Page 20 of The Farmer Has a Wife

“Honestly, who leaves their dirty dishes next to the sink rather than in it?” Eleanor demanded, arms crossed.

Danni yawned. “Um, me?” she hazarded. The piece of bread she’d scoffed down that morning seemed so long ago that she barely remembered it. Which reminded her. “What happened to the butter?”

“I threw it away,” Eleanor said. “The cat had taken a bite out of it.”

“Not all of it,” Danni said. “You just have to be careful to take a bit from the opposite end.”

Eleanor huffed and turned to the kettle. As Danni watched, she performed what looked like a very complicated routine involving a loose-leaf tea, a strainer, an egg timer, and what appeared to be some sort of sacrificial offering to the gods of tea perfection.

After three minutes of this, Danni shook her head and grabbed her own tea mug, still dirty from that morning, from the draining board. She threw in a tea bag, ran the kitchen tap until it was hot, then stuck the mug under it.

She turned around to see Eleanor staring at her in horror.

“That is not how you make tea!”

Danni grinned, took a slow, deliberate sip, then shrugged. “Tastes alright to me,” she said.

Eleanor looked personally offended, and Danni had to bite back her laugh. The tea was disgusting, but it was worth it, justto see the look on Eleanor’s face.

IT WAS LATE evening by the time Danni was done with farm chores and Eleanor was back from the house. Danni frowned as she flicked through the mail that Hector had dropped off. She really should re-direct everything. Then she saw the familiar envelope and stiffened.

“You got one too,” Eleanor said, looking up from her phone.

“Yeah,” said Danni, tearing the envelope open. “And look at that. The offer’s gone up again.”

“Mine too,” Eleanor said. “They must be getting desperate.”

“Not tempted?” Danni said, eyeing her.

“Are you?” asked Eleanor, raising an eyebrow.

Danni scoffed. “Not a chance.”

For a moment, they simply sat there, then, without a word, Danni crumpled the letter up and threw it into the fireplace.

“That would be far more impressive if you had a fire going,” Eleanor pointed out.

“Yeah, well, it’s the thought that counts, isn’t it?”

Eleanor’s lips twitched. “I threw mine into the compost bin with the worms,” she said.

“Lucky worms,” said Danni. “But I’m quite sure that’s not how compost works.”

“It’s the thought that counts, isn’t it?” Eleanor parroted.

Danni grinned and then Eleanor was grinning back, and for a brief second they weren’t so different after all.

“Mind you, at least I know how to load a dishwasher,” Eleanor said, ending their little moment. “You can’t just shove everything in willy-nilly.”

“Did one of the servants teach you how?” asked Danni, an innocent look on her face.

“I’m not quite as spoiled as you might think. I did go to boarding school, you know?” Eleanor said indignantly.

“Oh, did you? Boarding school. That must have been horrific. Were you expected to wash your own knickers?” Danni asked.

Eleanor glared at her. “I can adapt.”

Danni snorted. “Of course you can, Princess.”

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