Wanting to make her feel better, Joe nodded. ‘Of course, if that’s what you’d rather do.’ Without thinking, he reached for her hand and, after a slight flinch, Skye’s fingers closed around his.
‘I only wanted to comfort you.’ She groaned. ‘Well, to show you that you hadn’t offended me.’
He tilted his head towards her as they walked. ‘And I liked it,’ he said quietly. ‘It was just unexpected – that’s all.’
She looked up at him. ‘It’s fine. I understand now.’
Joe’s heart raced as he watched her. Had something shifted in their friendship? He hoped so. Whatever it was, he liked it.
‘Now I know you’re happy for me to move ahead with this search for your father,’ he said, opting to change the subject onto something she felt more comfortable discussing. He was becoming excited at the next few weeks and what they might hold for Skye. ‘It must be fascinating to discover what he looks like.’
‘And how much I resemble him.’ Her fingers tightened slightly around his in a gentle squeeze. ‘I hope so. I’d love to be able to get to know that side of me. I hope he’s more open to answer some of the questions I’ve always had than Mum ever was.’ She glanced up at him. ‘Mostly I’m initially excited about what he looks like, if I’m honest. I’ve never had a father and although I’ve always wondered what it would be like to have one, I’m also used to being independent. I can’t help feeling a little unnerved in case he thinks he can step into my life and start taking control of it.’
Joe thought about his own father and thought back to when he was younger and his friends moaned about their fathers interfering in their lives, or giving them ground rules. How much he wished he had a father who cared enough to bother. But this was different. Skye was a grown woman in her twenties and used to making her own decisions. ‘I’m sure he won’t do that.’
They stopped walking. ‘How do you know?’ she asked.
He gazed down into her beautiful dark eyes and it dawned on him that the reason she was so headstrong and had initially appeared closed off emotionally was probably because of having to be so strong from such a young age.
‘Because we’ll make sure he doesn’t.’
Skye frowned, looking confused. ‘We?’
Joe’s heart melted. Did her toughness hide loneliness? She had her gran in her life and prior to that her mother, but by the sounds of things Skye missed the family support network that even he as an only child had experienced thanks to his mother and paternal grandparents being around when he had needed them.
Joe gazed at her. ‘Anyhow, I’m here to support you whenever, if ever you need me to. I hope you don’t forget that.’
Skye’s mouth drew back into a wide smile. ‘I won’t. And I hope you know I’m here for you, too.’
Feeling a powerful urge to pull her into his arms and kiss her, Joe reminded himself how she saw him as her friend. He had no intention of breaking her trust by overstepping their closeness. He raised her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it, looking over her hand to gauge her reaction in case she thought he was going too far.
‘Thank you.’ He lowered her hand and continued to walk. ‘I know it’s only been a couple of days, but I think we’re working well together.’
Skye smiled coyly. ‘Yes, I wish I’d had a bit of foresight to give you more of a chance. I might have listened to you more readily the night before at the hotel too.’ She laughed.
Taken aback by her amusement, Joe asked, ‘What?’
‘I thought you were rather pompous that night.’ She shrugged. ‘And when we were first here at the farm.’
‘Me?’ He couldn’t hide his surprise.
‘Er, who else is in this field?’ Skye giggled. ‘Yes, of course, you.’
‘I’ve never been accused of being that before, ever.’
She giggled. ‘Are you sure about that?’
Enjoying their banter, Joe laughed. ‘Yes, I am.’ Now she mentioned it though, he wasn’t so sure. ‘In my defence I thought that if you were here then they wouldn’t need me and I’d need to find somewhere else to stay. Or return to the bungalow and live with my mother and stepfather again.’ She pulled a sad face and made him laugh. ‘Are you taking the mickey?’
‘I wouldn’t dare. I don’t want nice Joe to disappear and grumpy, unfriendly Joe to return, now do I?’
He narrowed his eyes, enjoying teasing her. ‘If you’re not very careful that’s exactly what is going to happen.’
She nudged his arm with her shoulder. ‘Stop moaning. It all worked out in the end, didn’t it?’
It did, he thought gratefully. ‘I suppose so.’
She pointed to the moon with her free hand. ‘Look at the size of it now.’
