‘I think you’ll make an excellent farmer,’ said Isla, smiling down at Finn. ‘Your daddy would love it if you followed in his footsteps.’
Finn screwed up his face. ‘Followed in his footsteps … my feet would need to grow very big.’
Isla laughed, ‘You’re a funny little boy.’
Foxglove Farm had been in Drew’s family for generations and Isla knew Drew hoped his boys would become farmers too one day. She felt privileged to live in this beautiful corner of the Scottish Highlands and waking up to the spectacular scenery was just magical, and if it wasn’t for Drew following in his father’s footsteps Isla had no clue where she would have ended up.
Isla spotted Felicity at the corner of Love Heart Lane. Esme was next to her, swinging her bag and chatting away. In the past Aggie had always walked Esme to school, but since she had suffered with pneumonia at the beginning of the year Fergus wanted to take the pressure off her and now he dropped Esme off at the teashop every morning on his way to work. Isla knew that Felicity cherished the extra time with Esme.
Isla called out to Flick and waved at her as she turned round to greet them. They waited for Isla and Finn to catch up and immediately Finn and Esme were joined at the hip and skipped off up the pavement in front of them both.
‘Finn, mind that puddle,’ but it was too late – his foot landed in the puddle and muddy water splashed up his leg. ‘One day we will get to school without any dramas,’ Isla smiled at him and shook her head jokingly. ‘You can change into your socks from your PE kit.’
‘How’s your head?’ smiled Felicity, stepping towards Isla and linking her arm through hers as they began walking.
‘Another night of not much sleep and it wasn’t down to the alcohol … between feeding Angus and my boomerang of a brain keeping me awake with its to-ing and fro-ing and constant worrying about what is worrying Drew.’ Isla’s voice wobbled. ‘And …’
‘And what?’ interrupted Felicity.
‘I checked his phone.’
‘Isla!’
‘I know, I know it was wrong, but wouldn’t you do the same if Fergus’s behaviour suddenly changed?’
‘I suppose,’ admitted Felicity. ‘And did you find anything?’
Isla shook her head, ‘Absolutely nothing.’
‘Well, that’s something, at least your mind should be at rest now.’
‘But there’s still something bothering him. I know him.’
‘I did question Fergus.’
‘You didn’t say I wanted to know, did you?’ asked Isla, feeling panicky.
‘Of course not! I just said you were feeling tired with the new baby and he said Drew is exhausted too.’
‘And that was it? Nothing else?’
‘Nothing else.’
As they reached the school gates, they ushered Finn and Esme towards their line in the playground. The bell sounded and Jessica appeared and waved over towards Felicity and Isla before escorting the children into the classroom.
‘Life is so simple at that age,’ sighed Isla, blowing Finn a kiss as he disappeared through the door.
‘Isla! Isla, wait!’ a voice called out.
Isla spun round to see Julia from the local B&B hurrying towards them. Her cheeks were flushed and she had a look of panic on her face, ‘I’m glad I’ve caught up with you.’
‘Since when have you been frequenting school playgrounds?’ asked Isla, knowing Julia didn’t have any children.
‘I’m looking for you, I tried your mobile, but it went straight to voicemail.’
‘That’s the joys of living in the sticks … no signal.’ Isla was intrigued, ‘What’s up?’
‘Let’s walk and talk,’ said Julia, who attempted to get her breathing under control. ‘I’ve jogged from the B&B and I’m out of breath.’
‘I’m all ears,’ said Isla, fascinated about what was troubling Julia as all three of them headed out of the school playground.
‘I’ve messed up,’ spluttered Julia. ‘And I’m hoping you are the woman to help me out.’ Julia exhaled, ‘And I know it’s a big ask and I don’t like letting anyone down … but …’
Isla stopped walking, ‘Spit it out.’
Julia took a breath, ‘I’ve made a blunder with my bookings, and I’ve double-booked a week on Friday. One of the parties is a rambling group trekking the mountain to raise money for charity and the other one is a booking for a sixtieth birthday … I don’t want to let any of them down.’
‘And how can I help?’
‘I didn’t want to cancel either of them, if word got around it’s not good for business, and I was thinking … who do I know who has enough room to accommodate one of the parties?’
The penny dropped and Isla laughed until she realised Julia was serious, then her expression turned to one of bewilderment before smiling nervously, ‘You are joking, right?’
Julia eyed Isla warily, ‘I wasn’t, to be honest.’
‘Julia, I’ve got a new baby and my gran’s just turned up unannounced to stay. And I’m not sure Drew would want a bunch of strangers traipsing through the farmhouse, and then there’s Finn too, and what about their meals?’
‘You could direct them to the teashop for breakfast or fry up a bit of bacon,’ said Julia with hope in her voice.
As much as Isla didn’t want to let anyone down, she knew that at this moment in time she couldn’t face strangers in the house even though there was ample space and vacant bedrooms.
‘They’d pay the going rate,’ urged Julia, hoping to sway Isla. ‘Sorry … sorry … I shouldn’t have mentioned it … I know you have enough on your plate.’
‘If I could help you out, you know I would. What’s plan B?’
‘I haven’t got one,’ admitted Julia, taking a breath.
‘I’m so sorry Julia, I just can’t help you at the minute.’
‘No worries, if you don’t ask you never know.’
Julia touched Isla on her arm tentatively before sadly walking away.
‘Can you imagine strangers traipsing through my house … no thank you,’ said Isla, knowing that she wouldn’t even feel comfortable mentioning it to Drew after his reaction to Martha turning up.
‘I can see your point, you’ve got way too much going on at the moment with the baby to think about, not to mention you and Drew. Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention, a guy came into the teashop yesterday and I pointed him in your direction, Rory’s too. Did he come by the farmhouse?’
‘What guy?’
‘If I remember rightly, he went by the name David O’Sullivan.’
Isla shook her head, ‘Never heard of him. What did he want?’
‘He had a herd of alpacas that needed re-homing. Prize-winning, apparently. He was looking for a nearby farm to home them.’
‘Oh, Drew never mentioned it, I’m sure I would have known if he’d visited