Was that why she and her husband were wanting to hand the farm over to Lettie? he wondered. He had known many farmers in his time and all of them worked incredibly hard. It was, he supposed, a rewarding life although one that seemed to be filled with continuous struggles of varying kinds.
‘Are you planning on travelling soon, then?’
He felt her gaze fall on him and hoped he hadn’t offended her by asking too personal a question.
‘Yes. But please don’t say anything to Lettie or Zac because we haven’t broached the subject of exactly when we go away with them yet,’ she said, her voice lowered, although he wasn’t sure why because it was only the two of them in his car. ‘It’s also why we’ve had to come to the difficult decision to part with the business side of the farm. It’s something Gareth and I have been building up to doing for a few years now.’ She sighed. ‘I wasn’t certain my husband would be able to do it, but the other week he told me he’d already spoken to his brother, Leonard, about it.’
‘That must have taken you by surprise,’ he said, certain by what Zac had said earlier that he and his sister had not seen this coming. He knew only too well how difficult life could be when the unexpected happened and couldn’t help feeling sorry for them. On the one hand, he hoped Lettie was given permission to take on her family farm long-term, because she seemed determined, but he also knew how difficult it was for farmers to keep everything going and that was when they had experience. He might not know Lettie well at all but he couldn’t imagine how she expected to move from working in fashion to running an organic farm with any ease.
‘Are you all right, Brodie?’
Embarrassed, Brodie realised she must have noticed him deep in thought. ‘Sorry, yes. I, er, was just thinking of something I should have done this morning.’
‘Zac mentioned that you were trying to work out where you’d seen Lettie before. Could you have attended the same school?’
He told her which school he attended. ‘But I don’t recall her name. I mean, there were a few Torels but no one called Lettie.’
When Lindy didn’t reply, he glanced at her and noticed she seemed very thoughtful. ‘Maybe you just didn’t come across each other because you’re a few years older.’
‘It could be that.’
She tapped the window, pointing to the kerb. ‘This will do, right here.’
He wished they had longer to chat about Lettie. Maybe he might have discovered more about her life before she’d left for university and resolve his curiosity about where they might have crossed each other’s paths in the past, but clearly it wasn’t going to happen today. ‘We’re only a hundred or so yards from the garage. I can take you all the way there. I’m not in a rush.’
‘We both know you have a client to get to.’ She retrieved her handbag from between her feet. ‘Don’t worry about me. Here will be perfectly fine. I’d like to pop into the newsagent’s first, anyway.’
Doing as she wished, Brodie steered the car to the pavement and stopped.
She unclipped her seatbelt and picked up her basket from the footwell. ‘Thanks for the lift. And don’t be a stranger. Please feel free to pop in to Hollyhock Farm whenever you wish.’
‘That’s very kind of you, Mrs Torel, thank you.’
She opened the door and got out, then closed the door and bent to talk to him through the open window. ‘I told you to call meLindy. Everyone else does. Mrs Torel makes me sound old and makes me think of my mother-in-law.’
She turned and walked away, leaving Brodie wondering if she had really wanted to go to the newsagent’s or if his question about Lettie had been the cause behind her deciding to do so. What a family, he thought as he pulled away from the kerb and drove on to his next client. He was going to enjoy getting to know them better and now he was even more intrigued about why Lettie seemed familiar to him.
7
LETTIE
‘Stop tormenting me, Zac,’ Lettie said, following her brother outside as soon as Brodie had driven her mother out of the yard.
‘I don’t know what you mean.’
She could see by the self-satisfied grin on his annoying face that he knew exactly what she was referring to. Why was her brother so good at winding her up? Then again, she mused, he had spent his life finding new ways to goad her and with all that experience she shouldn’t be surprised that he did it so well.
‘Bringing Brodie Murray here without warning.’
‘I didn’t. He happened to be passing and offered me a lift, and so I invited him in. He is the new vet, after all, and I thought it a good idea you get to know him.’ He slapped her playfully on the back. ‘Ah, so you do like him then. I knew it.’
‘Get lost. It’s not that at all.’
‘Yeah, whatever you say.’
She wasn’t finished with him yet. ‘And what was all that about him trying to work out where he knew me from?’ She hated reminding her brother but needed to know so she could prevent Zac from saying the wrong thing going forward.
‘Exactly what I said.’ He frowned at her. ‘What’s the big deal? It’s not as if you recognise him from anywhere, is it? So he must be confusing you with someone else.’ He stilled and narrowed his eyes and Lettie knew she had done the wrong thing questioning her brother. Damn. Why hadn’t she left the matter alone?
