‘Not at all,’ Skye assured her. ‘I’m sure we’ll soon get to know each other a bit better and we’ll both settle in.’
Lettie sighed. ‘You don’t know what a relief it is for me and Brodie to know I can take a step back, at least until this little one has made an entrance.’
‘You mustn’t worry about a thing. We’ll be fine, and as you said, we can always call you, and Brodie is close and will come if ever we need him to.’
‘Thank you.’
Lettie went to say something else then hesitated. ‘What is it?’ Skye asked, concerned.
Lettie pressed her lips together briefly before speaking. ‘As I mentioned before, Brodie feels the only way I’m going to truly rest is to move into the cottage with him where he can keep a close eye on me.’ She grimaced. ‘Would you be happy being left alone in the house with Joe?’
Skye shook her head. ‘I think it’s lovely that he wants to make sure you take things easy.’ She grinned. ‘I’ve spent the past six months travelling, and most of it was by myself. Please don’t worry about me – I’ll be fine. Anyway, Joe seems like a nice bloke.’
‘He is, otherwise I’d never even consider leaving you here.’
‘Then that’s settled,’ Skye said. She pictured the tall, handsome and clearly fit guy and wondered whether they would find a way to work comfortably side by side.
Too bad if he wasn’t as pleased about having her around. The feeling was mutual, especially if he was going to be difficult. Anyway, she mused, just because he looked like he had stepped from a movie set didn’t mean she was going to fall for any of his charms. If he had any, that was. So far, all she could see was a moody misery who had been rebuffed by Lettie. Maybe he still had hidden feelings for her, Skye thought.
Whatever his issues, she had no way of letting someone’s resentment ruin this golden opportunity for her.
Skye had no intention of letting her guard down with Joe or any other man for that matter. She had learnt her lesson the hard way, not to put all her trust in another person before she was aware of what it meant. If it hadn’t been for her grandmother being there for her after her mother had died, she didn’t know what she would have done. It wasn’t even that tragedy that had taught her to be self-sufficient. Her mother was beautiful and charismatic but life hadn’t been easy for her – that much Skye did know. Having spent most of her childhood with her mother going away for long periods of time and suffering from long bouts of depression, Skye knew to make the most of the happy times when they did come along, and being here at Hollyhock Farm was, she was sure, going to be one of those times.
She thought of her ex. The last time she had let her guard down had been for him, believing him when he told her how important she was to him. She sighed. She had believed him only too readily until she had discovered what a liar he was. But she had learnt a lot since then, she reminded herself. She had travelled a lot and visited many places and had made a living as a travel writer for a magazine until it closed down a couple of months before. She knew better now. No one would make a fool of her again – of that she was certain.
Hearing a car arriving, Lettie looked up. ‘I’m going to see who that is,’ she said. ‘You take your time and join me in the kitchen for a cuppa when you’re ready.’
Happy to be left alone to enjoy her beautiful surroundings, Skye agreed.
‘I won’t be long.’
Ten minutes later, Skye walked back into the farmhouse and heard laughter coming from the kitchen.
‘There you are,’ Lettie said, her friendly smile welcoming her. ‘Come and join us. We were just trying to work out how best to split the workload here between you and Joe. Weren’t we, Joe?’
‘Really?’ How typical of his type to get in there first and grab the best jobs for himself, Skye mused, trying to hide her annoyance.
‘We were, but you and I can always adapt things, so nothing’s set in stone.’
Slightly appeased, Skye nodded. Maybe she had been too hasty to think the worst of him. Although as far as she could tell there wasn’t too much for them to split between them. She doubted she would get bored though, especially if she made the most of her time off to start the search for her father.
Joe poured milk into a mug and stirred it, then, turning, brought two mugs of coffee over to the table and placed one down in front of Skye. ‘I hope that’s OK. If not, I can always make you another one.’ He pushed a sugar bowl towards her. ‘In case you need sweetening up.’
She stared at him, taken aback for a moment, then, gathering her thoughts, she saw the glint in his dark blue eyes and realised he was joking. ‘I’m sweet enough, thanks,’ Skye said, smiling.
Lettie laughed. ‘I can see you’ll both get on fine.’
Skye was glad Lettie had misinterpreted her reaction to Joe and she suspected his to her. She might have an issue with this man, but most importantly she was here to take the pressure off Lettie, not cause more stress for the poor woman.
‘I’m sure we will,’ Joe said, catching Skye’s eye and waiting for her to break their stare.
Skye wasn’t sure whether he was trying to reassure Lettie, or send her some subliminal message that whatever Skye assumed, she was the interloper here. She looked forward to getting to know him better, so it would be easier to read him.
Having eaten slices of cake, drinking another cup of coffee and much discussion, Lettie made a list of all the jobs they needed to carry out each day, and others that had to be done once or several times a week.
‘I know there’s another list in the barn, but this one is broken down in more detail.’ She chewed the top of the pen. ‘There are a few things that need seeing to, if you don’t mind. Like the broken gate to the middle paddock, Joe. If you could do that first, I’d be grateful. The rest of the extras down here—’ she pointed to the lower half of the list ‘—are for when you have time to fit them in. None of them are too urgent though, so mostly it’s the day-to-day work you’ll need to keep on top of.’
‘No problem at all,’ Joe said. ‘We’ll soon get our bearings.’
