Rita looked thoughtful. ‘And Priya?’
Zenya took a deep breath. ‘Now that woman’s energy… it’s ocean deep. You sense her more than you see her. I can tell already she has a beautiful soul.’
Rita shook her head with a playful smirk. ‘You’ll be leaving her notes in the Singing Tree next.’
Zenya blushed. ‘Nah. But how romantic was that when Jago did it for you last year?’
Rita’s mind drifted briefly to the cryptic messages she had kept finding in the tree, messages that had eventually led her to Jago and their love for each other. It made her realise just how much she was missing him.
The crunch of gravel on the courtyard drew Zenya’s attention. ‘Talk of the devil. Right, I’m going back up to the yurts to see how they’re settling.’
‘Hmm. What does he want, I wonder?’ Rita, secretly pleased he was here, stood up. ‘Thanks for being brilliant, as usual, Zen. I’ll meet you up the top just before six.’
Zenya nodded to Jago as they passed in the doorway.
Rita leaned against the counter, the quiet hum of the fridge filling the space between them.
‘So,’ Jago said softly, leaning in the doorway, ‘are you missing me yet?’
With his three-quarter-length shorts, white cotton shirt, and despite his socks and work boots, Rita felt he couldn’t look sexier.
She couldn’t keep the smile from her eyes. ‘I’m… managing.’
He took a slow step closer. ‘Just managing? That doesn’t sound like you.’
‘But seriously, Jago. You were the one who declared this space truce, and I think we should stick to it. For both of us.’
‘Fair enough,’ he murmured, giving her that half-smile that always made her heart skip. ‘I do love it when you get all bossy with me.’
Rita raised an eyebrow. ‘Until June the fourth. Now, away with you.’
He nodded, eyes lingering on her a moment longer before stepping back. ‘Not that I’m counting down or anything.’
Rita let out a soft laugh, shaking her head. ‘You’re impossible.’
‘Only for you,’ his voice teased, lilting. ‘I actually did have a reason for coming over.’
‘Yeah, right.’ Rita started busying herself by putting glasses in the dishwasher.
‘I can’t get hold of Sennen. She left a message with Stan about using one of the barns to store a Cinderella-type glass carriage overnight. For a wedding, or something.’
‘Oh, bloody hell,’ Rita laughed. ‘And can she?’
‘I’ll need to make sure the floor’s mud free by the sound of it, but of course.’
‘Thank you.’ Rita wiped her hands on a tea towel. ‘I’d put it to the back of my mind. She’s wanting to hold a wedding here. Rosecliff Barns let her down. And wait for it, it’s on June the fourth.’
Jago smirked. ‘Weddings, birthdays, grand reunions. Cupid will be needing a day off after all that.’
Rita swiped him with the tea towel. ‘Get back to Hawthorn Acre, will you, mister.’ She paused. ‘And for the record, I may be missing you a little bit.’
Assuming an American drawl, Jago headed for the door. ‘Mrs Jory, you create a fury in my loins.’
Rita laughed. ‘And Mr Jenken, you create a pain in my neck.’
Jago winked. ‘Get on withyourchores, Cinderella.’
Before she could respond, he strode to the Defender, leaving dust and gravel swirling around the courtyard as he drove off.
