‘But I didn’t—’ she began, then realised what he meant.
‘Cloud seems to be managing just fine on her own.’
‘What if she doesn’t?’
‘We’ll deal with that if it happens.’ Adam’s voice was calm, his tone soothing, and gradually Maisie’s heart rate slowed.
He was right. Cloud had coped on her own so far, and the odds were that the goat wouldn’t need any help at all. But there was something Maisie wanted to know before she allowed herself to calm down fully. ‘Do you know anything about goats?’
‘Not much.’
‘How about sheep?’
‘Can’t say that I do.’
‘Have you seen a baby animal being born before?’
Adam wrinkled his brow. ‘Don’t think so.’
Maisie sighed in exasperation. ‘So if somethingdoesgo wrong this time, how are you going to deal with it?’
‘Me?’ He blinked. ‘You’rethe one in charge of the goats.’
‘But you saidwe’ll deal with it if it happens!’
‘I meantyou.’
Maisie ignored him. She was too focused on the little feet and the tiny nose emerging into the world.
With a final push from Cloud, the newest member of the farm’s herd slithered onto the straw, and Cloud turned around to dry it with her tongue. The baby was very much alive, bleating and shaking its head, its little ears twitching.
Maisie shot Adam a delighted look. His smile was as wide as her own, and she clapped her hands and did a jig.
‘Aren’t they adorable?’ she cried. ‘Do you think I can pick that one up?’
The first goatling was balancing on legs that it had little control over, and looking confused, as though it was trying to work out what had just happened. Its mum was busy looking after its sibling, and Maisie felt quite sorry for it.
She moved to within touching distance and knelt down, holding out a hand. Thebaby goat took a wobbly step and butted its nose against her finger. Carefully, so as not to frighten it, she picked it up and held it against her chest. It was solid and warm, and incredibly soft.
Her heart melted.If this is what it’s like to be in love, she thought,then I’m head over heels.
She had adored the goats from the first time she’d set eyes on them. It had been a few days before Christmas when the breeder had delivered eight of the gorgeous creatures to the farm. They were to form the beginning of Dulcie’s herd of dairy goats and Maisie hadn’t been able to tear herself away, much to her family’s amusement. Her brother’s partner, who was an artist, had even painted Maisie with the very same goat who had just given birth, and had given itto her as a Christmas present. It was one of Maisie’s most treasured possessions.
Footsteps hurrying across the yard alerted her that Dulcie was back, and Maisie turned to face her sister with a huge smile.
Dulcie wore a worried expression as she entered the barn, but when she spied Cloud and the baby healthy and well, her face lit up. And it positively shone when she saw a second goatling in Maisie’s arms.
‘Two babies!’ she cried. ‘How wonderful!’ She held her arms out and Maisie placed the tiny goat in them. Dulcie checked it over, then put it down and examined the other. ‘They’re both girls,’ she said happily, then she sat on a bale of straw to watch them take their first, vital drink of milk.
Maisie looked on in wonder, only tearing her gaze away when she felt Adam’s eyes on her.
The smile they shared felt almost as special as witnessing the birth of two new lives, and she was glad that he had been by her side and she hadn’t had to go it alone – despite his dire lack of knowledge about goats.
Later that evening Adam should have been working out some costings ahead of emailing the quote to Dulcie, but his mind wasn’t on his task. Whenever he tried to concentrate, his thoughts would wander, and an image of Maisie’s blissful expression as she cuddled the baby goat would hover in front of the screen.
He really had made a prat of himself, hadn’t he? But he hoped he had redeemed himself a bit when the goatlings were born. There had been that moment when he and Maisie had shared a look. He wasn’t sure what it had meant, but it had felt intimate. Or had he read too much into it? He had a feeling it was wishful thinking on his part, which baffled him as he wasn’t interested in getting intimate with her (well, hewas, because he was a man after all, with a healthy sexual appetite) but considering he didn’t want to get involved with anyone right now, getting intimate with Maisie Fairfax wasn’t an option.
A thought occurred to him: was her surname Fairfax or was she married? He hadn’t noticed a wedding ring, and he scoured his memory for one for several minutes until he gave up. Even if shewasn’t wearing a ring on the third finger of her left hand, it didn’t mean she wasn’t in a relationship.
