Chapter 20
20
SKYE
Skye glanced over her shoulder, delighted to see Joe now following her. This was such fun. The freedom from having anything heavy to dwell on for a change was a welcome relief. How could she have ever thought Joe wasn’t fun. He was kind and made things fun and she wanted to make the most of every second staying on this amazing farm with these adorable animals and being the only other human apart from Joe.
As she neared the front door she heard the phone ringing. She wondered who it could be and hoped nothing was wrong with Lettie. She opened the door and, presuming Joe might be better answering the call as he knew people on the island, she picked up the phone and held it out to him.
He gave her a confused look before taking the receiver. ‘Hello?’
‘Joe?’
‘Yes, it’s me.’ Joe pressed the button so the voice was on loudspeaker and she could hear more clearly.
‘You are there,’ Brodie said, his voice sounding flustered.
Joe shot a concerned look at Skye and cleared his throat. ‘Is everything all right?’
Skye’s stomach tensed.
‘Yes, sorry. I’d tried yours and Skye’s mobiles and didn’t get an answer so called here. We’ve had a bit of a drama, but everything is fine now.’
She knew she should have remembered her phone, Skye thought guiltily.
‘Sorry, Brodie, we went for a walk and both inadvertently left our phones behind.’ Joe looked concerned. ‘Do you mean the baby has been born?’
Skye tensed and leant closer to the phone even though she could hear perfectly clearly without doing so.
‘She has, I’m relieved to say.’
She? ‘A little girl?’ Skye asked, delighted.
‘Yes. Sorry, didn’t I say? We found out during one of the scans but Lettie wanted to keep it a secret between the pair of us until she was born.’
Skye wasn’t surprised, having heard a little from Joe about how despite being a lovely lady, Lettie’s mother Lindy liked to take charge.
‘That’s understandable,’ Joe said, giving Skye a knowing smile. ‘And Lettie? How’s she doing? How are you coping with everything?’
‘Lettie is fine, thanks. Tired, of course. She had a shock when she went into labour and everything happened quickly after that, especially as we knew she would need to get to the hospital quickly in case anything went wrong.’
Skye was relieved to hear things had ended up being fine.
‘She looks more beautiful than I’ve ever seen her and insists she’s perfectly OK now the baby is here. The baby is perfect.’ Brodie sighed. ‘I feel so lucky.’
‘That’s because you are, mate.’
Skye heard a tone to Joe’s voice and wondered if having a wife and family was something he looked forward to.
‘Skye’s here and sends her love to you all, as do I. Remember, if there’s anything at all that any of you need, all you have to do is ask.’
‘Thanks, Joe. Oh, hang on a sec, Lettie’s trying to tell me something.’ Skye waited while there were mumblings in the background. Joe pointed to the phone and rolled his eyes. ‘Joe, you still there?’
‘Yup. What is it?’
‘Lettie was hoping you’d find a way to get a message to her parents on the ship. They’re not expecting anything to happen for a few weeks yet and were going to be back two weeks before Lettie was due, so they’ll have a bit of a shock.’ Skye wasn’t surprised. ‘We’ve messaged Zac and Melody and my family, but her parents are somewhere in the mid-Caribbean or somewhere else by now. Gareth told her they only turn their phones on every so often as the cost of Wi-Fi is high on the ships, but to be sure to send a message. We’ve emailed of course.’
‘No problem at all,’ Joe said. ‘Leave everything to us. And don’t worry about Derek, he’s snoozing in the kitchen with Spud. They’re perfectly happy together.’
‘Thank you.’
Skye pointed to the phone and Joe nodded. ‘Enjoy your quiet time with just the three of you.’
‘We will,’ Brodie assured her. She could hear amusement in his voice.
‘Right,’ Joe said. ‘We’ll let you get back to your new family.’
‘Ooh, wait!’ Skye took the phone from Joe. ‘Brodie, you didn’t tell us the baby’s name.’ She suspected Lindy and Gareth would ask and wanted to be able to pass on that much information.
‘Sorry, I should have said. It’s Isla.’
‘Isla? That’s a beautiful name,’ she said, smiling up at Joe.
‘Thank you. It was Lettie’s choice, but I love it too.’
She handed the phone back to Joe.
‘I’ll update you with anything I think you need to know. Otherwise, just leave everything with us; we’ve got it all in hand.’
Brodie thanked them and Joe ended the call. He looked at Skye. ‘That was unexpected, wasn’t it?’
‘It was.’
They stared at each other thoughtfully and she wondered whether Joe was thinking the same thing as her. Then unable to help herself, voiced her concerns aloud. ‘I wonder if this means our time here will end sooner than we had expected.’
Joe frowned. ‘I’ve no idea, but I hope it won’t.’
‘I’ve been working out the time difference,’ she said. ‘And I think we should try to make contact with the ship as soon as possible before it docks somewhere, and they go out seeing the sights for the day.’
‘That’s a good idea.’