A Family Forever (5 page)

"Let's turn down the volume a tad." Victoria gave her daughter a smile. "We're only a few feet away."

"Sorry, Mum."

Victoria handed out plates and let the kids choose a slice of pizza each. Then she offered the box to Adam. He grabbed a slice and started eating, watching Victoria as she did the same. She stuffed it in her mouth unselfconsciously, catching the melted cheese on her finger and licking it off.

She was so natural, so vibrant and full of life. Her long dark hair fell over her shoulders, those amazing blue eyes of hers sparkling. She had the sort of mouth that tilted up at the corners as though she was always on the verge of smiling.

He'd never met a woman he could imagine spending his life with. In truth, he hadn't been looking to settle down and stay in one place. Being here with Victoria, Sophie, and Harry was the closest he'd ever come to a real sense of home—and it wasn't even his place.

Sitting in lawn chairs eating pizza with the fading sun warming his skin, the kids chattering happily, and a group of curious cows watching them over the fence was better than eating in the best restaurant in the world.

The tension that normally rode his shoulders had drained away. For the first time in years, he was at peace. Part of him wished this evening would go on forever.

***

The front door of Larchfield Hall stood open when Victoria and Sophie walked up the drive on Sunday morning. Harry sat on the front step eating a piece of toast. He crammed the last of his breakfast in his mouth and ran to meet them.

"Hiya," he called and circled them, tweaking Sophie's pigtails. "Race you to the cow's fence, Soph. Last one there's a slimy slug."

Sophie took off after him, bringing a smile to Victoria's face. It was good to see her daughter having fun. Most of Sophie's school friends lived in Salisbury, and Victoria rarely had time to ferry her daughter back and forth to town to see them.

She stepped inside the hall and shouted hello.

"In the kitchen," Adam shouted back.

Victoria headed towards the back of the house, noticing two camp beds set up in the sitting room as she passed the open door.

Adam was leaning over a map spread on the kitchen table, a cup of coffee in his hand. He glanced up, his easy smile welcoming her. "Good morning." His gaze slipped past her then back to her face. "No Sophie this morning?"

"Harry's already grabbed her. They're out in the garden."

"I can't believe how much my son likes the garden." Adam shook his head. "I'll have to think about moving out of London to a place with some land."

A fantasy whispered through Victoria's head of Adam settling down at Larchfield. Although she was sensible enough to realize that it was unlikely to happen even if he didn't develop the property. Larchfield Hall had eight bedrooms—far too many for one man and his son. Anyway, a man like he would never be satisfied with living this far out in the boonies.

Victoria put down the folio case she held and slid out the plan of Larchfield Hall's grounds that she'd printed off, marking the positions of the hedgehog boxes. "I never got around to showing you this yesterday." She tapped the diagram. "The blue dots are boxes that are still used by the adults I released. The green dots are ones that contain babies, the number beside each box shows the litter size, and the red dots are empty boxes."

"Why are there empty boxes?"

"Every time I make a release, I leave a box, but the animal doesn't always keep using it. Sometimes they return to the box for a few days then leave. It's likely some of them have even wandered out of the garden and live in the surrounding fields. Once they vacate the box, I'm never sure where they go."

Adam brightened. "That's good news. I thought we'd have to move ninety animals. Fewer will make the job a lot more manageable." He ran his gaze down the list she'd laid beside the diagram. "So there are thirty-two boxes, six are empty, eight contain adults with young and the other eighteen just contain adults."

"That's right. I made a few calls last night and this morning. I have local places arranged to take six boxes, but that's all I could organize."

"So we need to find sites for twenty boxes."

"Twenty." Victoria gazed out the window at the ramble of greenery, a sigh rushing out between her lips. That didn't sound like many, but she knew from experience it was difficult to find safe places for the animals.

"Hey, don't worry. We'll crack this." Adam rested a hand on her shoulder and squeezed.

At least she didn't have to do it alone. Her grandmother's old saying, "A problem shared is a problem halved," was true.

"I'm glad you bought this place."

Adam gave an ironic laugh. "I doubt that. My plans have caused you a lot of trouble."

"The situation could be much worse. Most developers wouldn't care less about the hedgehogs."

"I suppose you're right." He turned his attention back to the map, circling a finger over the rural area to the north of Great Monkton. "Shall we head up here to start with? There's a fair bit of woodland. I'm guessing that's good for small animals."

Victoria nodded. For months she'd intended to do more prospecting for release sites and knock on a few doors, but never got around to it.

"Anyone home?" a man's voice shouted.

"Ah, that'll be my rental car." Adam hurried out and Victoria wandered after him curiously. Why did he need a rental car when he already had a car?

Adam signed some documents and accepted the vehicle keys, then the man jumped in a small car and was driven off.

"This should do." He strode out and Victoria stepped into the open doorway to see outside.

A chunky four-wheel drive stood by the fountain. Adam opened the driver's door and checked inside. "I thought this would be better for what we have planned." He opened the trunk and beckoned her over. "There's enough room to carry the hedgehog boxes in here." He glanced across at his sleek, low-slung saloon. "My car's not designed for transporting livestock."

How nice it must be to have the money to order whatever you wanted when you wanted it. Not that Victoria was jealous. She loved her little cottage, her life with Sophie, and her hedgehog work, but juggling her tight budget to pay for hedgehog food, medicine, and boxes on top of everything else was a challenge.

Adam dashed back inside and returned, folding the map as he came. He locked the front door and tossed some jackets in the back of the new vehicle. "Let's call the kids and get started."

