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‘It’s been less than ten minutes, Harry,’ the woman said, offering Rhys an apologetic smile. ‘The nice lady I spoke to said she was going to call the owner and ask them to move.’
Harry folded his arms, his face still a thundercloud. ‘You’re the one who insisted on going out today.’ He turned to Rhys. ‘She’s insisting we go and visit her parents. What’s the point of bringing the kids to somewhere like this and then making them sit in the car all day, eh?’
Rhys ignored the question, not wanting to get in the middle of any kind of domestic dispute, and instead turned his attention to the cars. The person who’d parked at the end of the row next to the display had driven into their space at a very odd angle, leaving not much room between the two cars. ‘I can see why you wouldn’t want to risk it.’
‘Sorry! So sorry!’ A red-faced man was walking rapidly towards them. He had one hand in the air and was jangling a set of car keys. ‘We arrived rather late last night and it was the only space I could find.’ He broke into a sort of shambling jog to cover the last bit of distance between them. ‘I hope you haven’t been waiting too long.’
‘Not at all,’ the woman said before her husband could answer. ‘The spaces are a bit tight.’ All three of them turned to look at Rhys as if it were all suddenly his fault.
‘I’ll watch you out, shall I?’ he said to the dodgy parker. ‘Why don’t you take the children over there?’ he suggested to the woman, pointing to a spot well out of the way.
‘I’ll go around the other end and watch,’ Harry said, making a show of walking around the other side of his car rather than trying to squeeze down the awkward gap.
It took a bit of toing and froing but the red-faced man eventually got himself straightened up in the space. He was most apologetic, but Harry didn’t want to know. He got into his car the moment there was room and slammed his door shut. The engine was started before his poor wife and kids were inside and Rhys could only hope the traffic on the main roads was kind to them or it was going to be a very long day.
‘I’m so sorry for the inconvenience,’ the other man was saying to Rhys as Tasha approached just in time to see the family of four drive off.
‘No harm done,’ Rhys said, offering him his hand. ‘You came and sorted it out as soon as you knew there was a problem. Let’s hope the rest of your break passes in peace.’
They shook hands. ‘I’m sure it will. We’ve certainly got the weather for it and the grandchildren are looking forward to the Easter-egg hunt later.’
‘It should be a good day,’ Rhys told him with a smile. ‘I have it on good authority that the Easter bunny has been hard at work overnight.’
Tasha put her arm around his waist as they watched the man head back to his caravan. ‘Thanks for sorting that out,’ she said.
‘You’re the one who had the foresight to get registrations with the bookings.’ It wasn’t something he’d thought to do before. Mind you, the site had never been this busy before and parking had never been an issue. ‘We might have to think about an overflow car park for the summer.’
Tasha nodded. ‘Good idea. Oh, while I think about it, I should give you the pin code for the phone just in case there’s another problem and I’m not around to deal with it. It’s zero-five-one-one.’
‘You’ll have to text it to me sometime, because I’ll never remember that.’
‘It’s easy, just remember Bonfire Night. Zero-five-one-one, fifth of November.’
‘What made you think of that? Do you have a secret Guy Fawkes kink you haven’t told me about?’
Tasha laughed. ‘Behave yourself! It’s Danni’s birthday.’ She held out the carrier bag she’d brought with her. ‘Here, though I’m not sure you deserve it now, you weirdo.’
‘What’s this?’ Rhys asked with a smile as he reached for the handles.
‘The Easter bunny popped by last night and left something for you,’ she replied, her smile turning shy.
He opened the bag to find a large Dairy Milk Easter egg inside. ‘My favourite. How did you know?’
‘You left me a bar in the fridge on my first night, remember? That’s not all that’s in there.’ She nodded at the bag, clearly eager for him to check it again.
Intrigued, Rhys reached inside and his hand found a material-covered tube underneath the egg. He pulled it out and laughed when he saw he was holding an umbrella emblazoned with a smiling cartoon cow. ‘I suppose this means you want your ladybird back?’
‘Damn right, I do!’ She placed a hand on his chest to balance her weight as she went up on tiptoes and kissed him. ‘Happy Easter, Rhys.’
‘Happy Easter.’ He stole another kiss then let her settle back on her feet. ‘No time for that cup of coffee now. I need to head over to The Old Stable Yard and make sure they’re all ready for the day. Will I see you later?’
She nodded. ‘I’m going to hang around here for a couple of hours, do a bit of a walk around and check everyone is happy, but I’m hoping to come up there later and lend a hand where I’m needed. Shall I give you a call when I’m on my way?’
‘It’s a date,’ he promised her, stealing one more kiss before heading back to his car. He was going to have to call in at the farmhouse on the way to the stable yard and find a hiding place for his Easter egg. The umbrella he would keep in his car, or his mum or Hope would try and steal it. They were his first gifts from Tasha and some things were just too special to share.
25
By the time she made her way to The Old Stable Yard, the Easter activities were in full swing. The car park was heaving and it took Tasha several minutes to find a free space. Getting a bike was definitely going at the top of her to-do list. A haybale maze had been built in the field behind the café, and Tasha took a few minutes to watch the little children making their way around it, baskets in hand as they hunted for Easter eggs. At the entrance to the stable yard, a queue had formed in front of a cut-out board painted with a family of rabbits that families could pose behind. There were balloons everywhere, their surfaces patterned to look like Easter eggs, and she spotted another queue where some valiant soul dressed in a bunny costume was dishing out hugs and posing for photos.
