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He added a grinning emoji.
Sleep tight.
It was something she hadn’t heard in years, and she switched off the light still smiling. Her dreams that night were filled with gambolling lambs.
15
The next couple of weeks flew past as Tasha found her feet and started building connections both on and off the estate. Joe and Martha had agreed to the discount offer on an Easter egg for children staying on the campsite and had offered to split the difference in the cost of the voucher, which had been a surprising bonus. With Stevie’s help, Tasha was able to arrange for the estate cleaning team to give both the on-site shop and the shower block a thorough spring clean and Graham had power-washed the outside so everything was spotless when Joe turned up to begin restocking the shelves. The camping plots were all fenced, and tubs of daffodils were dotted around, their tight buds hopefully ready to unfurl over the coming days to provide a warm, sunny welcome for the first arrivals.
An off-the-shelf scheduling package had been beta tested by various members of the family and so far – fingers crossed – no one had managed to break it. Tasha had been through the bookings and contacted all the guests personally to update them on the new layout and give them first dibs on their preferred plot and now she was busy updating the bookings into the software so they could be published live on the estate website the following morning. It was the sort of repetitive task she’d have handed off to a junior colleague at SJW but there was a certain sense of satisfaction in following the whole job through from start to finish.
She’d barely seen Rhys, though they spoke and messaged frequently. His sleeping patterns seemed completely out of whack and the one time he’d popped in for a coffee and a catch-up the circles beneath his eyes had been as dark as bruises. His thick hair was in drastic need of a cut, and he seemed to have completely abandoned the idea of shaving. She quite liked the beard on him, not that she would dream of mentioning it to him, of course.
Everywhere around the estate were signs of new life. The cows and sheep were out in the fields, the woods seeming to have changed every time she left the lodge. The weather was still a bit hit and miss and a low front had brought in a few showers, but as the week drew to a close the forecast looked much more positive. The sun was out and Tasha had pulled open the patio doors to let the fresh air in. It meant wearing one of her warmer jumpers, but it was worth it. She’d found some bird food at one of the local garden centres and every time she glanced up there was a new visitor hopping around on the deck.
Tasha cast a quick glance at the clock in the corner of her screen. She had an hour left before she had to leave for a meeting with Penny and Sandra at the café, where they were going to finalise arrangements for the sandwich order scheme. Just enough time to add the last few booking entries and do a final check. Her mobile rang and Tasha reached for it without really looking and cursed herself as she realised she’d picked up the estate phone instead. She really was going to have to find a way to distinguish between the two of them. Reaching for her personal phone instead, she frowned at seeing her sister’s name on the screen. It was unlike her to call during the day, especially when they were due for their Saturday night catch-up tomorrow.
‘Danni? Is everything okay?’
‘So you do answer your phone, then? I was starting to think you’d vanished off the face of the earth.’
Tasha’s stomach dropped. ‘Mum. Why are you calling me on Danni’s phone? Is something wrong?’
‘Everything’s fine. Well, other than my oldest daughter refusing to take my calls, forcing me to trick her into speaking to me. I told your dad you were punishing us.’
Tasha had let her mother’s repeated calls go to voicemail, not ready to forgive her parents for their interference. She hadn’t completely ignored them, just pinged back a text saying she was okay and would call soon. ‘I wasn’t punishing you, Mum, I just don’t have anything I want to say to you right now that won’t end up with us having an argument. Plus I’m really busy with a new work project.’
‘I think we’re all aware of where your priorities lie. Look, I won’t keep you, but I assume you’ll be over this little huff of yours soon. Just tell me how many nights you’ll be staying over Easter so I can finalise my shopping delivery.’
Before Tasha could respond there was a flurry of noise in the background and she heard her mother give an indignant squawk before Danni finally came on the line. ‘Tash? God, I’m sorry. The baby was crying, and I just popped upstairs for a minute. I never expected for a moment Mum would use my phone.’
‘How else am I supposed to talk to her when she’s being so stubborn?’ Victoria’s muffled voice demanded.
Tasha stared forlornly at the blinking cursor on her screen but there was no way she was going to get any more work done until this was resolved. ‘It’s okay, Danni, put her back on. No need for you to get caught in the middle of this.’
‘If you’re sure? Are we still on for tomorrow night?’
‘I’m sure, and I wouldn’t miss it. I’ve got a bottle chilling in the fridge already in anticipation of a lovely long catch-up with you. Go on, give her the phone.’
‘Honestly, I don’t know why the pair of you have to make such a drama out of everything,’ her mother said in a statement lacking so much self-awareness that Tasha couldn’t help but laugh. ‘What’s so funny?’ her mother snapped.
‘You wouldn’t understand,’ Tasha answered truthfully. ‘And please don’t give Danni a hard time because none of this is her fault.’
‘Meaning you think it’s my fault, I suppose. Your father and I only want what’s best for you, you know.’
‘But you don’t trust me to know what that is, and that’s the problem.’ Tasha sighed. ‘Look, I’ll accept that you made the offer in good faith, but you need to accept that it was completely inappropriate of you to make it in the first place. I don’t want to fight with you, but I also don’t want to hear another word from either of you about it. Keep your money and do something nice with it. Why don’t you go on that cruise you and Dad are always promising yourselves?’
‘Alison and Terry went on a cruise last year and had a terrible time. They spent a week in their cabin with some disgusting norovirus bug and it completely ruined their trip.’
Tasha did her best not to grind her teeth. The dentist had told her she might have to consider a night guard if she didn’t find a way to reduce her stress. Not easy when the only way to reduce her stress would involve launching her mother off a cliff with the aid of a trebuchet. ‘Not a cruise, then, but it’s your hard-earned money so you should enjoy the benefit of it.’
‘Maybe we should keep it on the back burner for now, just in case you?—’
‘Mum. I swear to God I will hang up if you don’t stop this. I’m not taking your money. Not for that, not for anything. I don’t need it.’ Tasha was glad she’d tied her hair up out of the way that morning or she’d be pulling handfuls of it out in frustration. ‘Look, I have to go because I’ve got a shedload of work to do.’
‘What about Easter?’
‘I won’t be coming home for Easter. I can’t spare the time.’
