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‘Is that what they call arrested decay?’
Jamie shrugged. ‘Not entirely. I removed the worst of the decay, rather than arresting it. I wouldn’t like to say what you’d call this.’
So he wasn’t even going to give it a name. Anna could see how that was Jamie’s version of therapy, a break from the exacting work that he did. Or maybe in its own way it was another version of his work. Knowing where he wanted to be, and letting the journey define itself.
‘Isn’t it a bit lonely here sometimes?’ Anna bit her tongue. It was a large house for just one person, but then Jamie had probably never intended to be alone here.
‘Being on my own wasn’t in the plan.’
‘Sorry. I didn’t mean to...you know.’
‘That’s okay. It happened. Things aren’t what I expected but I’m lucky in lots of ways. Whenever I feel the urge to fill the house with kids, I just give Caroline a call. She’s generally got a few I can borrow.’
So he’d wanted children. Of course he had. He was so good with his nephews and niece and they obviously thought the world of their Uncle Jamie. It was a sobering reminder that getting too close to him would only lead to heartbreak.
‘You never wanted to settle down?’
‘I’m settled. I have a flat and a career.’ Anna deliberately avoided the obvious intent of his question.
‘Yeah.’ He started to walk slowly away from the house again.
Perhaps she’d been a bit short with him. There was no reason why she shouldn’t give him the basic facts.
‘I was married six years ago, but it didn’t take. We split up after a year.’
‘I’m sorry to hear that.’
‘It’s okay. We never really should have been together. We wanted different things.’ Anna and Daniel had actually wanted exactly the same things. They’d both wanted children, and even though he’d promised that he would be happy with their family of two, he’d changed his mind.
‘It changes your view of things, though, doesn’t it? You think you’re going in one direction and suddenly you find you’re not.’ Jamie was looking at her thoughtfully.
‘Yes, it does. But that’s in the past now. I love my job, and most of my energy goes into that.’
He didn’t answer. Maybe he didn’t believe her, the married-to-my-job thing hadn’t sounded totally convincing. But Anna had said all she was going to say, and thankfully he left it alone.
‘Would you like to see the beehives?’ They were wandering further and further from the house.
‘You have beehives? How much land do you have here?’
Jamie pointed to a line of trees in the distance. ‘It goes down to there. We planted an orchard, and this year I’ll have some apples. There are bees and a wildflower meadow, and...you see down in that dip?’
Anna followed the direction of his pointing finger. ‘Marshlands?’
‘It’s more a small dip that collects water at the moment. But I’m hoping it’ll grow and encourage some wildlife.’
‘How do you do all this?’ Even Jamie’s voracious appetite for work wasn’t equal to what had been done here.
‘I have help. A couple of the lads from the youth club that the charity runs couldn’t get jobs when they left school. They decided to do
something for themselves and started a gardening business. I advised them on some of the practicalities and got them onto a course, and then became their first customer.’
‘They’ve done well.’ Anna might have guessed that Jamie’s nurturing of the land would also extend to nurturing the talents of his young charges.
Jamie chuckled. ‘They made up in enthusiasm for what they lacked in experience at first, and we had our share of disasters. But they got things together, and they’ve got a nice little business going now. They spend a day a week here, and pretend not to mind when I interfere, so it works pretty well.’
‘I’d like to see the orchard.’
‘No appetite for bees?’ He grinned at her.
