Foxglove Farm by Christie Barlow

Author:Christie Barlow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2019-06-04T17:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

Tucking her hands inside the pockets of her coat, Isla stood and stared up at the hospital building. She wasn’t looking forward to this conversation and wasn’t even sure how she was feeling about Drew at this moment in time.

Nervous butterflies began to flutter around her stomach as she walked through the entrance of the hospital and through the gleaming-white corridors towards Drew’s room.

The conversation she was about to have with her husband played over and over in her mind like a broken record, and Isla took a second to compose herself as she hovered outside his room. Taking a deep breath, she felt herself beginning to tremble – nervous didn’t come close to how she was currently feeling. Drew must be aware this argument was coming. He couldn’t have hidden the fact that there was no insurance forever.

Isla slowly pushed open the door and stepped inside the room. The sun shone through the cracks in the blinds, catching Isla’s attention before she turned her gaze towards Drew, who was fast asleep under a white cotton sheet with his plastered leg sticking out to the side. For a second Isla watched him, Drew looked so tired and fragile. Quietly she slid on to the blue plastic chair and placed the bag of unpaid bills and invoices by her side. Isla felt angry at the predicament Drew had put them in, she was hurt to discover there was no insurance from a stranger on the phone. She debated whether to wake him or not, but in the warmth of the hospital room she suddenly began to feel tired herself.

The next thing Isla knew, her knee was being touched and, opening her eyes wide, she saw Drew staring at her. Almost immediately Isla felt a weird tension in the air.

‘Good morning,’ she said politely, like she was passing a neighbour in the street and not like she was greeting her husband after he’d been fighting for his life in a fire. ‘How you feeling?’

Drew shifted self-consciously in his bed and slipped his hands underneath his bum before pushing himself up. ‘Sore, tired, drained. I just want my own bed with my own things around me,’ he offered Isla a smile. ‘You took your time getting here, everything okay?’ Did Drew sense that Isla already knew about the insurance?

‘There was the milking, collection of eggs, and don’t forget I’m staying at Aggie’s. But luckily Nate has it all in hand.’

‘And who is this Nate guy and how come he’s suddenly appeared on the scene out of nowhere. Isla, we really can’t afford to pay him.’

Isla knew full well they couldn’t afford to pay him.

‘Martha is covering his wages until you are back up on your feet.’

‘Who is he? Has he a background in farming?’

Isla shrugged, ‘I really don’t know, Drew.’

‘Well, you’re letting him work on the farm. Have you asked him?’

‘I am, it was the simplest decision and funnily enough, I’ve not had time to carry out a full-blown interview and check references.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.