‘Good plan,’ Skye agreed. ‘Shall we start with the alpacas?’
Joe laughed. ‘Because they’re easier to round up than the chickens?’
She shrugged and grinned at him. ‘I’ve no idea. I’ve never even seen a real alpaca before coming here today.’
‘I’ve seen these three many times but I’m not sure I’ve ever had to do much with them.’ He thought back to Lettie’s instructions. ‘I suppose we should put some food out in their shelter and then take their head collars and lead them back inside.’
‘I agree,’ she said. ‘I know Lettie said they’ll come if you call them and they know there’s food, but I think they probably need to become more familiar with us first.’
‘And learn to trust us a bit,’ he suggested, wondering if that’s what needed to happen between him and Skye. He noticed Skye watching him silently as if she’d had the same thought as him. ‘We’ll be fine here together, once we get to know each other better.’
Skye smiled. ‘I was thinking the same thing. It’s not either of our fault that we’ve been pushed together and have to live and work in close proximity for the next four weeks, I guess.’
‘It isn’t. I’m sure we’ll make the best of it. We’ll soon get into a routine.’
‘We will.’ She narrowed her eyes. ‘And if you turn out to be a snorer then I’ll bang on the wall to shut you up.’
‘Er, me? How about you?’
She opened her mouth in shock. ‘I don’t snore, thank you very much.’
‘As far as you know.’
She rested her hands on her hips, a slight lift on either end of her lips to show she wasn’t really cross. ‘I do know.’
‘Fine then.’ Maybe being here with Skye wasn’t going to be quite as bad as he had at first thought. Joe hoped not. He supposed the next few days would be enlightening, for both of them.
10
SKYE
Joe had kindly shown her around other parts of the farm that Lettie hadn’t covered. While they walked he had explained about his time off.
‘My supervisor was relieved when I finally agreed that some time off was probably what I needed. I know my grandfather died last year, but instead of allowing myself to grieve I threw myself into work, taking on as many shifts as I was allowed, which in hindsight probably wasn’t the right way to go about things.’
Skye recalled only too well how losing her mother had felt like being slammed in the gut by a train. ‘Sometimes it’s easier to try and focus on anything else other than what’s happened,’ she said knowingly.
He looked at her and her stomach did that annoying flippy thing it tended to do when she caught his eye. He didn’t speak immediately and she was about to fill the silence when Joe said, ‘I think being here and out of the bungalow he always lived in will make things a little easier. At least I’ll have other things to focus on apart from my feelings.’
‘That’s understandable.’ She gazed at the pine trees at the edge of the huge lawn at the back part of the house. ‘And you couldn’t really be in a more magical place than this if you don’t want to dwell on sad things.’
He laughed. Confused by his reaction, Skye turned to him. ‘What did I say?’
He smiled and she saw a softness she hadn’t noticed before. ‘If you think this is beautiful, wait until I show you some of the other places on the island.’
‘I like the sound of that,’ she admitted. ‘What, bays and cliff paths you mean? I saw quite a few stunning places when I looked the island up on the internet.’
‘You’ll have to wait and see.’ He gave her a wink and began walking again before stopping and looking at his watch. ‘Hell, I’m going to be late for my shift if I don’t go and change now. Sorry to cut this short.’
‘It’s fine,’ she said, thinking that maybe he wasn’t that bad after all. With Joe away from the farm, Skye came up with the plan to make the most of his absence to familiarise herself with everything. That way she could go over everything and feel more confident that she could carry out any of the work without his help. ‘I’ll go and feed the chickens.’
‘Great, I’ll see you in a bit.’
Joe ran inside and she walked around the side of the house to the large coop near the lower meadow fence. The coop had its own water supply, so there was no need for her to worry about that, so she fetched the scoop Lettie had shown her and filled it with their feed and then walked over to them, calling out for the cute birds.
‘Here, chickens. Dinner time.’
She went into the coop to check if any of them had laid eggs and, finding two, was just crouching to leave the coop.
