Page 76 of Christmas at Rachel’s Pudding Pantry

‘Jeez, so you put two and two together and made about a hundred! Well done, Rachel. It sounds like the night I was out in a cold, wet field until past midnight. One of my calves had got his leg snagged up in a wire fence. It was in a right panic and making the injury worse. It took me a while to unravel it, the poor little chap, and his mum was going ballistic. It was the mooing that had woken me up. So, if you’d have just asked me about it, instead of stewing on it for bloody weeks and making up your own daft bloody theories …’

‘Oh.’ So, she’d got that one way wrong. ‘Is he all right now?’

‘Thankfully, yeah. Got the vet to him the next day and he had to have a few stitches put in.’

‘I see.’ That took a lot of the wind out of her sails – but Rachel was still left wondering if there was any truth in any of the rest of it. Why was his ex hanging about? Making persistent phone calls?

‘And Caitlin?’ she pursued.

‘I really don’t believe this. Have you no trust in me at all?’ Tom was getting irked. ‘I thought we had something really good going on here, Rach.’

‘Me too – and we do!’ That’s why she was so bloody afraid to lose it. Was she just bulldozing her way into doing that anyhow, with her doubts and insecurities?

But he still hadn’t told her the truth about Caitlin and what she’d been doing back here.

‘Has she been here? I don’t think Eve was hallucinating. And someone came into the Pantry who was really staring me down, it was pretty unnerving, Tom,’ she wheedled away, unable to help herself.

‘Wow – really. Look, I don’t need or want to go into every detail of my messy marriage and shitty divorce, and we’ve got to have some trust between us, Rach. If you’re happy to believe some old gossipmonger ahead of asking me properly, then I don’t think we have much of a future, do you?’

With that, he jumped back on the quad, revved the engine and did an about turn. Leaving Rachel spattered in a spray of sleety mud standing staring after him, her heart in tatters.

36

Rachel was sitting with Granny Ruth in the warm glow of her sitting room by the open fire. She had called in the morning after the scene with Tom with some fresh eggs, a homemade minced beef and onion pie that Jill had just pulled from the oven, and some vegetables picked from their veggie patch, including a glossy dark-leaved cabbage. They needed to make sure the old lady was eating well during her ongoing recovery.

‘How are you feeling today then, Granny?’ Rachel asked.

‘On the mend, pet, on the mend. The cough’s nearly away and I’ll be back up and on my feet all day in no time.’

‘That’s good. I knew you’d come through stronger than ever.’

‘And how are things with you?’

‘Fine, thanks …’ Rachel’s voice trailed away miserably.

‘Are you sure about that? What’s the matter pet?’ She gave her beloved grandchild a kind smile.

‘Oh Granny, I’ve had a bad falling out with Tom.’

‘Oh dear. Well then, I think this calls for a cup of tea and a slice of Jam Roly-Poly. I’ll go pop the kettle on.’ She went to stand, but her knees were still weak and a bit wobbly.

‘Let me go. You stay here and keep warm by the fire.’

‘Thanks, pet. The pudding’s in the fridge. Cut yourself a good slice and warm it in the microwave for a few seconds. It’ll be even better then.’

Five minutes later, she passed Granny a cup of tea and settled herself back on the sofa with a generous bowl of Blackberry Jam Roly-poly. But then she found herself feeling a little queasy.

‘Oh, Granny, there’s something Tom’s not telling me, to do with his ex. I know she’s been back in the village, at his farm.’

‘And have you asked him about it? Given him the chance to explain?’

‘Well, I tried, but he’s like a bear with a sore head just now. It all got a bit heated and out of hand. We had a row, and he stormed off.’

‘Hmm, well, in any relationship, honesty is the best policy. Me and your granda had some right ups and downs when we were younger, but in time we learnt to talk things through, to come to understand each other. Life will always throw you curveballs, pet, but if this relationship with Tom is worth it, then you need to work through them – together.’

‘Yes, maybe …’ She spooned some of the comforting jammy pudding into her mouth.

‘Look inside your heart, lass. It’ll tell you if it’s worth fighting for.’