Harry and Sophie jumped into the four-wheel drive talking nonstop, asking questions about where they were going, demanding snacks and drinks.

Victoria checked her watch. "You've only just had breakfast. Give it an hour or so and we'll stop for something."

They headed along narrow country lanes flanked by hedges and visited a number of farms. A couple of farmers were interested, but the trouble with farms was the working dogs. Experience had taught Victoria to be wary of releasing animals where dogs like collies and terriers lived. It was in their nature to ferret out wildlife, and dog bite injuries could be fatal to hedgehogs.

Next they entered an area of expensive homes with big gardens and knocked on a few doors. By now the kids were bored and complaining. They grabbed a sandwich at a convenience store for lunch and by the afternoon both Harry and Sophie had fallen asleep in the back of the car.

"Peace," Adam said with a glance over his shoulder. "Not that I don't love having the kids along but those two talk incessantly. I reckon Harry's said more today than he usually does in a month."

"Soph doesn't usually chat quite so much. They certainly hit it off."

Adam gazed at Victoria and she felt the same strange tingly sensation she'd had the previous evening when they'd sat in her back garden and eaten pizza.

"We do as well," Adam said.

"Yes." Her reply whispered over her lips, barely audible. Adam was so easy to be with, so easy to talk to. Her first impression that he was a city businessman out of place in the country was not wrong, but despite the differences between them, they just sort of clicked. She really would like to spend more time with him and get to know him better.

"Well, we've found homes for another five boxes today."

"Five down, fifteen to go." They had pretty much exhausted the area they'd checked. It had been a long and tiring day.

"I have a meeting with my project manager at Larchfield tomorrow morning, then I'll go out and knock on a few more doors for you."

"I can come with you. I don't work Mondays and Soph will be at school. What about Harry?"

"His private tutor is due to come down from London first thing. He's staying at the Plume of Feathers for the week."

"Just the two of us tomorrow, then. Let's hope we have as much success as we've had today."

"Yes. Here's to success." Adam raised his can of soda.

Victoria grabbed her drink from the cup holder and they tapped cans. This task could have been a worrying chore, but being with Adam had turned it into a fun day out.

He covered her hand with his. "Keep smiling. We'll crack this."

The warmth of his palm engulfed the back of her hand and spread up her arm. His positive attitude infused her with confidence.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"What for?"

"Just being you."

Chapter Five

"I've had an idea," Adam said the moment Victoria climbed in his car on Monday. "The obvious place to move the hedgehogs is the field beside Larchfield. If the farmer agrees, we can simply lift the boxes over the fence and put them in the hedges. The owner of the Plume of Feathers is his daughter. She said her father's name is Geoff Andrews, but I imagine you already know him."

Victoria's startled gaze darted to his face, then away. "That would be a good idea if the field was owned by someone else, but there's no point asking Mr. Andrews. He doesn't like me."

That sounded a bit odd. "What reason does he have to dislike you?"

"I don't know. He's had it in for me ever since I moved in to my cottage."

A flutter of unease passed through Adam. "What exactly has he done?"

Victoria flapped a hand. "Don't worry. I just ignore him."

Adam kept his gaze on Victoria, but she wouldn't meet his eyes. He didn't like the sound of this at all. He needed to dig deeper and find out more. Meeting Andrews might help him get the measure of the man.

"I need to introduce myself to him as his land borders mine. I want to warn him about the development, make sure he knows there will be heavy machinery working at Larchfield in case it frightens his cows. I might as well mention the hedgehogs while I'm at it."

Victoria shrugged. "Okay, but you're wasting your time." Victoria directed him to Willowbrook Farm a few miles away. Adam turned up the cracked concrete driveway bordered by straggly wire fences and brambles.

He slowed the car and paused when the farmhouse came into view. Gauging a building's moneymaking potential was second nature for him, and Willowbrook set bells ringing. The farmhouse looked to be eighteenth century and must once have been magnificent.

Now the building was run-down with tiles missing from the roof and even a few broken windows that had been boarded over. No doubt the inside required major remodeling. There was definite potential for someone to improve the property and sell it on. This wasn't his sort of project—he preferred larger developments—but in the right hands it would turn a tidy profit.

Adam drew up beside a filthy, dented Land Rover. "You stay here. I'll see what I can do."

The whole place reeked of neglect, the outbuildings in poor repair, the yard dirty. Even to his untrained eye, Adam could tell the farm machinery lying around was old and poorly maintained.

As he headed towards the back door, two collies tied to a ring on the wall charged him, barking aggressively like guard dogs. He halted just out of range as they both reached the ends of their chains and pulled up sharply, growling, teeth bared.

Adam was wondering how to get past them to knock on the door when a short, stocky, gray-haired man in a tweed jacket and rubber boots came out. He hollered at the dogs to shut up and headed Adam's way.

With a shotgun broken over his arm and a scowl on his face, the man looked anything but welcoming. "What d'you want?"

"I'm Adam Cantrell, the new owner of Larchfield Hall."

"Heard it were sold," the farmer said. "What d'you want from me?"

"I wanted to be neighborly and let you know there's likely to be noise and disruption at Larchfield. I'm building on the land. I wasn't sure if it might frighten the livestock in the field."

The old man chewed his cheek and assessed Adam as if he didn't trust his honesty. "That one's a big ol' pasture. The cows'll just head over to the other side of the field if they're spooked."

"Well, that's good. It won't affect you then. Perhaps you can be neighborly too. I'm looking for somewhere to move the hedgehogs that are in the garden. While I'm building, it won't be very wildlife friendly. I was hoping I could put the animals in some of your field hedges. It shouldn't inconvenience you."