Free Blackpeak Station by Holly Ford

I don’t want to lose Zoe.’ She sighed. ‘Christ, I’ve had enough of being alone.’
    ‘But you’ve got me,’ argued Charlotte. ‘And Rex and Kath and Matt.’
    ‘I’m a lesbian, mate, not a nun.’
    ‘Do you love her? Really?’
    ‘
Really
? God, Charlie.’ Jen groaned with exasperation. ‘Of course I do. Zoe and I go way back.’
    ‘That’s not what I asked.’
    ‘Wasn’t it?’ She shook her head. ‘It’s not all shagging and ski jackets, you know. Nobody gets everything they want. One day you’ll understand that.’
    Charlotte very much hoped she wouldn’t. But Jen was giving her such a strange, sad look she didn’t have the heart to say so. ‘Okay.’
    ‘Okay?’
    ‘She can stay. If it means that much to you.’
    ‘It does.’ Jen smiled a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. ‘Don’t worry, we won’t be up here in your hair all thetime. I’ll move back into the cottage.’
    Charlotte nodded. Through the kitchen window, she watched Jen walk away. Was she just being childish? Not liking the new girl at school stealing her best friend? Was there really anything wrong with Zoe?
    High above Jen’s small figure, the hills were thick with snow, and the dark cloud rising over their shoulders was heavy with more to come. She swallowed the last of her cooling tea and went out to feed the horses.
    By the time she got back it was almost four o’clock, and dark. In the kitchen, the phone was ringing.
    ‘Things are crazy at work,’ Rob groaned. ‘You leave people alone for two minutes and it’s amazing the mess they can get themselves into.’
    ‘Tell me about it,’ Charlotte said drily.
    ‘Ah. Everything okay?’
    ‘Kind of.’
    ‘Want to get away for the night?’
    ‘Love to.’
    ‘Great — I’ll see you when you get here. You can tell me all about it.’
    Charlotte sighed gratefully. ‘Thanks.’
    ‘No worries. I’ve missed you.’
    Rob reacted to her news with gratifying horror. ‘You’re not paying her, are you?’ he demanded, pouring them both a large glass of wine.
    ‘God, no. That’s Jen’s problem.’
    ‘Just as well. That’s the last thing you need!’
    ‘What do you mean?’
    He hesitated, chewing his lip. ‘Okay. You’re not going to want to hear this. But I’ve got to say it.’
    ‘What?’
    ‘Nick finishes uni this year, right?’
    ‘Yeah, so?’
    ‘So he’s going to need an income.’ Rob sat beside her on the sofa, putting his hand on her knee. ‘Babe, there are only so many salaries Blackpeak can pay.’
    Charlotte shook her head. ‘We’ve always run with this many hands.’
    ‘At the moment, yeah. But Nick makes one extra. And you know how things are,’ he added gently, ‘there just isn’t the money for that.’
    It was true. Charlotte felt sick. How could she not have seen this? ‘But Nick was always coming home this year,’ she said. ‘Dad must have had some kind of plan.’
    ‘Your father hardly drew much on the farm — he had his investment income. But now that’s been divvied up between you and your mum, all Nick has to live on is Blackpeak.’
    She brightened. ‘Okay, so I don’t draw a salary, then.’
    Rob bit his lip again. ‘It’s not that simple. Even if it was okay for you to work Nick’s farm for no pay — which it seriously isn’t — you can’t touch your trust till you turn twenty-five. Andrea and the other trustees are in charge of the lot until then.’
    ‘So what are you saying — we’ll have to let someone go?’
    Rob just looked at her.
    ‘But we can’t get rid of Rex and Kath … Matt earns bugger all anyway, and Jen doesn’t get much more.’ Charlotte put her wine down, thinking of Nick’s taste in shoes. ‘I can’t see Nick living on those wages …’
    ‘Charlie.’ Rob took both her hands and spoke very quietly. ‘Are you sure your brother had really thought things through when he said you could manage the station?’

Chapter
SEVEN
    Charlotte ran her binoculars over a small mob of sheep