Page 89 of Sunrise over Strawberry Hill Farm

Tyson’s face lit up and he nodded eagerly. ‘Yeah. I do.’

‘Right then,’ said Nico, climbing onto the bike to study the dials and switches. ‘You grab your helmet and get behind me.’

After a short while as he got used to the feel of the bike, Nico started up the engine. He gave Flora a wink and, with Tyson holding on to the bike behind him, they set off.

Flora watched them head off around the corner and slowly ride down the hill out of sight. She stood for a moment, thinking back to Nico’s kisses. She had thought of nothing else since. Then she sat down on the bench in the sunshine, something she had rarely done in the past summers, just to watch the fluffy white clouds drift by across the blue sky high above. But her mind still drifted back to Nico.

She didn’t know how long she sat there, but soon she heard the motorbike engine begin to grow louder once more and stood up, eager to see how they had got on.

Nico brought the motorbike to a halt in the courtyard and turned off the engine.

‘How was it?’ she asked, heading over to see them both.

‘Epic,’ replied Tyson, climbing off and staring at the bike in wonder. ‘Even better than I thought it was gonna be.’

‘That’s great,’ Flora told him. ‘I still can’t believe it’s working. When Grams gets back from her shopping trip, she’s going to be amazed.’

‘Well, if you want proof, hop on board,’ said Nico, with a grin.

Her automatic response was to shake her head and say that she didn’t have time, to deprive herself as she had always done. But instead of saying no, she found herself nodding and saying, ‘All right then.’

Nico looked delighted and so did Tyson as he handed over the helmet for her to slip on.

She swung her leg over the back of the bike and tried to place her hands where Tyson’s had been, on the back of the bike. But she quickly discovered she felt too precarious like that and moved her arms to close them around Nico’s waist and hung on to him for dear life.

They went a different way than he had taken Tyson, heading up the hill this time. Flora grinned to herself inside the helmet, loving the feel of the fresh air and the sense of freedom as they went.

All too soon, they turned around and headed back to the courtyard.

‘This was amazing,’ she said, just as soon as Nico had switched off the engine and she could hear herself speak once more.

‘I’m glad you liked it,’ he said, taking off his helmet.

She let go of his waist to dismount before taking off her own helmet.

‘Told you so!’ said Tyson, with a grin.

‘It needs a bit of tweaking, but I reckon it’ll be roadworthy before too long,’ Nico told him.

Tyson nodded. ‘Me too,’ he said, before his face creased into a frown. ‘Oh, hey. I forgot. A taxi came whilst you were gone. There’s a guy asking for you.’

Flora followed her gaze to where Tyson was pointing and saw a strange man by the back door watching them. ‘Who’s that?’ she wondered out loud, running through her mental list and thinking that perhaps she had missed an appointment.

But the instant Nico spun around next to her to see who it was, she felt his whole body grow rigid with tension.

‘It’s my father,’ he replied, walking away from them and towards the infamous Paolo Rossi.

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Nico couldn’t quite believe his eyes as he walked towards his father. What was Paolo doing in Cranfield? And how had he found him after all this time?

‘Ciao, Nico,’ said Paolo, giving his son his brightest smile. ‘Good to see you, son.’

Nico desperately wanted to believe that was true, but history reminded him otherwise.

Paolo stepped forward to give his son a warm hug, but all the time Nico was aware that his father was looking over his shoulder.

As he stepped back, Paolo asked, ‘So aren’t you going to introduce me?’ he asked.