Page 30 of Christmas at Rachel’s Pudding Pantry

‘The bastards!’ Tom shook his head. ‘How dare they. And you’re sure you’re all right?’

‘Yes.’

‘You should have rung me, Rach, I would have come right across. You might have needed help.’

‘I really didn’t have time to think, never mind ring. I needed to stop them there and then.’

First the cut fences and now this. Primrose Farm had always felt a safe haven and now it was being threatened. Rachel felt angered and very uneasy.

And the nightmare didn’t seem to end there. That very night, in the velvet blackness, Rachel woke from an unsettled sleep, feeling unnerved. The clock in her room told her it was just after midnight. The hairs prickled at the back of her neck as she lay listening. Had she heard something? Maybe it was just the realisation of what had happened last night lingering in her subconscious. After all, Moss was quiet and all seemed still outside. She got up, tiptoeing across the floorboards of her room, to take a look out of the window across the yard, to reassure herself.

Shit. There was a pickup truck parked outside near the tractor shed, but no security light was on. Had it been there a while? It looked familiar, but in the dark, it was hard to tell. After the antics of the night before, she was taking no chances. Rachel crept downstairs to get a closer look, her heart hammering once again, and arming herself with the cricket bat and fully intending to fetch the gun if need be. Would they be brazen enough to try again, or had word got out they were a soft target? Rachel felt the blood pounding in her veins.

She unlocked the door cautiously and looked out, but her movement outside the front door set off the security light, and—

Oh my God! She let out an anguished breath and slumped over, resting her hands on her knees. All was revealed. It was just Tom’s truck.

‘What the hell are you doing here?’ Rachel said, in almost a shout, as she approached the vehicle. ‘You frightened the life out of me! I thought they’d come back again.’

‘I was just looking out for you.’

‘Well, I’m quite capable of doing that myself. I saw them off last night okay, didn’t I?’ There had been a lot of bravado and a bit of luck in the mix too, but she wasn’t going to admit that to Tom. She had, and was able to, protect her own land.

‘Yes, well, I just wanted to be sure you were okay.’

‘I would be, if people didn’t go stalking me at my own property, waking me up,’ she fumed. ‘Look, Tom, I can take care of the farm fine, whatever happens. I don’t need a knight in shining armour. I chased them off pretty damned well myself last night.’

‘I’m sure you did.’

‘So, I don’t need you treating me like some damsel in distress.’

‘Well, sorry for troubling you by being here.’ Tom sounded put out. ‘And, if you must know, I don’t think you’re a damsel in distress. You’re strong and you’re feisty and I like that in you, though it’s bloody annoying sometimes. I’m here because I care – really care about you and your family, Rachel. I want to look out for you, and yes, protect you all.’

Rachel was leaning on the truck’s open windowsill. It was getting chilly out there in her PJs and dressing gown.

‘Think about it. What if someone came threatening, Maisy, hey?’ Tom continued earnestly. ‘You’d do everything you could in your power to protect her, wouldn’t you? Well, that’s what I feel about you – all of you. I’m not going to sit back and let it happen. That’s why I’m camped out here in a freezing cold truck. Cos if those bastards return …’

‘Oh …’ Rachel’s annoyance faded. How could she possibly stay mad?

‘It’s called love, Rachel.’

And his words brought a huge lump to her throat.

‘Come on, get in the truck a minute; you’ll freeze out there. I can warm you up a bit,’ he added with a cheeky smile.

‘Now that’s an offer I can’t refuse!’ Rachel grinned.

He gave her a gorgeously warm hug and they sat for a while together. Two farm warriors waiting for the invasion that, thankfully, on this night didn’t happen. He insisted Rachel go off to bed after a half hour, that he was going to sit it out for the night. She brought him out some flapjack and a flask of coffee to keep him going, before heading upstairs, and at six thirty she heard his vehicle start up and drive away.

Tom.

Her Tom.

Her night watchman.

13

With all the ups and downs and night-time dramas at Primrose Farm, the week had flown. Thankfully, there was no sign of a return from the thieves – although it hadn’t stopped Rachel lying awake each night, listening out for any whisper of a disturbance.