Skye peered at the tall sandy-haired man. ‘He’s a vet, I seem to recall Melody saying during one of her chats about her time at the farm.’
‘That’s right. His practice is in the village we passed through a couple of minutes ago, so if you’re ever worried about any of the animals and I’m not around, he’ll be the one to call. He can be here in no time.’
‘That’s good to know.’
Skye noticed a dark-haired man get out of the passenger’s side of the old Land Rover. He looked as if he had stepped out of aWuthering Heightsmovie. ‘Who’s that?’ she asked, wishing her voice hadn’t sounded quite so breathless.
Lettie grinned. ‘That’s Joe. He’s a good friend of ours.’ She didn’t speak for a moment as she turned her car into the driveway and parked. ‘Although I’m not sure why he’s here.’
Skye saw the men look over at them. Joe smiled and waved. Brodie frowned briefly before smiling. They walked over to the car as Lettie and Skye got out.
‘Who have we here?’ Brodie asked, reaching out to shake Skye’s hand as a shabby black dog jumped out of his vehicle.
She looked at Joe and wondered the same thing. She was sure she recognised him from somewhere, but where? This was only her second day on the island and she hadn’t been to that many places.
‘This is Skye,’ Lettie said.
Brodie’s smile faltered and Skye wondered why. He seemed bothered about something but was trying to hide it. Why?
Joe stepped forward and she realised he was staring intently at her. What was going on? she wondered. There was definitely an undercurrent but she wasn’t sure whether it was between Brodie and Lettie, or because of her being at the farm. Very odd.
Lettie put an arm around Skye’s waist. ‘Skye is from Edinburgh. She’s a good friend of Melody’s and has agreed to come and stay at the farm to look after the animals for me.’
Brodie’s eyes widened slightly and slid sideways to Joe. Skye was trying to work out why the men exchanged confused glances, then noticed Joe had a large bag with him.
‘You going somewhere, Joe?’ Lettie asked.
‘Er, no,’ Joe replied, scowling at Skye as it dawned on her there had been a mix-up.
Brodie gave an awkward grimace. ‘Joe’s come here to look after the place too.’
‘You have?’
Skye was starting to feel awkward. At least Lettie seemed to know Joe. ‘I can, er, always go back to the hotel if you don’t need me.’ She hoped her disappointment didn’t show as much as she felt it might.
Lettie shook her head. ‘No, I’ve promised you four weeks here.’ Lettie bit her lower lip and frowned thoughtfully. ‘That’s so sweet of you, Joe. Thank you.’
Skye saw Joe’s disappointment straight away and wondered why it meant so much to him to step in to look after the place. Then he gave her a look and she instantly knew where she had seen those eyes. He was the firefighter from the night before. She clenched her teeth. Why, of all the people, did she have to end up sharing the farm with him? She saw recognition in his eyes and understood why he had seemed so grumpy with her.
‘Joe’s taken four weeks off work,’ Brodie explained.
Skye saw Lettie open her mouth to answer but before she had the chance, Brodie gave her a pointed look Skye didn’t understand and added, ‘He’s finally taking that time off from last year.’
‘Last year?’ Lettie seemed confused, then her eyebrows shot up and she covered her mouth. ‘Oh, Joe, that was careless of me. I’m so sorry.’
‘Hey, don’t be silly. I’m fine, Lettie.’ His entire demeanour changed when he addressed Lettie, and Skye wondered if the pair of them had some sort of romantic history. ‘There won’t be enough work for two people if your uncle is taking care of the produce. I’ll go home.’
If he had a home, Skye wondered, then why was the mix-up such a problem?
‘You OK?’ Joe asked Skye without smiling.
‘I am. It just took me a while to recognise you without your uniform on.’
Lettie raised a hand. ‘You two know each other?’
‘There was a small fire at the hotel Skye was staying in last night,’ he explained.
‘Yes,’ Skye said without taking her eyes off him. ‘And he wasn’t impressed when I returned to my room to fetch something.’
