Another sigh from Dulcie. ‘Give me ten minutes. And Maisie? You’d better tell Mum where you are – I don’t want her calling me in a panic.’
Mindful that she didn’t want to get her sister’s back up any more than she already had, Maisie sent Mum a quick message.
Gone to visit Dulcie for a few days. Wanted to see the goats. Arrived safe xxx
Her mum’s reply was short.Nice of you to let me know.
At least Mum knew where she was, so she wouldn’t worry. No more than usual, that is.
Maisie spied Dulcie’s car and waved, wincing when it screeched to a halt. From the way Dulcie was driving, Maisie gathered that her sister wasn’t in the best of moods.
‘Get in,’ Dulcie ordered, making no move to get out and help Maisie heave her case into the hatchback’s small boot. ‘Planning on staying long?’ she asked when Maisie slipped into the passenger seat.
Maisie shrugged.
‘Is that a yes shrug, or a no shrug?’
‘Dunno.’
Before Dulcie pulled away from the kerb, she uttered a loud sigh. ‘Out with it – why are you here?’
To her dismay, Maisie’s eyes filled with tears. ‘I’m sorry, I should have asked first.’
‘Yes, you should have.’
Maisie brushed her tears away. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll leave tomorrow.’
Dulcie softened. ‘You don’t have to, but I’m warning you, if you intend to stay more than a day or two, I expect you to pull your weight.’
‘I will,’ Maisie agreed with relief.
‘There are the goats to see to for a start, and maybe Otto could use a hand in the restaurant.’
‘I’ll do anything,’ Maisie said, even though she didn’t like working in restaurants, pubs or bars. Her previous two jobs had been in pubs. Neither of them had ended well. Maisie suspected she wasn’t cut out to be customer-facing. She was, however, looking forward to helping with the goats. They were so darned cute, especially the pygmy ones.
‘Have any of them had their babies yet?’ she asked as Dulcie eased the car into the road.
‘They are due any day now.’
Maisie clapped her hands and let out a squeal. ‘I can’t wait to cuddle a goatling.’
A smile spread across her sister’s face. ‘Neither can I. If my goat milk business takes off, there will be plenty more babygoats on the farm. Eventually I’m hoping to be able to give up the day job.’
Oh, yes; Maisie had forgotten that Dulcie had a job, besides running the farm. She worked from home though, so it couldn’t be too bad. Maisie would love to be able to work from home, but although she had applied for a couple of jobs where that was an option, she had never even got as far as the interview stage.
‘I’ve got a chap coming tomorrow to give me a quote for converting one of the outbuildings into a pasteurisation shed,’ Dulcie was saying. ‘I managed to buy the equipment second hand, but I’ve got to get someone to install it.’
As Dulcie chattered away, Maisie relaxed into her seat. It seemed that her sister had forgiven her for turning up out of the blue. Now all Maisie had to do was makeherself useful, so Dulcie didn’t send her back home before she was ready to go.
Adam straightened up, wiping his filthy hands on an oily rag, and surveyed the tractor’s engine.
‘Is it fixed?’ the ruddy-faced man in his fifties asked.
‘Try it.’
The farmer hoisted his sturdy frame into the cab, grinning when the engine started first time. ‘You’ve done a tidy job.’
Adam dipped his head in acknowledgement; he always did a tidy job and because of that his reputation of being able to fix things was growing. It wasn’t just tractors he repaired – he washappy to turn his hand to anything mechanical.
