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‘Why don’t you take a look around Heritage View?’ Hazel suggested. ‘If you walk past the outdoor school,’ she said, indicating the way with an outstretched hand, ‘just keep going all the way to the very end, past another paddock and eventually you’ll reach the edge of the land. From there, you should be able to spot the cove itself.’
‘What do you think?’ Gus asked his daughter.
‘I’d rather hang around here,’ said Abigail.
‘Take a walk, see the Cove,’ Hazel encouraged, ‘or you’ll only get frustrated Denby isn’t drying any faster. By the time you come back here, I should be finished in the house – in the interests of eating before midnight, I have to get some sort of dinner in the oven – then you can help me check the water troughs, we can refill hay nets in the stables ready for the horses when they’re brought in tonight. That’s another job on my list.’
Gus gave her an appreciative look as Abigail happily went off, leading the way, her tiny form in a T-shirt and light brown jodhpurs dwarfed next to her dad, big, strong and capable.
Hazel went around the back of the house, took off her boots and, leaving the back door open for fresh air, washed her hands and forearms and made a start preparing dinner. She and Arnold had taken turns for a long time, although she’d started to do most of it with him teaching so much, and tonight it would be a shepherd’s pie. Whenever she made anything like this, she always made enough for at least six to eight portions that they could freeze and save doing the job from scratch another night.
With one eye out for Gus and Abigail to return, she peeled potatoes, chopped onions, crushed garlic, and pulled thyme from the plant she grew on the windowsill in the utility room. Before long, the meaty mixture was filling the kitchen with a homely aroma, the potatoes were boiling away, and she had the oven dish prepared and ready.
Hazel ignored her phone again when she saw James’s name flash up. She suspected he was put out or confused because usually she answered him even if it was to say she was busy, she’d have to call back.
Hazel assembled the dish with the mixture at the bottom and fluffy mashed potato on top and slotted it into the oven before peeking out of the lounge window at the front of the house to see Abigail and Gus heading back this way. She’d been keeping a look out for them as they’d taken longer than she’d thought they would, perhaps impressed with the wide-open space at the perimeter of the land that people rarely saw. Hacks were usually taken off the other way, towards the village and the countryside beyond, or in the opposite direction down the lanes. Riding lessons were never held anywhere other than the indoor or outdoor schools, but Hazel had always loved it whenever she got the chance to take a walk the way Gus and his daughter had been. It reminded her of how secluded they were here, how peaceful Heritage View really was, despite the busyness they often faced.
Hazel went out the back door and pushed her feet into her boots, crossing paths with Tabitha, who wouldn’t let her go without having a cuddle first. She gave the cat a fuss and made her way around to the front of the house, ready to grab Abigail to check the water and then haul hay for the stables.
‘What did you think of the view?’ she asked Abigail, who had started to walk down the side of the house, presumably looking for her.
‘I couldn’t see much until Dad lifted me up on his shoulders.’
She began to laugh. ‘You’re way too big for that, aren’t you?’
‘Dad’s strong,’ Abigail said simply, and Hazel’s thoughts went straight to the sketch hidden away in her office.
Hazel was smiling as she came around to the front, but not when she saw James and someone she didn’t recognise walking up from the car park to her right. She cursed under her breath, careful not to let Abigail overhear, because she was pretty sure this was going to be the guy James had told her about, the help at the stables she hadn’t actually agreed to having.
Abigail went over to her dad, who was waiting at the fence by the paddock now Denby had come over to say hello to him.
‘James, I can’t really talk now, plenty more to do today yet.’ Hazel smiled briefly at the man he was with, who politely nodded her way.
‘I’ve been calling you all day. Tate wanted to say hello, no pressure, just thought the introduction might help.’
She smiled at Tate. She didn’t have it in her to be rude. ‘It’s nice to meet you but I really do have a lot to do, which is kind of why I didn’t answer my phone.’ She saw the muscle in James’s jaw twitch, the way it did if things weren’t quite going his way. Usually she found it endearing, today she just found it annoying.
‘Can we get the hay?’ Abigail called over.
Hazel held her hand up to Abigail. ‘Almost ready.’ She could feel Gus watching her too.
‘Bit young for a stable hand,’ James smiled. ‘Tate here is stronger and wiser, I can assure you.’
‘James says you might be looking for help.’ Tate led the conversation. ‘No pressure, but I have a lot of experience.’ He pulled his wallet from his back pocket, took out a business card and handed it to her, far more professional in his approach than James who had just turned up even when she hadn’t said she was interested in his suggestion. ‘Let me know if you want to talk, I can see we’ve got you at a busy time.’
Hazel hated that she felt so rude, especially if she and Arnold decided they did need the extra help for a while. She turned to the newcomer. ‘I will keep your details, talk with my brother, take it from there.’
‘Appreciate it,’ said Tate.
‘I need to go fill hay bales now and water troughs.’ She nodded to Tate and James before heading over to Abigail, but not before James leant in to kiss her on the cheek and told her he’d see her soon.
‘Ready to do the hay?’ she asked Abigail.
‘Can I carry a whole bale?’ Abigail led the way around to the hay barn.
‘I’d like to see that,’ Hazel chuckled, finally looking at Gus, who hadn’t said a word about her visitor. ‘They’re rather big and cumbersome.’
‘She’ll give it a good go.’ Hazel wasn’t watching James leave, but she could tell Gus was.
