‘What are you doing up there?’
At the sound of Maddie’s irritated tone, Brodie turned off the shower and quickly dried and dressed before hurrying back downstairs. The sooner he let his sister have her say about her plans for the cottage the sooner he could go to work and have some peace.
‘Well, it’s about time,’ Maddie said indicating for him to sit next to her on the sofa. ‘That’s your coffee. I’m not sure if it’s strong enough, but we don’t have time to quibble. Now, about the decorations.’
He tried to take in everything she was saying but only heard the odd word and something about sage paint, seagrass flooring somewhere and taking all the paintings in the cottage to the auction along with the bedroom and most of the living room furniture.
‘We can replace it all with something more befitting your lifestyle,’ he heard her say. ‘You don’t want people to think you don’t have pride in the way you live, now, do you?’
Tired of his sister’s bossiness, Brodie took a sip of his coffee. ‘I don’t really mind what they think about this place, as long as they trust my veterinary skills.’
Maddie gave an irritated groan. ‘You’re impossible, do you know that?’
‘I should do,’ he said becoming amused by her bossiness. ‘You’ve told me often enough.’
‘Shall we just agree that I know best where decor is concerned and that you leave all this to me?’
Desperate to end their conversation and go to the practice, he agreed. He showed her to the door, calling for Derek to join him, relieved Maddie seemed satisfied and was about to go. Thenrecalling how free she could be when it came to spending money ran over to her car.
‘I’ll agree to let you have a free hand with the decorations, but I have a budget and if you go over that amount then you can cover it. Right?’ It was the only way to ensure Maddie didn’t get carried away buying things.
She scowled at him when he told her the pitiful amount that he had to spend on the place. ‘I’ve no idea how you expect me to do much more than paint walls for that figure.’
‘That suits me fine then because that’s really all I want. Are we agreed?’
She rolled her eyes and sighed heavily. ‘I suppose I have no choice in the matter.’
‘Not unless you want to pay for it yourself.’
‘Er, I’m doing the consultancy work for nothing don’t forget.’
He patted her arm. ‘I know and I’m grateful to you. And,’ he added, ‘I promise I’ll give you a glowing review when it’s all done.’
‘And tell your patients how brilliant I am.’
‘Yes.’
38
LETTIE
After seeing to the animals, Lettie decided to go back to bed for an hour. She had no chance of lasting the day without a little more sleep so set the alarm on her phone and closed her eyes. She was woken by her phone ringing. She reached out and picked it up from her bedside table, squinting at the brightness of the screen. She had only been asleep for twenty minutes.
‘Uncle Leonard? Is everything all right?’
‘I’m calling you to ask the same thing.’
She heard the panic in his voice and realised he must have heard about the fire the night before. ‘Everything is fine,’ she said then explained what had happened and how quickly the fire service had arrived to put out the flames. ‘No casualties, thanks to Brodie the vet’s quick thinking.’
He sighed heavily. ‘That’s a relief. I never would have forgiven myself if anything had happened to you or any of the animals.’
She wasn’t sure why he felt responsible for them but assumed it was because he was her uncle and that he had her best interests at heart. ‘I understand you’re only trying to protect me, Uncle Leonard. I also know that it must be very odd for you, well, myparents too that I’ve wanted to become involved with the farm when I’ve never shown any inclination to do so before now.’
‘I understand that your father’s decision to change his lifestyle must have been a massive shock to you and Zac, and I wanted you to know that you must feel free to call me if you need me for anything. Will you do that?’
Touched by his concern, Lettie promised that she would.
‘I’m sure you’ve already discovered that farming is very different to the life you’ve been living in London.’
