“But she’s a wanderer with no interest in settling down.” Todd finished for him, scratching the animal’s head. It seemed to Pippa that she purred.
“She’s a madam,” Patrick said acidly. “And Todd indulges her too much.”
“She’s lovely,” Pippa concluded.
“I do like you,” Todd told Pippa with a grin. “Look, we’d best get Juniper back safe so we can get on with our work. So lovely to meet you all.”
And with a wave, the men walked off, bickering lovingly about the pig, whom Pippa swore looked over her shoulder with a smirk.
“I think that’s as good a time as any to leave you to it,” Grantham said. “Wolfie might be by later this week, he told me to say.”
“Okay.” For want of anything else, Pippa asked, “Will he be coming from far away? I know he has to travel a lot with work.”
“I think he’s working over in Harrogate today,” Grantham said, tapping his chin in thought. “Some big client. Then off to Poland for a couple of days.”
“Well, that sounds suitably mysterious,” Frankie remarked. “He must be the most elusive part-time resident of this town.”
“He’s very good at what he does,” Grantham said, and Pippa detected a note of pride in his voice. “It’s not surprising, given his army experience and everything.”
Frankie grimaced. “He was in the army?”
“Yes. He signed up straight out of school; saw some serious action. It was a scary time and his parents …” He thinned his lips. “Well, I’m just right glad he came home in one piece.”
Pippa flashed back to the maze, that summer when she encountered an eighteen-year-old Wolfie alone, listening to music. She remembered he’d said he’d be going far away. Perhaps that’s how he came by the scar on his chin. Somehow, she couldn’t reconcile the chaos of war with the restrained, serious man she’d met with recently. He was so buttoned-up, kind of rude at times too. What on earth had he endured during his service? His army experiences couldn’t be the only reason he acted the way he did. After all, he’d been pretty obnoxious towards her that time they’d met in the maze and that was before he’d enlisted.
Once in the kitchen, Grantham fished in his pocket and handed over a weighty ring of keys. “These are now yours,” he said solemnly. As Pippa took the keys from him, she noticed a certain reluctance on his part to let go. The old man’s eyes moistened, although he tried to hide it. Pippa understood. He was being forced by circumstance to relinquish something that had meant a great deal for much of his life. She knew exactly how that felt.
“I’ll take care of them,” she promised softly.
Grantham nodded gruffly. “Any emergencies, just call me, but otherwise…” He trailed off, lost.
“I’ll try not to bother you,” Pippa said. The binder of instructions he’d created was pretty comprehensive, after all. Grantham took his leave and then it was just Mae and Frankie.
“Promise you’ll call me if you change your mind.” Frankie’s lip wobbled.
“Hey, I’ll be fine.” Pippa hugged him. “Ooh, now I’m gone you have no excuse not to make a move on Theo.”
Frankie paled. “Oh God, you’re right.”
Mae pulled Pippa into a tight embrace. “I hate to think of you rattling around this place alone,” she said. “Call me anytime.”
“As much as I am looking forward to getting my sweatpants back, I will miss you.” Frankie sniffed. “Who am I going to watch old episodes of the Kardashians with?”
“For God’s sake, I’m not dying!” Pippa laughed. “We can still do everything we did before, I just won’t be taking up space on your couch or eating your biscuits all the time.”
Frankie rolled his eyes good-naturedly and dropped a kiss on her forehead. “Love you. See you soon.”
As Frankie and Mae got into the car and left, Pippa forced herself to wave them off with an optimistic smile. But as soon as Frankie’s car disappeared from sight, foreboding crept in. Pippa leaned against the heavy front door and looked down at the fat binder in her hands, then to the cold, empty space around her.
“What on earth have I done?” Her voice echoed around the hall with no reply.
Pippa Munro was utterly alone.
ChapterSeven
The morning was dark, with a sliver of new sun kissing the horizon. But that didn’t stop Todd and Pat’s sprightly cockerel from greeting the day with great enthusiasm.
“Jesus Christ.” Pippa buried her head under the pillows, but to no avail. The thick goose down was no match for the determined bird’s shrieks. After several minutes of praying to all the gods for the damn creature to be silent, Pippa finally looked at her phone and uttered more curses; 5am! Pippa hadn’t seen this time since she’d moved out of the farm, and she’d grown quite fond of a lie-in. Gingerly, she stuck a leg out of the covers and immediately retracted it; despite summer being around the corner, the house remained an icebox, and she could swear a draft had grazed her skin. It was probably unbearable to live here in winter. Diving under the cover with her phone, Pippa tried to block out the noise and the chill by browsing social media, but the reception was woeful and the Wi-Fi seemed determined to move at the slowest pace imaginable. Gnashing her teeth, Pippa stuck her arm out of the covers and waved the phone around to see if a small change in altitude helped. But the blue progress bar advanced at its own snail’s pace, and eventually she gave up.
