She didn’t confess to her worries about whether she could really make the farm a going concern, even if she did inherit it.
‘Oh my goodness, how you’ve all grown,’ said Fran as she went into the room where the puppies were kept. ‘Moving around and everything. And look! You’ve got a mum now!’
‘Yes,’said June, obviously proud and delighted. ‘It was worrying for a while but we got her interested in them again, and now it’s as if nothing ever went wrong. Sit down on the sofa and I’ll give you one to hold.’
‘Which one is Betsy?’ asked Fran. ‘She was my favourite – not that I had a favourite really,’ she added guiltily.
‘Here she is,’ said June and put a furry bundle in Fran’s hands.
‘You’ve changed so much! Open eyes, walking properly,’ she said. ‘I can hardly believe it.’ She kissed the puppy. ‘You are so adorable. They all are, of course.’
‘We’re very pleased with them,’ said June. ‘There are a couple who are showing signs of being really useful little working collies.’
Fran was about to ask if Betsy was one of them, when June went on.
‘It’s as if their bad start had never happened. And they’re all spoken for now.’
‘Oh, how lovely,’ said Fran, hoping her disappointment wasn’t obvious.
She’d been half hoping to stake a claim on Betsy; they’d shared some dark midnight hours together, and although logically she knew the little puppy could have no memory of their time together, she did seem very happy sucking at Fran’s fingers and being stroked.
Antonysat down next to her and picked up another puppy. ‘They are adorable, aren’t they?’
Fran suddenly realised how very sexy seeing a strong man being tender with a tiny creature was. That little thing in large, capable hands. A pang of yearning hit her so hard she had to cough and clear her throat in case it was noticeable. ‘Heavenly,’ she said, but she wasn’t only referring to the puppies.
‘Would you like to stay and eat with us?’ June asked when the puppies all indicated they’d like to go back to sleep now, thank you. ‘I’ve got a shepherd’s pie in the oven and it’s huge. We haven’t seen Antony properly for ages,’ she went on. ‘He’s always gadding round the world being an international businessman.’
‘Empire-building, that’s me,’ said Antony, laughing. ‘It’s hard get the proper respect from people who’ve known me since I was a boy with my front teeth missing,’ he said to Fran.
Fran’s decision was made. ‘Shepherd’s pie sounds delicious.’ These were old and dear friends to Antony and it was a privilege to have supper with them, even though she had been hoping for some private time with him. ‘And I’m longing to hear about your new grandchild,’ she added.
It was a very jolly and informal meal, and June, who’d had a couple of glasses of wine by then, said, ‘What you two did for pups that weren’t even yourswasoff the scale of kindness. It meant we could be with our daughter when she needed us.’
And when Fran was helping clear up, June put her hand on Fran’s arm. ‘We’re so happy to think he might have found a decent girlfriend at last. I always say finding a man who’s rich and kind is like finding lovely shoes that are comfortable: it’s really rare. But it does mean he attracts a lot of the wrong sort, who just want to take advantage of him. You’re not like that.’
Feeling slightly guilty herself because June’s inhibitions were down, Fran couldn’t help herself probing. ‘So it wasn’t only his wife who was – not so nice.’
June shook her head. ‘There’ve been a couple of shockers. Real gold-diggers. But fair play to him, he brings them over here and if they don’t go down well with us, he backs off.’ She frowned. ‘Not always immediately, but eventually they get the heave-ho.’
‘Oh golly, I hope I pass the test!’
‘’Course you have. When you slept on a sofa so you could feed our pups through the night, you proved you were a star!’
‘Who’s a star?’ said Antony, coming in to the kitchen with another load of dirty plates.
‘Fran is,’ said June. ‘For helping with the puppies.’
Antony smiled down at Fran in a way that made her stomach flip with lust and her heart leap with love. ‘She absolutely is. And now I really must getherback. I’ve got a horrendously early start in the morning. I should have been in Lisbon yesterday for a meeting so I’ve got to be at the airport in the middle of the night.’
‘Antony!’ said Fran, aghast. ‘You missed an important meeting so you could take Amy round her farm? We could have picked another day!’
‘A meeting is only important when I’m there,’ he said with a wink. ‘And they arranged it at very short notice. I wasn’t going to cancel Amy.’
‘Quite right,’ said June.
Antony turned to her. ‘Thank you so much for supper, June. It was, as always, delicious.’ He gave June a big hug.
When the farewells and thanks were finally complete and they were back in the car, Fran realised that Antony was a very private person and he only really came out of his shell with people he knew well and loved. It made her feel very special.
