The Old-Girl Network by Catherine Alliott

Author:Catherine Alliott
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780141973418
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2015-07-30T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

At breakfast the next morning, over great platefuls of bacon and eggs, expertly cooked by Tim, Nick suggested we all had a look at the farm. My heart sank deep into my Docksiders. I had visions of myself, up to my designer-jeaned knees in cow pats and manure, miserably swatting flies with my handbag.

‘Sorry, I’m far too busy, got to get the beans in today,’ said Tim, helping himself to more toast and mopping up his fried egg. He grinned at his brother. ‘Some of us have to work, you know!’

‘Well, you’re lucky you can do it down here rather than in London. How about the wife-to-be, or are you keeping her nose to the grindstone, too?’

‘’Fraid so,’ said Sarah. ‘I’ve got a new pony arriving at about ten o’clock. Maybe I’ll catch up with you later, though.’

‘Rachel?’

She sighed. ‘I’d love to, but unfortunately Jamie will have to have another sleep in about an hour, so I’d better stay here with him.’

Nick made a face. ‘God, I’d no idea this mothering lark was such hard work. Having you and Jamie around certainly makes me think twice about throwing myself into parenthood.’

‘Ah yes, but you’d only be a father, wouldn’t you? That doesn’t come with quite so many occupational hazards,’ said Rachel darkly.

That’s pretty rich, I thought, considering Adam’s moving heaven and earth to take on those hazards, but I wisely held my tongue.

Nick turned to me with a smile. ‘Looks like we’re on our own, then – how about it?’

For some reason, my heart stopped lurking sulkily in my shoes and rocketed swiftly back into position again. ‘Yes, I’d love to see the farm.’

‘Sure? You don’t have to be polite, you know, you can do what you like.’

‘I should think the last thing she wants to do is trail round a smelly old farm,’ said Tim. ‘If I were you, Polly, I’d catch a bus into town and check out the only boutique in Helston.’

‘Don’t be silly, there’s nothing in that ghastly little shop that would interest Polly. Why don’t you come to the stables with me?’ suggested Sarah. ‘I’m only doing half a day today, we could go and have some lunch in a pub when I’ve finished.’

‘Oh no, that’s very kind, but I’m not desperately fond of horses and, anyway, I’d really like to go with Nick!’ I said eagerly. Far too eagerly. The phrase ‘really like to go with Nick!’ seemed to hang, echoing in the air. I felt it needed a little explaining. ‘You see,’ I stammered, ‘I’m … I’m terribly interested in farming!’

‘Really?’ Nick looked up from his bacon and eggs in surprise. ‘Polly, I had no idea!’

No, neither did I, and hopefully he’d forget I’d said that, but he showed no signs of doing so just yet.

‘Which particular areas are you interested in?’ he asked.

‘Um, d’you mean – which particular areas, in particular?’ I faltered, playing with some crumbs on the tablecloth.

Nick looked confused. ‘Well, yes, I suppose I do mean that.’

‘Oh. Oh well, all sorts really.

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.