Return to Half Moon Farm, Part 3 by Holly Hepburn

Author:Holly Hepburn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
Published: 2023-09-14T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Five

Daisy was washing up the breakfast crockery on Saturday morning when she was startled by a rap on the window. She looked up to see Drew gazing at her through the glass and suddenly her heart was fluttering for an entirely different reason. ‘Good morning,’ she said, once she’d opened the window. ‘Everything okay?’

Drew spread his hands as though giving thanks. ‘Everything is wonderful. It’s the weekend, the sun is shining and I’m speaking to you. What more could I ask for?’

His enthusiasm was catching – Daisy felt herself smiling in return. ‘There speaks someone who didn’t wake up to the sound of quarrelling children.’

‘That is true,’ Drew conceded. ‘A wise man once said that the key to enjoying the sound of children playing is to make sure you aren’t close enough to hear what they are saying.’

It was a sentiment Daisy could definitely get on board with. She’d been woken by a heated argument between Finn and Campbell over whose turn it was on the PlayStation and things had gone rapidly downhill from there. She wasn’t sure how much of it was due to the late night at the castle the day before – by the time she’d got them both showered and ready for bed it had been after ten o’clock – but they currently weren’t talking to each other. She was actually quite glad – at least if they were sulking in separate rooms, they weren’t arguing. ‘Thankfully, things have calmed down now,’ she said. ‘What are you up to this morning?’

‘Checking on the hops,’ Drew replied. ‘I’m optimistic some will be ripe enough to harvest in a week or so and we can get our first batch of ale on the go.’

For a moment, Daisy was nonplussed then she remembered one of Drew’s side hustles was helping Nigel to run his microbrewery, Brew Crew, in one of the modernized barns that lined the courtyard of Half Moon Farm. They used the hops plants that had once been the main business of the farm, although they no longer used the oast house to dry them – that was all done off site, since the oast house had been converted into Nancy’s café. Once upon a time hop farming had been big business in Kent, attracting a summer workforce from London to pick the hops. Going hopping was the equivalent of a holiday to some poorer families, and a chance to earn a little extra money on the side, but the practice had eventually died out as automated hop pickers took over. It had been a long time since Half Moon Farm had grown enough hops to supply anyone with enough to turn into beer but Drew’s green fingers seemed to have changed that. ‘I’ll have to try some,’ she told him. ‘Although I have to admit I’m more of a wine drinker.’

He laughed. ‘Ah, but when in Rome, Daisy.’

‘When in Rome,’ she agreed, although she supposed it depended how long the brewing process took. She and

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