The Secret Seaside Escape - Heidi Swain Page 0,120

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.

I got the impression that he already knew the answer.

Joe nodded and smiled and clapped his brother on the back. Charlie wrapped his arms around him and almost lifted him off his feet. I don’t think I’d ever seen Joe look so elated, not even after our roof-raising duet in the karaoke bar.

‘Yes,’ he sobbed. ‘Yes, I have. The contract hadn’t got so far that the farm couldn’t be saved and I can tell you all for certain that none of the Home Farm land or property is going to fall into Sunny Shores’ hands now.’

A collective cheer went up and Joe looked at me and smiled and I blinked back a tear. I felt incredibly guilty to have been the one who had gone public on this whole debacle, but at least there was a happy ending. The irony wasn’t lost on me, however, that just like the diary scenario, had I tackled the situation head on, there wouldn’t have been the subsequent misunderstandings, heartache and wasted time. It was a valuable life lesson and one that I wasn’t going to forget.

‘Everything has been unravelled,’ Joe added for the benefit of those close enough to hear, ‘and while Charlie goes off to travel for a while and live the life he has been dreaming about, I’m going to take over the running of the farm. There’ll be some changes to what we grow and how things are managed, but there won’t be a holiday complex springing up out of the hedgerows!’

Everyone cheered even louder, happy that the brothers had found a way to keep the farm and find a compromise which ensured they both got what they wanted. I guessed that