Escape to the Country (13 page)

"No, I don't think the turnover here would be high enough for
them to be interested. Good job too - if I want microwaved food I'm
quite capable of doing that myself."

Duncan was clearly well known in the pub and they were shown straight
to a quiet table in the corner near, but not too near, a roaring log
fire. Leah couldn't help wondering how many times he'd been there in
the past and who with. She tried not to think about that.

They were handed menus. As Leah opened hers she spotted trout was
listed. "Oooh, trout's my favourite fish."

"Have that then. It'll be really fresh as it's caught locally. A
mate of mine supplies it."

"Sounds good." Far too late she realised she'd selected by
far the most expensive item on the menu. Leah wondered what they'd do
about the bill. She was used to Adam urging her to order the best
dishes at trendy restaurants and always paying the bill, but Duncan
probably wouldn't expect to pay for her meal. More likely they'd
split the bill in half.

She scanned down for something cheaper. Other than baguettes, which
didn't seem right as he had offered dinner, the next cheapest item
was spaghetti Bolognese. Not one of her favourite dishes and the kind
of thing she could get almost anywhere. "Or the spaghetti, I
could have the spaghetti."

"No, you could have that anywhere. Have the local trout."

It had to be a good sign that they'd both thought the same thing at
the same time. She made amends for her expensive food choice by
drinking nothing more than a single diet coke.

Duncan asked about her life in London and her job. She didn't want to
explain about the flat, which she'd bought and, until recently,
shared with Adam. Mentioning Prophet Margin and the allegations
against her was no more appealing, but he made sympathetic queries
about her troubles. She found herself blurting out about the horror
of her boss believing the charges could be possible and about Adam
not backing her up.

"Sounds like you're well rid of him. I take it you are rid of
him?"

"Oh, yes." But was that true? Getting him to buy her out of
the flat might be messy and would take time and she'd have to go back
to work at Prophet Margin. "Well, getting that way."

"Oh, right."

"Gosh, listen to me rambling on about my problems and ranting
about my ex boyfriend. That's not what a man wants to hear on a first
date." Leah blushed. "I didn't mean there would be more. I,
oh dear."

Duncan reached across the table to take her hand. "It's all
right. I think what you need is a friend, so friends for now?"

"Yes. Thank you."

"Now, what about dessert?"

It didn't take much to persuade her that the Frog and Bucket's
treacle tart was not to be missed.

Duncan did kiss her good bye after driving her home, but it wasn't
quite the same kind of kiss as at the party. Although slightly
disappointed by that she did think he was right about her needing a
friend. She shouldn't jump straight into another relationship, no
matter how tempting that might be, while her life was so unsettled.
It wouldn't be fair to either of them. Sadly, by the time things with
work were sorted out, she'd be headed back to London and wouldn't
see Duncan again.

That thought wasn't appealing and wasn't accurate. She'd be back down
to Winkleigh Marsh whenever she could and she'd find ways to see
Duncan and, if he wanted to, he could find ways to see her.

When Leah got back to Primrose Cottage, Jayne had already gone to
bed. Tarragon was still awake and he greeted her enthusiastically.
That was one of the things she loved about living there, someone was
always pleased to see her, even if he did have four legs and a waggy
tail. Perhaps that was one of the reasons Jayne had got herself a
dog. It must be lonely living there alone since her parents had died,
one just a month after the other. Leah remembered the red rose left
on the doorstep on Valentine's day. She hoped Jim had sent it.

The following morning, Leah noticed Rosemary acting strangely. She
seemed distressed and at one point it looked as though she intended
to attack her own two year old daughter, Rosepetal. Leah had no idea
what the symptoms of mad cow disease were, but thought maybe that was
what it looked like. Although she didn't want to bring Jayne bad
news, it must be better to act quickly in the hope that something
could be done. She ran in to Primrose Cottage.

"Whatever's the matter, lovey?"

"It's Rosemary, I think she's... well, I don't know what to
think."

Jayne followed her back into the yard. They arrived just in time to
see Rosemary lunge at Rosepetal.

"Oh good, she's bulling," Jayne said.

"This is good?"

"Yes, she's ready to get in calf again. That jumping onto
Rosepetal is one of the signs, it's just an instinctive hormonal
thing. Sorry you were worried."

"That's OK." She giggled. "And there was me thinking I
knew something about the facts of life!"

"You've got a lot to learn, my girl."

"Maybe. You said this was good, so does that mean you want her
to have another calf?"

Jayne nodded.

"OK, so where will you get a bull from? You'll need one of
those, even I know that much."

"Actually, no. I'll have her artificially inseminated. Don't
look like that, it's not as icky as it sounds."

"Why don't you use a bull?"

"Keeping one myself wouldn't be worth it for two cows. By buying
the semen I can choose from a vast selection of bulls who're known to
produce good calves without difficult births, or to meet whatever
other criteria I might have."

"You make it sound like you pick them from a catalogue."

"Yes, I do. Only works for bulls though, men are an entirely
different matter! I'll call home farm; if they're having any cows
done in the next day or two, I'll take Rosemary over there, just like
I did with Rosepetal, or if I'm lucky G-B will arrange
transportation. As I told you, he's not all bad."

"That does seem quite helpful," Leah conceded.

After she'd made her call, Jayne explained it was good news. "For
me and two of my girls. The AI man is visiting Home Farm tomorrow and
Duncan will collect Rosemary."

