Page 104 of Moonlight Kisses at Willow Tree Hall

He smiled up at her. ‘So climb up there and grab it.’

She was taken aback. ‘Me?’

‘Didn’t you ever climb a tree when you were younger?’ he said, mockingly.

‘Ha!’ she said, lifting her leg and grabbing a nearby thick branch. ‘You think I can’t? I grew up here, remember!’

She found she could quite easily scramble up a few branches, and picked the lone apple that remained before climbing back down again.

‘I’m impressed,’ said Jack, as she came down the ladder to stand in front of him.

‘I’m a country girl at heart,’ she told him.

‘You have a leaf in your hair,’ he said, reaching out to remove it from where it was caught in one of her red strands.

Then he looked down at her face and she found he was staring at her with such intensity that she had to catch her breath.

She couldn’t look away, even if she’d wanted to.

‘Morning, all!’

They jumped apart guilty at the sound of Rose’s shout across the orchard.

Jack gave her a ghost of a wink before stepping away.

‘Morning, Rose,’ said Lily, smiling and hoping her red cheeks could be easily put down to the warm air. ‘Good morning, Arthur.’

‘I have rallied the WI troops,’ announced Rose. ‘They shall be along shortly. Now, who’s for coffee?’ She waggled a thermos flask at them. ‘Annie’s bringing a picnic up for lunch.’

‘We haven’t started yet,’ said Arthur in a pointed tone.

‘The workers need energy,’ said Rose. ‘And failing that, I have my hip flask!’

Lily was thankful that Rose didn’t start on the alcohol too early, as it meant they were able to clear a few more trees of their apples before Rose’s WI group arrived later in the morning.

Just after midday, Sam brought Annie up in his Range Rover. The boot was full of lunch provisions, which they were all grateful for by that time.

They all sat either on rugs or on the fold-up chairs that they had brought and ate bread, cheese, ham, ripe tomatoes and fresh strawberries. It was a glorious picnic in the autumn sunshine and helped restore energy levels for the afternoon.

As the day wore on, they were joined by more and more people. Even Bert came along, bringing his wheelbarrow into which more apples could be placed.

The wheelbarrow was then used to move each bucket and crate full of apples into the shed at the end of the orchard, where they would be pressed.

Lily’s dad came out of the shed later in the afternoon to announce that the press was up and working.

‘It might need a bit of grease to get the crank turning smoothly,’ he told Jack, wiping his hands on a cloth.

‘That’s great,’ said Jack, shaking his hand. ‘Thank you so much. You know, Will told me that he could do with a hand up at the barn in the next few days if you’re interested.’

Her dad hesitated just a moment before saying, ‘You know what? I am. I’ll have a word with him later.’

Lily was pleased to see her dad looking so proud of himself and gave him a hug. ‘My hero,’ she told him. ‘Are you tired, Dad? Do you want to go home?’

To her surprise, he shook his head. ‘I can help,’ he said. ‘Besides, your mother’s coming here after work to help.’

In fact, the number of helpers increased as the day wore on. Megan brought her children straight from school, and there were quite a few other families with children. Villagers, young and old, came to pick as many apples as they could.

Lauren arrived later in the afternoon with lots of cupcakes, which everyone feasted on.