“Last night.” He folded his arms, hugging himself. “I was an arse.”
His apology brought forth the crashing memory of their altercation in the library in all its glory and Pippa cringed so hard that she thought she’d turn inside out. “No,Ishould apologise,” she said. “I should not be talking to you in that way.”
“Why not?” Wolfie leaned on the fork. “You were merely speaking the truth. I appreciated your candour.”
Pippa suddenly really wanted that coffee she’d abandoned in the kitchen. “By candour do you mean rudeness?” When Wolfie laughed, she pressed on. “Look, I’m sorry. You have valid reasons for wanting to get out of here and it’s not my place to nag you about it.”
“You gave me a lot to think about, Pippa Munro.” Wolfie grinned and Pippa couldn’t help but smile back, encouraged by the rare openness of his expression. The gaze held for a little too long and, conscious of her tired, make-up-free face, Pippa sought distraction.
“So, explain exactly what it is you’ve been doing here then?” she asked.
Wolfie coloured. “If we’re being truthful, I’m not sure.” He pointed at the raspberries. “Did I fix those canes right?”
Pippa nodded. “You did.” Behind the canes she spied a snarl of chicken wire. “But that was serving as a cover to protect the berries from birds. That needs to go over the top.”
Wolfie’s face fell. “I thought so but I couldn’t wrangle it into shape. It’s pretty bashed up, I’m afraid.”
“Let me have a look.” Pippa picked up the twisted, filthy wire. Thanks to Percival’s panicking, it was virtually unusable. “Damnit,” she whispered. Now she’d have to source something else to cover up the fruit.
“I was also a bit worried about those plants there.” Wolfie gestured to the courgettes. Some of the leaves were bruised and torn.
“Hm.” Pippa hovered over the plants. Her mother always used to praise courgettes for their ease of growth. Yorkshire provided plenty of rain and, thanks to Todd, they’d had lots of fertiliser. “We’ll see, but I think they’ll be fine. I bet there will be tons when it comes to picking them.”
“That’ll be soon, right?” Wolfie asked. “Joan always used to get a bumper crop around this time of year.”
“I want to give them another week of fertiliser and hopefully more rain.” Pippa pointed at the sky. “They’ve had a lot of sun. Then I’ll pick a few, see how they’re doing.”
Wolfie leaned heavily on the fork, resting his head on his forearm as he gazed down at her. “And once they’re out, then what?”
Pippa’s mind went blank. She really hadn’t considered what she would do with the fruits of her labour. She’d been so focused on getting the garden functioning and healthy, she hadn’t actually imagined enjoying what came of that effort. “Um. Eat them?”
Wolfie laughed heartily. “I guess we’ll be researching courgette cake recipes then.”
Pippa laughed along with him, thrilling at his use of the word ‘we’. “I’m not much of a baker, Wolfie.”
“Maybe you don’t get to lick the spoon, then.” Wolfie’s lowered voice sent a thrill down Pippa’s spine. She sat back on her heels, not breaking eye contact.
“You were right about one thing last night,” Pippa said.
“And what’s that, Pippa Munro?”
“I’m not sure I’ll ever understand you,” she replied.
A silence fell between them, punctuated by the haunting melody of curlews in flight. Wolfie didn’t reply. He just dipped his head down, but not before she saw the shy smile and the spots of pink on his cheeks. She really wanted to know what was going on in his head. What he made of her. Why was he taking such an interest in the garden, all of a sudden? After all, he wanted to sell the whole property off to the highest bidder, right? Yes, he’d said he wanted to apologise for being harsh with her, but this sweet gesture was at odds with the grouchy man she’d encountered the night before.
The sound of her name being called startled Pippa and she looked over to see Todd frantically waving over the fence. The desperate look on his face had her up on her feet and over to the fence in seconds.
“What is it?” she called out.
“Juniper!” he declared. “Please tell me you’ve seen her.”
“She’s not in the garden.” Wolfie had followed Pippa and was now standing behind her, and it took all her willpower not to lean back against his solid warmth.
“Has she escaped again?” Pippa tried to focus on her friend’s distress and not Wolfie.
Todd’s head bobbed up and down. “Ploughed right through the special fence I erected. I’m a bit worried she’s headed out into the wilderness.” He indicated up towards the moors.
“She’s probably gone foraging or something,” Pippa said calmly.
