18/01/2023

Stella’s still trying to persuade Brian into buying into the latest farm tech machinery she believes would benefit Home Farm into the future. Brian’s ambivalent, and with Stella in full flow he has to take a call. They pick up the threads afterwards, and whilst Brian admits he admires Stella’s passion, the cost is prohibitive and he still says no. Justin’s mentoring Jim at the shop and is pleased with his progress in ‘up-selling’. Erik comes in for a bottle of wine and Jim steers him towards three quality bottles, followed by a related sale of two boxes of chocolates. When Erik leaves Jim declares he found the transaction rather exhilarating. Justin reckons they’ll make a formidable team. Helen and Lee chat about the good time they had over Christmas with Lee’s daughters. Lee hopes they can spend more time together. Helen suggests they plan a holiday at Easter. But when Lee calls the girls’ mother, he discovers she’s taking them to California. It’s not just for a holiday – Alisha’s been offered a job and is taking the girls away for good. Shocked and angry, Lee can’t believe it’s happening. Helen points out Alisha would need his permission to move his daughters abroad; perhaps they can sit down and discuss it. This aspect hadn’t occurred to Lee and it galvanises him. He declares he’d deny his consent. There’s no way he’ll allow his children to be taken away.