Page 52 of The Holiday Cottage

She spent most of her life at work, and the people she was closest to were her work colleagues. She was fond of them, but she couldn’t imagine inviting Anya or Janie to stay here with her. For a start, they didn’t really know anything about her. And anyway, they both had family and plans for Christmas.

“There isn’t anyone. But I’ll be fine.”

Dorothy cradled her mug. “I don’t like to think of you all on your own.”

All on your own.Why did people say that? Why not juston your own? Did the sentence really need the extra emphasis?

“There’s no need to worry about me. I like my own company. It will be good to just relax.”

Dorothy put her mug down. “Come for lunch tomorrow,” she said quickly, “up at the house.”

“Lunch?”

“Yes. I insist. It will be wonderful.”

Imogen had the sense it was a totally impulsive invitation, driven by the fact she’d said she would be alone. What Dorothy didn’t realize was that she was almost always alone. She was used to it. And she liked being alone most of the time. It was only at Christmas that she found it difficult.

“Honestly, I’ll be—”

“It will be fun. I can introduce you to the animals. Have you ever met an alpaca?”

“You have an alpaca?”

“Five of them. Also two goats, a couple of sheep and a Shetland pony much beloved by my granddaughters. Sara says that soon I’ll be able to open a petting zoo.”

Imogen was intrigued. “It will be good to finally meet Sara. I’ve heard so much about her. It’s a shame she couldn’t make the event last year.”

“Mmm. She had...complications.”

“That’s right. I remember you telling me.” Still, it seemed odd that she’d never met Sara. But it was a small family business, so maybe not. She knew Dorothy didn’t believe in wasting people’s time unnecessarily. “So you care for all the animals yourself?”

“Mostly. I occasionally enlist the help of family, and my vet, Miles, is very good. Do you like animals?”

“I don’t really have any experience with them.” Apart from fake ones, and presumably that didn’t count. “I’m a city girl.”

“Why don’t you come a bit early tomorrow and I can show you around before lunch? It’s easy to find. Carry on up the driveway and the house is directly in front of you. It will take you about ten minutes to walk, or you could drive it if you prefer.” Dorothy finished her tea. “I think you’ll love the alpacas. Everyone does. They are such characters, particularly Benson.”

“You name them?”

“Technically, my granddaughters named them, but yes, they all have names.”

Lunch at Dorothy’s and a meet with a herd of cute alpacas.

It was too tempting to refuse.

“I’ll be there.”

13

Dorothy

“Imogen is joining us for lunch?” Sara dumped the bags on the kitchen table and sent her mother a look of despair. Snow clung to her coat and her hair and a large overnight bag bulged on her shoulder. “No! Why? What were you thinking?”

“I wasn’t really thinking. It was all very spontaneous.” And now Dorothy felt terribly guilty. “When I visited yesterday, she looked so alone. I asked her if there was someone she’d like to invite to join her in the cottage, but she said there was no one. No one! Can you imagine having no one to invite? I couldn’t leave her like that, Sara. I couldn’t do it. If you’d seen her, you would have invited her to lunch too.”

“I would not.” Exasperated, Sara dropped the overnight bag in the corner of the kitchen. “Maybe it makes me a terrible person, but I would have had no problemnotissuing an invitation for lunch. You’ve already been more than generous offering her the cottage.”

And Dorothy knew Sara was upset about that too. “I couldn’t bear to think of her spending a month alone in London,” she said unhappily. “If you’d seen her—”

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