Chapter 18
Lettie waved at Brodie and a tug of disappointment pulled at her as she wished she had delayed her departure by a couple of minutes. What for? she thought, aware she was being silly. Anyway, what would it have achieved? Only her feeling awkward and him completely unaware that she liked him. Which, she reminded herself, was just as well. She noticed a tractor further ahead. It had pulled over and, not wishing to leave a fellow farmer in distress, she stopped and wound down her window, seeing someone leaning over the engine.
‘Is anything the matter?’
The man straightened up and turned to her, wiping his hands on what looked like an old piece of rag. ‘It’s all in hand,’ he said staring at her momentarily before adding his thanks.
Lettie had no idea who he might be but was a little taken aback to see this dark, shaggy-haired, handsome man who looked to be in his late twenties. He must farm somewhere nearby. Why didn’t she know him?
He walked over to her car and raised his hands. ‘I would offer to shake your hand but I doubt you’ll be happy to touch these oily things.’ He cocked his head to one side. ‘That one is being more temperamental than usual.’
She looked past him to the tractor that she guessed must be at least twenty years old. ‘Can I give you a lift somewhere?’
‘No, but thanks for the offer. I’m Joe, by the way.’
‘I’m Lettie.’
‘You from around here then?’
‘Yes, I run Hollyhock Farm.’
He frowned. ‘I thought that was Gareth Torel’s place.’
‘It was.’ She corrected herself. ‘It is. He’s my father. I’ve taken over the place while he goes away for a few months with my mum.’
‘I see. I haven’t seen you around here before. Have you been away?’
She wasn’t used to sharing so much information with a stranger, but Jersey was a small place and there were fewer farmers than there used to be when she was growing up, so decided there was no harm in being friendly.
‘That’s right. So where do you work then? Are you new here?’
‘I was born here but my parents moved to France when I was fourteen. My uncle needed someone to help him out for a while when I returned and was looking for something different to do for a bit. He offered me a job.’
‘Which farm would that be for?’ she wondered.
His mouth drew back into a smile. ‘Tell you what, why don’t you agree to join me tonight for a few drinks and I can tell you all about it. We should be friends if we’re both in the same line of work, don’t you think?’
She wasn’t sure.
He must have sensed her hesitation. ‘We can go anywhere you choose but I’ve discovered that the local pub in the village has a good atmosphere and the lager is pretty tasty. Shall we meet there at seven?’
Lettie was surprised someone in farming would suggest meeting that early. There was no way she would be finished by that time. ‘Um,’ Lettie said, taken aback. ‘I could make it for nine, maybe.’ It wasn’t as if she had anything else to do that evening, even if she was drained from the physical work she did each day. Recalling her parents were flying to Heathrow the following morning and then to Barcelona for the first leg of their cruise, she reconsidered. ‘I’ll probably only have time for one drink though. I need to start work earlier than usual in the morning so I can be ready to drive my parents to the airport as soon as I’ve finished with the goats and chickens.’
‘No problem at all.’ He raised an eyebrow. ‘Would you like me to pick you up or would you rather I meet you there?’
He really did seem rather nice, Lettie thought, amused. ‘I’ll meet you there, just in case I’m a little late. Now, if you’re sure you don’t need me to help you with anything, I’d better be off.’
‘You know a lot about tractor engines then?’
She was tempted to fib, but didn’t put it past him to ask her to fix something just to test her skills. ‘No, nothing.’
Joe laughed. ‘I like your style, Lettie Torel, and look forward to finding out more about you later.’
She gave him a wave and drove off. She was looking forward to getting to know him too, she decided.