘Tomorrow?’

‘Yes, tomorrow.’

‘It’s a date,’ he said, and her face broke out into a most gorgeous smile as she replied, ‘Yes, I believe it is.’