Spring Blossoms at Mill Grange

there was, and if the marquee they’d envisaged for the main garden, would fit in.
Suddenly she could see the greenhouse’s skeleton bedecked in fairy lights, a stunning backdrop to their vows.
Running back to her pad, Tina scribbled down her idea. ‘Do you think Dylan would like to help with the putting up the fairy lights, Gertrude?’
The responding clucks from the chief hen confirmed her suspicion that Tom’s son would like that very much, but it might not be the safest venture for the boy. ‘You’re right of course.’ Tina quickly added Dylan’s name to the guest list as a potential page boy.
‘How about you and Mr Stark give me away then, Gertrude? I’m sure you’d both be up to the task, and it’s not as if…’ Tina stopped talking and stared at the hens, who all stared back at her. ‘I’ve been an idiot, girls. I’ve got to go. I’ll be back later with some food.’
Clutching her notebook, Tina jogged across the garden. She’d expected to find Sam taking his habitual early morning stroll around the grounds, making sure his domain was as it should be. Instead she found him sat on the bench by the kitchen door, a mug of tea in his hand, with another next to him.
‘Tea?’ Sam smiled as he spotted the notebook Thea had given her as a present before she’d left for the Cotswolds. ‘I was going to bring it over to the chickens, but then I heard the gate squeak, so I knew you were on your way.’
Tina laughed. ‘Better get that oiled before the wedding.’
Sam pointed to the notebook. ‘Is there room in there for a list of practical things, or is it just for the nice stuff?’
‘Everything!’ Tina opened to the back page. ‘But boring stuff goes at the end!’
‘Fair enough.’ Sam took a sip of tea before asking, ‘How far have you got?’
Tina flashed the only page of the book with anything written on it, under Sam’s nose. ‘Thea for bridesmaid and maybe Dylan as a pageboy. I sort of assumed Shaun would be your best man, but I didn’t write it down. You might have someone else who—’
‘Shaun. Definitely. If he wants to do it.’ Sam nodded as Tina wrote down Shaun’s name next to ‘best man’.
‘I was talking to the chickens just now.’
‘And what genius did Gertrude and the gang deliver this morning?’
‘Well.’ Tina suddenly found her eyes pricked with tears. Thinking about who would attend her wedding in place of her parents was one thing, but actually saying it out loud was something entirely different.
Sam frowned, pulling her close to his side. ‘What is it?’
‘I’ve been thinking about who’s going to give me away. The answer is obvious, but it means admitting my dad won’t be doing it.’ She wiped the back of a hand over her eyes. ‘Silly, really, after all this time.’
‘It’s not silly, it’s natural. I’d be worried if you didn’t feel that way.’ Sam kissed the top of her head, as Tina rested against his side.
‘Do you think Bert would do it? He’ll be well enough by then, won’t he?’
Sam beamed. ‘I hoped you’d ask him.’
‘I’d like Mabel to be mother of the bride.’ Tina smiled. ‘I can just picture her in a hat Queen Elizabeth might wear.’
Sam laughed. ‘Me too. Probably in lilac.’ More serious for a moment, Sam checked his watch. ‘It’s still early, but in a couple of hours why don’t we go and ask them? It might give Bert the extra oomph he needs to recover.’
‘He is getting better, isn’t he?’ Tina’s heart constricted. She couldn’t bear to lose Bert as well.
‘He is, but he’s weak. Something positive to think about will help him recover all the quicker.’
Writing, ‘Ask Bert and Mabel to be honorary father and mother of the bride’ in her book, Tina said, ‘I thought of something else when I was with the chickens.’
‘Oh yes.’
‘I know we were going to have the wedding on this bit of garden, with the house behind us, but how about having it in the walled garden, with the greenhouse behind us?’
‘But the greenhouse is in ruin?’
‘Yes, but it’s very beautiful, and it means that Gertrude and crew could come to the wedding.’
‘You’re crackers.’
‘Yes.’ Tina sat up so she could drink her tea. ‘I had another thought too. Why don’t we invite your parents over for the weekend soon? If they saw this place, they might understand why we want to marry here.’

Ten
Saturday March 21st
As they walked through Mill Grange’s garden, down to the woods, and along the path that led from Sam’s land towards the Tarr Steps and the open plains of Exmoor, Helen was reminded of the first time she’d met Tom on the manor’s fortlet excavation.
The conversation then had veered between awkward small talk and no talk at all. Today, with the weight of their non-date hanging unspoken between them, Helen could feel the words no one was saying bouncing in the air, ricocheting off the trees, hitting them everywhere but their vocal chords.
Hitching her backpack higher onto her shoulder, Helen knew if Tom didn’t break the silence soon, she’d have to, but a childish part of her didn’t want to be the one who went first.
And whatever she thought of saying seemed to reflect on them as a couple – or more on them not being a couple. Even mentioning that she and Tina had a good evening last night wasn’t possible without bringing up why she’d been with Tina and not him.
But we did have a good night. Helen looked along the stretch of the River Barle as they wove along its banks. Tina cheered me up, even though she made me see that I’ve been kidding myself. Helen risked a glance at Tom, and immediately had a feeling he’d been glancing at her only a second before. I don’t just want this man to be a friend with benefits. I was just afraid of the alternative. Helen swallowed. I’m still afraid – and