Page 30 of Daydreams at the Farm on Muddypuddle Lane
You’ll never bore me. Adam hesitated, wondering whether he should send it. Would she think it a bit OTT? Then again, he had to say something… He decided to send it, and had just heard the ping of an outgoing message when his mother stepped into the hall.
‘There you are! We wondered where you were.’ She saw the phone in his hand and her mouth tightened. ‘Do you have to play with that constantly?’
‘This is the first time this evening.’
‘I’m sure your friends could have done without hearing from you until tomorrow.’
‘I wasn’t on the phone to my friends.’
Her eyes narrowed. ‘Please don’t tell me it was to do with your so-called job.’
Adam kept his temper with difficulty. ‘It’s not aso-calledjob. It’s a real job. One that pays my bills.’
‘One that impinges on your private life,’ she snapped.
He almost retorted that at leasthehadn’t been discussing business all evening, but he held his tongue. ‘It was nothing to do with work.’
‘What was it, then? Are we so boring that you simply had to check your social media page?’ She paused and her cross expression lifted. ‘Or were you searching for somewhere to take Verity? There’s this lovely little restaurant in—’
‘I was on the phone to my girlfriend,’ he interrupted, aware he was putting the cat amongst the pigeons by mentioning a girlfriend right now, but since Mum clearly wasn’t getting the message that he wasn’t interested in Verity...
‘You have a girlfriend? You never said. Who is she? Do I know her?’
‘No, you don’t.’
‘What’s her—?’
The click-clack of high heels stopped his mum in her tracks as Linda approached.
Her gaze raked Adam, then zeroed in on his mum. ‘Is everything alright, Sue?’ she asked. ‘You were gone such a long time that Martin sent me to find you.’
‘Everything’s fine,’ his mum said, taking Linda by the elbow and guiding her back to the dining room.
Adam trailed grudgingly behind, his reluctance increasing when his mother shot him a look, warning him that the conversation was far from over. He wasn’t looking forward to being grilled by her, but at least she could start to get used to the idea of him having a girlfriend.
And she might even back off and stop shoving Verity in his face!
CHAPTER SEVEN
‘How are the plans for the Easter Fayre coming along?’ Adam asked.
Maisie beamed at him and snuggled closer. This was date number eight (or was it nine? – she was starting to lose count) and they were spending it on the hillside overlooking the farm.
Adam had suggested going for a nice long walk, and they were currently sitting side-by-side on a rock, gazing out over the valley below and contemplating whether to have a fish and chip supper later. For some reason (nothing to do with fish and chips as far as Maisie could tell) thesubject had swung around to goats, which must have prompted Adam to ask about the forthcoming Easter event.
‘Walter and Amos – you remember Amos from the stables?’ Maisie asked, and Adam nodded. ‘They’ve been making bunny runs and hutches, and a pen for the chicks. And Petra is lending us Gerald the donkey, and two Shetland ponies for the weekend. Nikki and Sammy have designed posters and I’ll be putting them up around the village tomorrow. And—’ She paused for breath. ‘Dulcie will be wearing a Peter Rabbit costume.’
‘That I’ve got to see.’
‘I hope you will. I’ll be disappointed if you don’t come.’
‘Of course I’ll come, and I’m happy to help, if you need me.’
‘That would be wonderful,’ she said cheerfully. ‘We’ve got face-painting planned, an Easter egg hunt, egg decorating, and Otto and Amos will be manning the BBQ. Dulcie is even planning to offer goat milk ice cream. It should be a fun day – fingers crossed.’
‘You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?’
‘I am.’ Maisie’s mood deflated a little as she thought how quickly Easter would arrive. It would soon be here, then the fayre would be over and her help would no longer be needed on the farm.
