‘Not at all,’ Jesse replied and we began climbing over the gate. This task was obviously a lot easier when you had long legs. At nearly a foot shorter, I was taking a little longer.
‘Gosh, it’s a long time since I’ve done this sort of— aaarrggghhhhhh!’
The mud was cold, thick and dark. Luckily, my ears were still exposed enough for me to hear Jesse’s, ‘Oh, shit!’ and I desperately hoped that the words were merely a cry of surprise rather than factual observation.
‘Pffffffffffffffffftttttttttttttttttt!’ I spat out as I was lifted by two large, strong arms and stood back upright, minus one slightly too large wellington boot.
‘Are you all right?’
I didn’t answer immediately as I yanked a tissue from my pocket and wiped away what mud I could from my eyes so that I could at least see. Although the thought of facing anyone, let alone Jesse Woods, in my current state, made me briefly wonder whether I should bother. Then I remembered he’d already pretty much seen me at my worst, so the point was probably moot.
Suddenly, something occurred to me.
‘Why do I always make a fool of myself when you’re around?’
‘You what now?’
‘It’s you!’ I said, pointing at him.
‘What’s me?’
‘Something about you. Until I came here, I was quite capable of conducting myself in an appropriate manner without injuring either my pride or anyone else in the process. Within days, all that had gone out of my completely rotten windows!’
‘So, it’s my fault?’
‘You seem to be the common denominator.’
‘Right.’ He nodded and didn’t disagree, just rumpled his brow and appeared to be thinking about it.
‘I take it there’s running water in the stables?’ I asked.
Jesse gave a shrug. ‘Not entirely sure, I’m afraid. None of us have been up here for years. As you might have guessed, Joe was kind of the black sheep of the family and we all kept apart by silent but mutual agreement.’
‘There must be a tap, especially if you’re charging people money to stable their animal there.’
We got closer to the building and I looked around. Surely this couldn’t be it? But there was nothing else in sight.
‘This is it?’
Jesse shrugged.
A ramshackle outbuilding with a patched-up door and, as we soon discovered, nowhere to get fresh water for the horses.
‘Pat must have brought everything they needed each time.’
‘That’s ridiculous. I need to make this more suitable for Maisie and Honey.’
Jesse leant against the door jamb, the low afternoon sun slanting light across his face, highlighting his sharp cheekbones and defined jaw. He pulled his cap down a little more to shade his eyes.
‘What do you need done?’
I proceeded to give a quick overview of the alterations needed. ‘Obviously there’s no mains water out here but a bowser would at least provide fresh water if I get it refreshed every couple of days.’
‘Mmm-hmm.’
I waited a beat. ‘Your expression says you have other ideas.’
‘What expression?’