"Oh, that's good," Leah said, trying to look as though she
was pleased on Rosemary's behalf as much as her own.

"It is. I reckon I might get a lie-in. That's if you think you
can handle the milking and helping load Rosemary in the trailer?"

Leah saw how tired Jayne looked and quickly agreed.

"Of course." It would be a good test for when Jayne went
into hospital.

It'd also make a nice change for Duncan to see her being competent at
managing a cow. She didn't allow herself to analyse why she was so
keen for him to see she fitted well into the country way of life when
she'd be returning to her job in London soon.

Leah finished milking Rosemary and let in the young calves for their
share. She'd milked Rosemary for as long as she could manage and used
every ounce of strength in her arms. She couldn't even face
re-buttoning her top. She'd noticed she'd done it up wrong whilst
milking. If she'd had a plan to impress Duncan then that small detail
wasn't going to be the thing that ruined the good impression. Leah
knew she looked tired.

Getting up early hadn't been easy, partly because she'd had trouble
sleeping. She thought about Duncan as she'd tossed and turned, but he
wasn't the only thing on her mind. Worry about Jayne and the current
and future responsibilities of looking after the farm animals had
concerned her too.

Leah giggled. How long had it been since the monthly figures and an
upcoming powerpoint presentation or dinner party had been what kept
her awake at night? She hadn't missed her old life as much as she'd
expected.

Tarragon wagged his tail and gave a welcoming yap when a vehicle
pulled into the yard.

"Morning, Jayne," Duncan called. "Is Rosemary ready
for her date?" His attention was on the dog as he approached the
shed where Rosemary and Leah were waiting.

"I'm just fixing her mascara," Leah called.

Damn, why had she said that? She'd not had time to put any on that
morning, or brush her hair. It might have been better not to draw his
attention to the subject of making the best of one's appearance. She
had brushed her teeth at least. She couldn't face going out before
she'd done that. Her best plan was probably to get so close he
couldn't focus on her dishevelled appearance and instead got a whiff
of her fresh minty breath. The idea was quite appealing, but she
reminded herself it was her competence she was trying to impress
with.

"Leah?"

"Yes. I'm head milkmaid today."

"Is Jayne OK?"

He sounded so concerned Leah wondered if he'd guessed she was ill.

"Don't worry, she's just having a lie-in."

"Do her good, I expect."

"Yes. What happens next?"

"Next? Well I hadn't really thought, maybe we could go for a
drink on Saturday?"

"Rosemary doesn't drink."

"What? Oh, right. We get her in the trailer and I take her over
to home farm." He undid the ramp on the back of the trailer as
he spoke. "The AI man does the business and I bring her back.
I'm afraid I can't say what time that'll be, but I promise we'll take
care of her and she'll be home in time for milking. I assure you, my
intentions with regard her are entirely honourable."

"You make it sound simple."

"It is, I know Rosemary. She's a pushover." Duncan jumped
into the back of the trailer, reappearing almost immediately with a
bucket. He rattled it towards the cow. "Come on girl, a nice
bucket of sugarbeet for you." He let the cow stick her head in
the bucket and lick up a few of the dark pellets, then backed away
from her towards the trailer. She followed him out the barn and up
into the trailer. Duncan closed the ramp behind her.

"Do you have time for a cup of tea or anything?"

"No, sorry. I've got to get back and sort out the rest of the
cows who're competing with Rosemary for the AI man's attention. Don't
worry, it'll all be over soon and she'll be back without even knowing
what's happened."

"Seems a bit of a shame for poor old Rosemary."

"Why?"

"Not exactly romantic, is it?"

"I'll play her soft music if it'll make you feel better."

She grinned. OK, he was teasing, but he did understand what she
meant.

Leah had sorted out the milk, fed Rosepetal and thrown more logs onto
the Aga before she heard Jayne moving around upstairs. She switched
on the kettle and got out the items required for breakfast, to give
the illusion she had everything under control. Luckily the fire
hadn't gone out completely and the logs that had dried on the hearth
all evening soon caught.

The tea was made and bacon sizzling in a pan when Jayne came into the
kitchen. Leah grinned as it occurred to her the scene was almost the
exact opposite of her first morning at Primrose Cottage. OK, she
hadn't found it easy to get up in time to milk Rosemary and her arms
were aching a little from the effort, but she'd coped.

"Goodness, I can't believe it's so late. I don't think I've
slept for so long since I was a teenager," Jayne said.

"I expect you needed it. I didn't like to say, but you have been
looking a bit tired lately."

"Feeling it too, to be honest. Now, how about you?"

"I slept for about three minutes. Rosemary has been milked and
collected though. Sorry, I haven't done anything else. I went back to
sleep after the alarm went off and got up in a panic."

Leah served up breakfast.

"Thanks, love. This is a real treat."

"So, you think I'll be OK to look after things while you're in
hospital?"

"Well, yes, ordinarily I think you would. There's just one thing
that you won't be prepared for."

"What's that? There's time for me to learn, so whatever it is,
it's not getting you out of going to hospital."

"I didn't mean it that way. I'd been so far in denial about
going into hospital that it hadn't occurred to me the timing would be
a problem. Rosepetal is due to calve."

"Oh. OK, not time for me to learn. What happens? Presumably you
don't actually check her into a maternity ward at the vet's and have
her fill in a questionnaire about epidurals and birthing pools?"

Jayne laughed. "No. