CHAPTER ONE
The bus pulled into the pretty village of Picklewick and drew to a halt. Maisie Fairfax clicked up the handle of her suitcase, tied the belt of her jacket more firmly around her waist, and got to her feet. Bumping her suitcase down the steps of the bus, she rolled it to the side of the pavement and reviewed her options.
She had two: walk the three kilometres from the village to the farm on Muddypuddle Lane, or phone her sister and beg a lift. Neither held much appeal. Getting a lift would be preferable topulling her suitcase all that way, but she wasn’t sure she could face Dulcie’s ire. Which was why Maisie hadn’t informed Dulcie that she was coming. If Dulcie had known beforehand, she probably wouldn’t have let Maisie come.
In some ways, Maisie wouldn’t have blamed her. Maisie knew she could be unreliable, but that was only because she hadn’t yet discovered what she wanted to do with her life. Dulcie didn’t understand her, that was all. Unfortunately, neither did their mother, which was why Maisie was turning up at Dulcie’s farm unannounced on this chilly afternoon at the beginning of March.
Dulcie wouldn’t be amused, but neither would she send her packing. At least, Maisiehopedshe wouldn’t.
No, Dulcie couldn’t – there wasn’t another bus back to Thornbury today (Maisie had checked) and even if Dulcie drove her to the train station herself, Maisie doubted whether they would get there in time for her to catch the train back to Birmingham.
She gazed around the high street. Many of the shops had already closed for the day, although a small convenience store was still open, and a fish and chip shop had several customers waiting in line. The thought of battered fish and hot, fluffy chips made her mouth water, but despite having only had a latte and a chocolate chip cookie since she’d left Birmingham this morning, Maisie knew she had to save her money until she managed to find another job.
Lights were on in The Wild Side she noticed, but she guessed that Otto, Dulcie’s other half, would be too busy getting the restaurant ready for its first customers of the evening to spare the time to ferry her up to the farm. Besides, Maisie knew that asking Otto to give her a lift would irritate Dulcie even more, and her sister would be irritated enough already.
There was always the option of phoning Nikki, who lived just off the main street, but Maisie’s eldest sister would be even more annoyed than Dulcie. Maisie did consider asking Nikki if she could stay with her, but Nikki’s cottage only had two bedrooms and both were occupied, so unless Maisie wanted to sleep on the floor, she had no choice other than to go to the farm.
Sod it, she would just have to call Dulcie and get the lecture over with. She would have to face her sister’s wrath at some point, so she may as well do it whilst being chauffeured to the farm, rather than when she got there. At least she would have saved herself the walk and spared her arms from being yanked out of their sockets if she had to drag her case up the steep hill.
With a resigned sigh, Maisie took her phone out of the back pocket of her jeans.
Her sister answered after a couple of rings.
‘Hi, Dulcie, it’s me.’
‘Maisie! Hi!’ Dulcie sounded surprised. ‘Is everything okay?’
‘Er, not really.’
‘What’s wrong? Is it Mum?’
‘Mum is fine.’ And Mum would probably continue to be fine until she realised her youngest child had done a runner rather than face her disappointment when she learnt that Maisie had lost yet another job.
‘Thank goodness for that,’ Dulcie was saying. ‘You had me worried for a minute.’ There was a pause. ‘If it’s not Mum, what is it?’
‘I need a favour,’ Maisie said. ‘I’m in Picklewick – can I have a lift?’
There was a stunned silence, then, ‘Why are you inPicklewick?’
‘I’ll tell you when I see you. Can you come fetch me?’
Maisie could almost sense Dulcie’s eyes narrowing as her sister asked, ‘Does Mum know you’re here?’
‘Not exactly.’
‘Oh, Maisie! Have you been sacked again?’
Maisie heard Dulcie’s exasperation and resented it. It was alright for her: Dulcie had landed on her feet when she’d won the farm on Muddypuddle Lane. She’d had it handed to her on a plate. Plus Dulcie had never had to do a job she loathed for minimum wage.Andshe had lucked out when she’d met Otto. He loved her to the moon and back and treated her like a princess. None of Maisie’s boyfriends had ever treatedherlike that, which was why they wereex-boyfriends. In her twenty-five years she had kissed an awful lot of frogs, and she wasbeginning to fear that she would never find a prince.
Maisie lifted her chin. ‘I walked out,’ she said. ‘A customer groped my bum and the manager didn’t like it when I objected.’
Dulcie sighed. ‘How did you object? No, don’t tell me – you slapped his face. Or did you pour a cup of coffee over his head?’
‘In his lap, actually. And it was an iced coffee, not a hot one. I thought it might cool him down.’ Maisie sniggered. ‘He looked like he had wet himself. I got a round of applause from the women at the next table.’
‘So now you want to stay here, on the farm?’
‘Can I? Please?’ Maisie hated begging, but she couldn’t face going home. She would have to go eventually of course, but not just yet.
