‘The alpacas are here!’ Isla shouted down the hallway towards Martha. ‘Grab a coat and come and take a look.’
Isla sheltered in the doorway as a short bald stocky man jumped down from behind the wheel, thrusting his hand forward for her to shake. ‘Nice place you have here,’ he said in a gravelly Welsh accent.
‘Thanks, we like it. I’m Isla.’
‘David,’ he said. ‘The weather isn’t being kind to us today … which field am I letting them loose in?’
Isla pointed and grabbed an umbrella from the hallway before following him to the back of the truck.
‘These creatures are responsible for bearing some of the silkiest, most versatile fleece found in nature. Stronger than mohair, finer than cashmere, smoother than silk, softer than cotton, warmer than goose down … you’re on to a winner with these beauties. Shorn annually for a good price,’ said David.
Isla watched in amazement as he pulled open the door and unleashed numerous docile-looking animals. She couldn’t take her eyes away from the magnificent creatures. Isla had never seen an alpaca up close and was mesmerised by their floppy furry tufts, slender necks. They genuinely looked like they were sporting huge grins.
‘They are captivating,’ said Martha, joining them, not taking her eyes off them. ‘How many are there?’
‘Twelve,’ answered Isla.
Once all of them were unloaded into the field they huddled together, sheltering under the canopy of the trees.
‘Thank you so much, we’ll look after them, I promise. And I’m sorry to hear about your father.’
‘Father?’ said David, looking puzzled as he bolted up the back of the truck. ‘Oh yes, my father. Thank you. All I need now is the money.’ He stood and waited while Isla rummaged around in her handbag and pulled out the envelope of cash.
‘Thank you,’ he said, not hanging around. He jumped into the trunk, started the engine and was off.
‘That was short and sweet … strange little man. He couldn’t get out of here quick enough,’ noticed Martha.
‘Twelve alpacas, all present and correct. Aren’t they wonderful?’ Isla squeezed her Gran’s arm. ‘Let’s get out of this rain.’
They’d only been inside a couple of minutes when they noticed Drew’s van pull up outside.
‘He’s here … quick,’ said Isla, unboxing the birthday cake and placing it in pride of place in the middle of the kitchen table. She risked a tentative look in the mirror, ran her fingers through her hair and quickly applied her lip gloss.
As the kitchen door opened, two loud pops erupted. The unmistakable sounds of party poppers.
‘Happy birthday, Drew!’ Isla moved towards him and planted a kiss on his cheek.
Drew’s face didn’t crack a smile, he was drenched with rain and Fergus looked even more dishevelled standing next to him with his overalls splattered with mud.
‘You poor things, look at the state of you both, all wet through. Let me get you a towel.’
‘Never mind a towel,’ Drew said, eyeing up the banners pinned to the kitchen wall before locking eyes with Isla. ‘For a second I thought I’d come home to the wrong farm.’
‘What do you mean?’ she asked. ‘Aww, because of all this … Finn made the paperchains and of course Flick made the cake.’
‘Isla … I could have sworn there are llamas in our field.’
Isla wagged her finger, ‘Actually, that’s where you are wrong … they are alpacas … Happy birthday, Drew! What do you get a man who has everything? A herd of alpacas!’
Fergus looked suitably impressed, but it was clear by the look on Drew’s face that he wasn’t quite feeling the same.
‘Alpacas? You’ve bought me alpacas? Where do you think we live, the Peruvian Andes?’
‘Beautiful animals,’ said Isla, hoping for a better reaction and noting the slight tension that had crept into the room. She couldn’t help but feel disappointed, this was not the reaction she was hoping for.
‘Where the hell have you got a herd of alpacas from?’ asked an annoyed Drew.
‘A man called David O’Sullivan came into the teashop and mentioned to Rona that his father had passed away, he didn’t know what to do with them and needed to re-home the herd. I thought you’d be happy.’
Drew blew out a breath, he looked relieved as a small smile hitched on his face. ‘Why didn’t you say … so he gave them to you? I had visions of you spending a small fortune on them.’
Isla just stared at him. Of course she had spent a small fortune on them and now felt a little guilty because of Drew’s reaction. This was not how it was meant to be.
‘Isla?’
‘Of course he didn’t give them to me. They’re a prize-winning herd, but what an asset to the farm … and what a birthday present, too.’
‘Isla, I can’t believe you can be so stupid,’ Drew blurted.
Isla felt infuriated, he was talking to her like she was a child, not his equal.
‘And who’s this David bloke? You’ll have to ring him now and tell him to take them back and get the money back.’ Drew was so angry he barely came up for air.
‘I can’t do that. He’ll think I’ve lost the plot, and anyway, what’s the problem? Those fleeces will bring in a small fortune. They’ll pay for themselves in the long run.’
‘Isla, it matters. How much did you pay for them?’ His question was loaded with more than polite enquiry.
For a second, the question hung in the air. ‘Isla?’
Martha gave Fergus a nod and they quickly disappeared into the living room, leaving them alone.
Isla narrowed her eyes at him, ‘What has got into you? You’ve just embarrassed me and yourself in front of my gran and Fergus. I’ve bought you a present, at the very least you could act grateful.’
‘An extravagant present, do you think we have money to throw around?’ Drew lunged at Isla’s phone which was lying on the table. ‘David, you say?’ he said, scrolling through her last numbers.
‘You are acting like a complete idiot. What the hell is going on with you, Drew? It’s like I don’t even know who you are at the minute.’
‘Marvellous … bloody marvellous,’ he said, switching the phone to speaker and throwing his hands up into the air.
‘Your call cannot be connected.’
Isla had to admit she felt a tiny pang of worry. Surely it was just because the mobile phone signal was sparse in this region, but before she could voice her opinion Drew jumped in with his.
‘My guess is David is a crook, by chance he rocked up here and sold you those animals …’ he pointed towards the window, ‘that are probably riddled with disease.’
‘Don’t be stupid,’ Isla was now shouting but had begun to worry. Maybe she had made a mistake. ‘His father passed away. They needed re-homing and Rory can give them the once over.’
Drew shook his head, ‘Oh brilliant … more money on our vet’s bill. I can’t believe you would spend so much on a herd of animals that we know nothing about. Seriously Isla, I just can’t understand you sometimes.’
Drew stormed out of the kitchen, slamming the door, leaving Isla to burst into tears. Isla had hoped that this would make Drew