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Tasha wondered how she’d manage without Danni and found the idea so unbearable she instantly pushed it away. She’d never really thought about how much closer the twin bond must make it, especially when it seemed as though Zap and Ziggy had spent pretty much every day of their lives together. ‘Rhys is the oldest in his generation, then?’
Zap shook his head. ‘Ben is, but ours is an old title, and the line of succession is patriarchal, so as I’m the first male in my generation with a child, my son has priority over Stevie’s.’
She filed the information away as confirmation of what she’d picked up at her first interview. Understanding the family hierarchy was exactly the sort of thing Simon would expect her to pass on, but she was sticking to her guns. Zap deserved her loyalty too and she didn’t feel comfortable passing on the details of such a private conversation. The line she’d drawn for herself when she’d taken on this job kept shifting, and not in Simon’s favour. ‘Your father doesn’t have anything to do with the estate, then?’
‘Not since we were boys, not ever really. Once it became clear to our grandfather that it wasn’t just a bit of youthful rebellion and his son had no intention of following in his footsteps, he stopped wasting his time on Monty and set his sights firmly on Ziggy.’ Zap sighed. ‘I won’t lie and say I’m sorry that the responsibility fell to him because I honestly think it would’ve broken me, but I’ve done what I can to help him. Stevie too, and Rowena, of course.’
‘You make quite the team, it has to be said. And now you’ve got Rhys and Hope and Ben to share the load as well.’
Zap brightened up again. ‘Yes, and God willing they’ll have families of their own one day who will want to take their place in due course. We always tried to give Rhys and Hope the choice of what they wanted to do growing up, but they were both determined to make a life for themselves here and I couldn’t be happier about that. Nothing would give me greater joy than the prospect of watching my grandchildren grow up in the place I love most in the world.’
So it wasn’t only Tasha’s parents who had expectations when it came to grandchildren. At least Danni had given hers a couple. How much more pressure would she be under if she were an only child, like Rhys? And he was the heir to the estate to boot. ‘I suppose when there’s an inheritance at stake, you need the next generation to carry things on.’
‘My grandfather certainly thought so.’
Tasha turned in her seat to face Zap. ‘And you don’t?’
Zap shrugged. ‘I couldn’t give a stuff, not about the title. I want the estate to do well because I want to leave a safe legacy for Rhys and Hope, Ben too now he’s found his way home to us. It’s bloody hard work keeping a place like this going. I have no doubt they can do it, but it has to be because they want to and not because they feel they have to.’
‘But you said you couldn’t wait to see your grandchildren around the place…’
He laughed. ‘Not because I’m waiting on Rhys to breed the next generation of the Stourton-de-Lacey-Travers family! The only thing I care about is his happiness. Do I think Rhys would make a wonderful husband and father? Absolutely, but he’s in a uniquely difficult position because he needs to find someone who falls in love, not only with him, but with the estate as well.’
She hadn’t thought about that, but as soon as Zap said it she could see why it might be a problem. Marrying a man with a title might the stuff of fairy tales, but Tasha had already seen the harsh reality of Rhys’s life. She knew how hard it was from personal experience to meet someone who could accept the dedication she felt towards her job and, even taking into account the overtime she did, she still had most of her evenings and weekends free. When did Rhys find the time for something as simple as going out on a date? ‘It can’t be easy.’
‘True, but I believe that there’s the right person out there for him.’
‘You’re a romantic, then?’
Zap chuckled. ‘Hard not to be when I fell in love with Rowena the first time I laid eyes on her.’
Tasha wished she could believe that fate or some higher power had control of the pattern of her life and that they were waiting for the right time to weave in the missing thread to make her complete. Sadly, it was either a load of romantic nonsense or her pattern had been made with a fault in the design. ‘Sometimes you can love someone and it isn’t enough.’
‘Or perhaps you gave your love to the wrong person.’
Tasha laughed. ‘How do you know I wasn’t generalising?’
‘Because I didn’t come down in the last shower. You’ll forgive me for being intrusive, but whoever it was who let you down, they’re a bloody idiot.’
Okay, that was more than enough of talking about her. ‘Anyway, I don’t think you have anything to worry about when it comes to the future of the estate. I know I haven’t been here long, but it’s already clear to me that both Rhys and Hope are fully invested in the place. Juniper Meadows is in very safe hands.’
‘And now we’ve got you on board, things can only go from strength to strength.’
Tasha didn’t quite know what to say to that, so she gave him a smile and a nod. It was already clear to her that the Travers family would never entertain an offer to buy the estate. Once Simon accepted the truth there was no telling how long she would be allowed to remain at Juniper Meadows. She hoped she wouldn’t have to leave too soon because she wasn’t ready to go yet. Not when she still had so much she wanted to achieve, and not only for her personal satisfaction. She liked these kind, quirky people and she wanted to do her very best for them.
With any luck she’d be able to at least see out the summer and by then she was sure she’d have a fully functioning business to hand over to whoever Rhys chose to replace her with.
18
The opening weekend ran like clockwork, not that Rhys had expected anything else with Tasha at the helm. Even so, she was making it look so easy that Rhys wondered why he hadn’t been able to make more of a success of that side of the business himself. He shoved away the moment of self-doubt. The farm was a success and he was damn proud of the work they were doing to preserve a number of rare breeds. The reason Tasha was making things look easy was because she was bloody good at her job, that was all. Given what she’d been able to achieve in just a few short weeks, he couldn’t wait to see what she did over the coming months.
Several people had already booked return weekends for over the summer. The roll-out of the booking system had also done its job and, thanks to the promise of a warm, dry Easter and a promotional push on the local regional radio station, they were going to be close to capacity for most of the two-week break. Everything had ramped up a gear and the whole estate was a hive of activity. When he wasn’t busy on the farm, Rhys was doing what he could to help out the rest of the family with their preparations for the Easter weekend, even if that just meant running errands.
He’d managed to speak to Tasha every day, but he hadn’t seen much of her. It was clear she had everything in hand, and he was doing his best to give her free rein to do what she thought was best. That hadn’t stopped him thinking up a dozen excuses a day as to why he should pop by and see her, but he suspected that was down to his personal attraction to her rather than anything else, so he’d forced himself to stay away. He’d barely set foot in the farmhouse apart from to eat and sleep, and family meals had given way to whatever was quick and easy out of the well-stocked freezer.
That would change later, though. Cam and his team were arriving to set up their camp ready to begin work at the weekend. Ziggy had decided at the last minute to use it as an opportunity to get everyone together, to welcome the new arrivals and give everyone an evening off before the Easter events got into full swing. Rhys thought it was a great idea, and not just because it meant he’d have a legitimate reason to spend time with Tasha.
Having caught up on his regular chores around the farm, Rhys had volunteered to drive into town. Ziggy had placed an online shop for the party that needed collecting from the large supermarket on the ring road, and there were a couple of orders waiting to be picked up from the printer’s. Tasha had enlisted Amelia’s help to design the activity sheets she was going to give out to the children who were staying over Easter, and his father had been experimenting again so there were new labels required for his hot-cross-bun gin and what he called his adults-only Easter eggs – a rich, chocolate liqueur.
