Zac’s mouth opened. ‘I don’t believe it. You do know him from the past, don’t you? That’s why you’ve been so odd around him.’
She pushed Zac hard in his shoulder. ‘I do not act strangely.’
‘You do and you know it.’ He leant closer to her, studying her expression. ‘Something happened between you both, didn’t it?’
‘No.’ She pushed him away and turned her back on him. Zac knew her far too well for her to get away with lying to him. Determined to change the subject, Lettie said, ‘I thought it was sweet of Uncle Leonard to agree to me running the farm.’
‘Don’t change the subject,’ Zac said grabbing hold of her arm and turning her to face him. ‘Please tell me what happened between you. I’m dying to know now.’
‘I didn’t,’ she snapped. ‘And it was nothing,’ she added before Zac had a chance to argue.
‘Come on, Letts. You can at least tell me what you think of Brodie?’
Lettie rolled her eyes, irritated with her brother yet again. She knew she had to give Zac something or he’d never let the matter drop. ‘He seems nice enough.’
‘Nice enough?’ He mimicked her voice. ‘Don’t think I didn’t notice the way you were gawping at him when you first saw him here.’ Zac laughed.
Embarrassed to have been caught out, but not surprised that Zac had noticed when he was always on the lookout for ways to tease her, Lettie scowled at him. ‘Give it a rest, Zac. I did nothing of the sort.’ Had she? She thought back to her reaction on the vet’s arrival and realised he might have a point. Sod it.
‘If you’re not going to confide in me about how you know him, can you at least tell me what you think?’
She had no intention of giving her brother ammunition to tease her further. ‘I told you, I thought he was nice.’
‘You’re no fun at all.’
‘And your life must be very dull at the moment if you’re so interested in what I’m doing, or not,’ she added. Happy to have won this bout with her brother, Lettie stopped walking. ‘I think I’ll pop in to see how Tina is getting along.’ She was aware she hadn’t been to visit her best friend since her arrival on the island four days ago. She and Tina had been friends since primary school.
Yes, she thought, that’s what she would do. She’d had enough of Zac and his nosiness. Tina and she might not see each other all that often now that Lettie lived in London and Tina had chosen to remain on the island, but she was someone Lettie always felt comfortable confiding in. She would know what to do next, or would at least listen to Lettie without making any judgement and let her brainstorm her next step.
‘You’re looking amazing, as always,’ Tina said as she led Lettie through to her tiny kitchen. She motioned for her to take a seat at the nook where they had both spent many early mornings chatting and evenings sharing a bottle of wine as they confided in each other.
Lettie pushed her fingers through her wavy brown hair. ‘You’ve always been a rubbish liar. I know I look a mess. I haven’t had a chance to do anything with my appearance today.’
‘All I care about is that you’ve come to visit me and I’m really excited to see you.’
Lettie noticed the laptop open on a small desk by the window. ‘Have I interrupted you working?’
Tina pulled a face. ‘No. In fact I’m grateful.’ She blew a strand of hair from her face as she switched off her screen. ‘I knew it would be difficult setting up as a virtual assistant but I had expected to have more clients by now – and be making more money.’
Lettie didn’t like the sound of how things were going for her friend. ‘Not picking up as you hoped?’
‘Unfortunately not. People seem to want my services, but aren’t so quick to pay for them when they receive the bill. I’m going to have to rethink how I do this financially, I think. Anyway,’ she said, lifting the kettle and shaking it before filling it under the tap and switching it on, ‘I’m due a break by now.’
Wanting to find something to be positive about, Lettie leant against the wall and folded her arms. She thought about Tina’s two-year-old son, Noah. ‘But working from home must be easier than going into an office each day. Especially with Noah around?’
‘Yes, it’s much easier. I love it. It was exhausting having to get Noah ready each day to drop him off at nursery, then sit through the traffic each morning before queuing for parking. It drove me nuts, not to mention having to dress up each day. I much prefer working remotely. At least this way I only have to look smart from the waist up and can keep my trackie bottoms and slippers on for online meetings.’
‘I’m glad.’ Lettie thought of her lengthy commute that probably took three times as long as Tina’s did in Jersey and cost a lot more. She would love to work from home, but that wasn’t an option in her line of work. She thought again how different life would be working on the farm and having a commute that simply consisted of a walk from her back door across the yard. Bliss.
‘So, what brings you here?’ Tina took two mugs from a cupboard and spooned coffee granules into each one. ‘I don’t meanhere to see me because I know you always pop in whenever you’re over, but why have you come home now? You don’t usually come back unless it’s Christmas, summer or a special birthday.’ She gasped. ‘I haven’t missed a special birthday, have I?’
Lettie pulled a face. ‘We’re the same age and our birthdays are three days apart, so no.’
Tina laughed. ‘I’ve been so busy lately I’m finding I lose track of days sometimes.’
‘Nothing’s wrong, is it?’ Lettie didn’t like to think of her friend in a bad place.
‘No. I’m fine, just busy.’ She finished making their coffees and brought them over to the table. Once seated, she continued. ‘Busy but poor.’
