Chapter 18
When I returned to the farmhouse, Mam was in the lounge watching TV and Nova and Skye were curled up together on the rug in front of the log burner. I could imagine that being their favourite place in the winter when the logs were lit. It was a big room but it somehow managed to feel cosy.
‘Any sign of Maddie?’ I asked.
‘I poked my head round her door earlier and she was in bed watching telly. I told her I was going to watch a film down here if she fancied joining me – even said she could choose the film – but she declined.’
‘Thanks for trying. I’m going to heat up my curry.’
While the microwave did its thing, I checked my emails. Willow had sent me a few so I opened the first.
To: Grace Coates
From: Willow Pickersgill
Date: 18 June
Subject: The info you need
Hi Grace, hope you’re feeling better now. Thanks for helping me poo-pick this morning. I’m so relieved that you know lots about horses and I loved hearing all about animal-assisted therapy. I’ve been online today reading more about it and am seriously impressed. I hope I can learn more from you.
You said Anna hadn’t given you the deets she promised so I’ve done you a spreadsheet. Shout if you need more info.
I opened the spreadsheet and released a whoop of joy. It was amazing. Willow had created a tab for each animal giving their name, breed, age, colour, what she knew about their medical histories and some additional information about their temperament and likes.
The second email included photos of each horse which had been annotated with their names and arrows directed at distinguishing markings. She’d done the same for the pygmy goats on the third email.
The microwave had pinged but I left my meal where it was while I tapped in a reply.
To: Willow Pickersgill
From: Grace Coates
Date: 18 June
RE: The info you need
Hi Willow, it was so lovely to meet you this morning and apologies again for fainting on you. Not the positive first impression I planned to make! The spreadsheet and photos you sent are fantastic. I can’t tell you how grateful I am.
You were eager to stay on at the farm and, having met you and seen your work ethic, Mam and I would be daft to let you go.
We aren’t comfortable with you volunteering so I’d like to talk to you in the morning about your hours and responsibilities and then we’ll pull together a formal contract of employment.
Your pay will be backdated starting from this morning.
Welcome to the new team! See you tomorrow.
I returned to the lounge with my food and a drink and passed Mam my phone so she could read through the information from Willow while I ate.
‘Willow’s just replied,’ Mam said. ‘She says OMG followed by about a dozen exclamation marks. Dream come true. Thank you so very, very, very much. You’ve made my year. Oh, bless her. She sounds sweet.’
‘She is. You’ll like her.’
‘Did the walk help?’ Mam asked after I’d finished eating.
‘Being outside always helps. Although I saw Caleb out running again and he didn’t even say hello – just nodded as he passed. Is it me or is that rude?’
She shrugged. ‘I don’t think runners usually stop for a chat. Don’t their muscles seize up if they do that?’
‘Fair point but it’s the third time I’ve encountered him and he’s been funny with me each time. He was running last night but he wasn’t the previous two times. Couldn’t get away from me quickly enough.’
‘I haven’t met him yet but I’d suggest it’s too early to draw any conclusions from a few brief encounters. He could be facing some personal issues, he could be worried that we’re planning to evict him at some point, or any number of other things.’
I pondered on that for a moment. ‘He was good to me when I fainted and, to be fair to him, he did say he had a job to get to. Checking on me could have made him late for work.’
‘There you go, then! I think you’re seeing something that isn’t there and it’s not like you to think negatively of someone so soon. Is it possible you’re projecting your challenges with Maddie onto Caleb?’
I nodded, appreciating her speaking candidly.
This wasn’t me and I didn’t like it. I hadn’t felt like myself since Laurie told me it was over.
Mam had raised several plausible explanations for why Caleb had been cool towards me and another could simply be that he was wary around strangers and needed time to get to know us all.
Although there was the snarky good luck with that comment, which didn’t sit comfortably with me.
It had felt very judgemental. But I wasn’t going to let it bring me down and I’d continue to make an effort with him.
I put my plate aside and Clemmie appeared moments later, launching herself onto my lap. As I stroked her soft fur, I tuned into her gentle purring. The animals seemed to have taken really well to their new environment and Mam clearly loved it here so there was only Maddie to get settled.