Page 17 of A Forever Home at Honey Bee Croft

‘But think how well you did in that interview after some coaching. If Levi took you under his wing…’

He couldn’t even finish the sentence for both of us laughing. It was good that we could make a joke out of it but if push came to shove and I did find myself out of work, I might have to look into a career which was way out of my comfort zone just to bring in some money and provide for my daughter. I already felt like she missed out on so much because my shifts kept us apart, and I wasn’t prepared for her to miss out financially too.

‘In other shock news this week, Tilly’s pregnant with twin boys.’

Barney’s mouth dropped open once more. ‘No way!’

‘Found that out by accident this morning. I got over Tilly years ago so it shouldn’t bother me but, weirdly, it has. What’s that all about?’

‘At a guess, it’s probably because it’s not you you’re thinking about – it’s Imogen. She’s already got a half-brother, half-sister and stepbrother and now she’s going to have another two half-brothers. That’s a lot of siblings, four of them younger than her, so there’s potential for her to feel left out.’

That made so much sense. ‘She was clingy with me earlier and she’sneverclingy. I wonder if it’s cos of the twins.’

Barney nodded. ‘Could be. She’d probably benefit from lots of one-to-one attention from you right now but I’m guessing Tilly won’t allow that. Unless…’ He narrowed his eyes at me, looking thoughtful. ‘Is she as knackered this time as she has been before?’

‘Even more.’

‘Could be your chance to ease that for her.’

He was smiling at me and, for the first time, I could see a positive in the situation. Greg worked full time and often brought work home with him so most of the childcare responsibilities fell on Tilly. The further into her pregnancy she got, the more exhausted she’d be and the harder it would be to run around after everyone. Tilly was awkward but she wasn’t stupid and I could try to capitalise on her fatigue.

‘And what about when the twins come along?’ Barney added. ‘Four kids aged four and under to deal with? She’s gonna need help.’

Why hadn’t I thought about that? Tilly’s mum was local but they didn’t get on, so Tilly wasn’t going to want her help. Greg’s parents lived in Norfolk so they weren’t on hand and Tilly’s friends all had young children of their own so she didn’t have a support network. But she had me. Assuming I still had a job, I could book some leave and have Imogen stay with me for a week or two while Tilly settled into a routine with the twins. That would be amazing.

Feeling brighter, I managed to make light of Chez moving back home and what I’d found him and Lorna getting up to in Imogen’s bedroom. Barney agreed with me that Chez had been bang out of order and thought I’d been very restrained in how I’d handled it, which made me feel a bit better about it. Chez had still been in bed when I left the house this morning and I knew he’d be on his best behaviour when I got home later with Imogen. He liked playing the part of the cool uncle and one ofthe things I admired most about him was how hard he pushed himself to act like nothing was wrong around Imogen when he was in the throes of depression. That had to be exhausting. I’d told him we could explain it to Imogen but he thought she was still too young to understand and we’d best give it a couple more years. I appreciated his thoughtfulness but I sometimes worried that it was less about Imogen being too young to understand and more about Chez being ashamed of having depression. It was a mental illness and absolutely nothing to be ashamed about, but some of the comments he made each time he split up with Lorna, taking all the blame for the break-up on himself, saying he wasno goodas boyfriend material did make me wonder. I’d tried to talk to him about it, but he’d walk off muttering that I wasn’t his therapist, so I’d had to let it go and hope that he was being honest in his therapy sessions.

After we’d finished our drinks, Barney and I went back out onto the farm, returning to the farmhouse when Amber rang to say she was back with Imogen.

‘How did your dress look?’ I asked Imogen when we joined them in the kitchen where Amber was cutting up an apple into slices.

‘It’s really pretty.’

‘And the routine?’ I asked.

They exchanged looks and laughed.

‘Bit rough around the edges and, of course, Sophie and Tabs weren’t there,’ Amber said, ‘but we’ve still got a week to go. If it goes wrong on the day, it’ll be part of the charm.’

‘Amber says I can ride Munchie,’ Imogen said.

Munchie was one of the farm’s ponies and Imogen’s favourite. Barney gave her a riding lesson most times she visited the farm. She’d been confident in the saddle from the very start and I wished I could sign her up for regular lessons at a riding school but Tilly had dismissed that idea immediately, beingunwilling to take her and pick her up when I was on shifts – another reason for me wanting to keep more regular hours. I hated that my daughter needed to miss out on something she loved because of my job but, if I lost it, I’d have the time but not the money for lessons. Catch-22 situation!

‘Only if it’s okay with your dad,’ Amber added. ‘He might have other plans.’

‘Can I, Daddy? Please?’

‘It’s fine by me.’

We gathered round the table with hot drinks while Imogen tucked into her apple.

‘Are you excited about being our bridesmaid?’ Barney asked Imogen.

‘I am, but why aren’t I one at Fizz and Phoebe’s wedding? All the other bridesmaids at your wedding are and they’ve left me out. Don’t they like me?’

I hadn’t realised that was the case, but I wouldn’t have expected them to include Imogen in the bridal party when she wasn’t related to either of them.

‘Of course they like you, sweetie!’ I said. ‘Theyloveyou.’

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