Chapter Two #2
‘So what brings you here?’ Pippa glanced at Raf as she cleared plates while Gil topped up glasses. Cassie refused more wine. She’d had quite enough, and the hit had passed now. ‘We thought you weren’t coming up for another couple of weeks.’
A simple enough question, but one she knew was loaded.
Pippa was trying to find out who Allegra really was and if she was potentially welcoming someone significant to their inner circle.
Raf brought so few girlfriends home, and Cassie didn’t need Pippa to tell her how meaningful this apparently casual drop-in really was.
‘Something came up, I’ll explain later,’ he replied smoothly. He leant back, implying a relaxation Cassie couldn’t hope to achieve sitting opposite him.
‘We’ve been to see a house.’ Allegra charmingly thanked Gil for refilling her glass with water, seemingly unaware of the bomb she had just lobbed right into lunch.
‘A house?’ The stack of plates in Pippa’s hands rattled. ‘Seriously?’
We. Allegra had said we. Cassie’s pulse was pounding, her mind caught on that single word.
All these months she had been working, mothering, checking in with her friends and family, getting on with life and trying to forget what had happened in Australia, and Raf had been, what?
Developing a relationship so meaningful that he and Allegra had already been to see a house together, and not a single person in his family appeared to know.
‘An actual house?’ Pippa couldn’t seem to make sense of Allegra’s explanation either. She sat down so hurriedly that Maud, underneath the table, shot out of the way with a yelp. ‘But where? In Hartfell? For you? Or…?’
‘Just outside the village.’ Raf ran a hand across his jaw. ‘Look, before you all get carried away, nothing’s decided, yeah? I haven’t made up my mind yet.’
Cassie sensed him looking at her, and she was not about to give him her eyes.
She couldn’t bear for him to read everything she was feeling in this moment.
So this was the result of her self-imposed exile from his company.
She’d refused to connect, believing that she could only properly protect herself by avoiding him.
So why wouldn’t he exclude her, when it was the very thing she supposedly sought?
She had no right to be hurt by his bringing someone else home six months after their stupid mistake.
‘Oh, but there isn’t much time to decide, Raf.’ Allegra turned wide indigo eyes on him, a hand briefly on his arm. ‘If you want to make an offer, you simply mustn’t hang around. Loads of people will be after it once it goes online.’
‘Is it the house I told you about, Raf?’ Gil had returned from the house with pudding, and he paused dividing cheesecake into generous slices. ‘The client whose wife passed away, and he wanted to move to be near his children?’
‘Gil!’ Pippa’s new expression was one of nonplussed amazement. ‘You knew about this?’
‘There wasn’t much to know.’ He shrugged. ‘Raf’s been spending more time here and we all knew he was thinking he might like a base eventually. It just came up when we were out cycling one day and happened to pass the house.’
Raf wanting a base in Hartfell was certainly news to Cassie. It was at least a comfort to realise that Pippa hadn’t known he had viewed a house either, and kept it from her.
‘Allegra’s the land agent who’s handling the sale,’ Raf said. ‘I got in touch after Gil mentioned it, and we went back for a second viewing this morning.’
‘Well, I think it’s wonderful, and I’m so pleased Raf brought you to lunch, Allegra.’ Pippa beamed at her. ‘You must tell us everything about the house. I’d love to see it sometime.’
‘Oh, it’s absolutely stunning! Such a perfect family home, and it’s so obvious they adored it.’ Allegra leant past Raf to speak to Pippa. ‘It’s definitely in need of an upgrade, and if it were up to me…’
Cassie barely heard another word as Allegra continued to enthuse, touching Raf’s arm occasionally, and once resting her hand on his.
She turned back to Jago, happy to hear more about his work and inspiration.
She liked that he was interested in her career too and she made a mental note to check the date of his launch in July.
He was chatty and fun, and she could imagine worse first-date candidates, if she ever took the plunge.
‘Muuuuum…’
Harriet and Isla were tearing across the lawn with Alfie, Harriet’s boyfriend, behind them.
A young farmer who lived locally, Alfie was often at Home Farm, helping Harriet with the ponies.
Maud and Lola had already caught the new excitement, and Maud tumbled over as she raced towards them.
Harriet stuttered to a halt and helped her up, catching Isla up on the terrace and thrusting her phone at Pippa.
‘It’s actually happening, Flo’s about to give birth!
Look!’ Harriet rushed on to explain the pony had been showing signs of ‘bagging up’, when her udders began to fill with milk.
Since feeding and mucking out earlier, they’d left her alone to give birth in peace, and from the camera Gil had set up in her stable, they could see Flo was restless and pacing.
‘Oh, wow. That’s so exciting!’ Pippa and Cassie clustered around Harriet to stare at the images. The pony was pawing impatiently at the ground, a thick bed of shavings piled up to her hocks around the walls.
‘Gil said her udder is waxed up, when colostrum starts to leak from her teats.’ Harriet easily absorbed information, especially where animal science was concerned.
‘She’s been staring at her tummy and getting up and down, which is stage one of labour.
Her waters have broken as well, which means the birth should happen soon, and she’s having contractions.
Oh look, she’s lying down again,’ she finished eagerly.
‘This could be it, Mum! Flo’s about to have her foal! ’
‘Doesn’t someone need to be with her in case she needs help?’ Pippa glanced worriedly at Gil, who shook his head.
‘No, Gil said she’ll be fine on her own.
Mares often give birth overnight, but it’s important to keep checking on them.
Oh wow,’ Harriet shrieked, waving the phone again, Isla squealing across her shoulder.
‘Look, a foot! It’s actually happening! The other foot comes next, and the foal’s chin should be resting on top of it, like it’s in a diving position. ’
‘That’s amazing, and you’ve learnt so much already, Harriet. Come back and tell us the minute you have more news, okay?’ Pippa watched as the girls, Rory and Alfie ran back towards the yard with Maud. ‘I’d love to go too, but we’d better not crowd Flo.’
Pippa offered coffee, but Jago couldn’t stay any longer, and he kissed both Pippa and Cassie goodbye, murmuring to Cassie that he hoped he’d see her again at the launch.
Raf took the opportunity to leave as well, making his and Allegra’s excuses.
If Allegra was disappointed at the abrupt exit, she covered it well, and Cassie finally felt as though she could breathe again.
Lola settled beside Cassie, and her hand drifted down to stroke the Labrador’s head, warm from the sun, and Lola’s tail thumped a lazy reply.
Spring days like these made winter seem like a distant memory.
The dogs often accompanied Gil on calls or spent time in the practice, and Pippa sometimes took Maud to the gallery, where she had her own cosy bed in the office.
Cassie loved her long Galloway walks with her parents-in-law’s two black Labradors, and she always missed the dogs’ cheery and uncomplicated company when she returned home.
Somehow their hectic lives in London had never quite seemed equal to having a dog of their own, even though she knew Isla and Rory would adore it too.
‘Any plans for this afternoon?’ Pippa glanced at Cassie. ‘It’s such a lovely day and I wondered if you fancied a wander to Dorothy’s to pick up some eggs. Harriet was going to do it, but I think she’ll want to stay with the ponies.’
‘I’d love to. It would be good not to miss my walk, and catching up with Dorothy is always fun.’
‘Did I tell you she’s gone and got herself a horse?’ Pippa shook her head and Gil chuckled as he stood up, excusing himself to head over to the stables and cast an eye over Flo.
‘You’re not serious? Isla will be thrilled! What’s it like?’
‘It’s a ride-and-drive cob, a very sweet one, apparently.
I know Dorothy’s got loads of experience, but she is nearly eighty-four.
I did ask what would happen if she came off and did a hip or something, but she wasn’t having any of it.
Gave me one of her looks and informed me she hasn’t fallen off for over sixty years and has no plans to start now.
Gil reminded her that she also hasn’t ridden for forty of those years, but she ignored that as well.
She got Erin to give the horse the once-over, and he was secretly hoping it wouldn’t be fit enough to ride, but apparently it’s in cracking form.
Dorothy also said that in the unlikely event of her falling off, Harriet could manage the farm with her eyes closed, so there was nothing for us to worry about. ’
‘Gil’s great aunt is certainly one of a kind.’ The two women shared an understanding smile. ‘So is Harriet still set on Cambridge and veterinary medicine?’
‘Totally. She and Alfie have been over to Erin and Oli’s cottage a few times, and now they’ve told her more about studying at Cambridge, she doesn’t want to go anywhere else.
I just hope she’s not crushed if she doesn’t get in.
But volunteering with Dorothy should help if she gets great results, and she goes out with Erin to see practice whenever she can. ’
‘I’m sure Harriet will be fine. She’s so like your dad, and that determination and work ethic will take her a long way.’
‘Thanks, Cassie. I know you’re right. But we never stop worrying about them, do we?’