‘I will, thank you, Antony!’ said Fran to herself. ‘But how can I ever pay you back for all this? Cooking a few – even a lot of – game birds won’t really do it.’
But it was all she could do at the moment. She was determined, however, that something would occur to her. She couldn’t be in his debt, and while she couldn’t repay him in actual money, there would be more things he needed than having his chest freezer emptied out.
When she had got her new toys into the house and had unpacked the bits and pieces she’d picked up after seeing Amy, she poured the morning’s milk into wide bowls so the cream could rise for the following day. What she couldn’t fit into the bowlssheleft in the churns. She’d learnt to be adaptable when it came to her cheesemaking but some better equipment would make her life easier. The food processor was a start.
Three days later, she picked up Issi from the station. The amount of jumping up and down they did as they greeted each other caused a bit of amusement among the less-excited travellers but they were both so happy.
‘I felt so jealous of you, having this whole new life to get into,’ said Issi, not for the first time.
‘And I’m so thrilled you’re going to be here to share it with me. It’ll be so much more fun with two of us.’
‘So, what’s our first project?’ asked Issi as they walked to where the car was parked, dragging her suitcases.
‘Getting home? But when we’ve had lunch and you’ve moved in, I’d love to see if we can get rid of the old fireplace.’
‘Oh, me too! Maybe we could ask Tig if he could help? Find some mates who could supply some muscle?’
‘Good idea. If we can avoid hiring a builder and just pay friends, it could save a lot.’ Fran paused. ‘God, this case is heavy!’ she went on, trying to heave it into the back of the car. ‘What have you got in here? Kettle bells?’
‘Itis mostly text books and kitchen equipment I thought you might need,’ said Issi.
‘Oh, brilliant! If I have a properly equipped kitchen I feel I can do anything. Although a properly equipped dairy is probably more what I need really.’
‘Have you got any sort of dairy?’
‘Yes, but it hasn’t been used as one for ages and is full of junk and probably won’t be considered hygienic by Food Standards.’ She paused. ‘But there’s another building I think would be easier to convert.’
‘We need to get on to that then,’ said Issi, possibly sensing the dip in Fran’s mood.
‘Antony said he’d do it for me. But I don’t think I can accept, not really.’
‘Tell me about this Antony?’
Fran did up her seat belt. ‘You know almost as much about him as I do. He’s Amy’s sworn enemy and, so far, my best friend.’
‘Just a friend?’
Fran allowed herself a sigh. ‘Well, if things were different, if he wasn’t Amy’s sworn enemy, if I wasn’t so busy trying to keep things together here—’
‘So what do you have to do, Fran? Tig does the cows …’
‘I’m trying to get the books in order, sort the house out a bit and I’ve even had to fix bits of farm building. Things are falling apart rather. I quite often have to check on things for Amy, or find things forher.It’s hard to pin down what I do, but it takes up a lot of time.’
‘Jill of all work, then?’
Fran nodded. ‘I don’t know where the time goes except I don’t even seem to have time to cut my toenails let alone wax my legs.’
‘So that means Antony is out of the question? Because you’ve got hairy legs?’
Fran laughed. It did sound pretty trivial. ‘It’s not that really. If we didn’t lead very different lives, I might be interested in him. I mean, he is quite attractive, but honestly, Issi, he’s way out of my league and, after Alex, I am rather off men.’
‘You were unlucky last time. Alex was attractive but a bit wet.’ Issi had made it clear, after it had all ended, exactly what she’d thought of Fran’s previous boyfriend. ‘And as for being out of Antony’s league, you are a very lovely woman, you know.’
‘Thanks for the vote of confidence, honey, but really, you should see his house! Horrible but very expensive. And it’s a well-known fact that couples are usually of similar status, financially and looks-wise,’ she went on briskly, not giving Issi time to comment. ‘Now let me tell you what Amy said about you coming.’
‘Well, go on then!’
‘She said, “Oh, you can’t cope on your own then? That’s disappointing.”’ Fran sighed. ‘I think I’m destined to always disappoint Amy. I just can’t dowhatshe did for so many years: run the farm on my own.’
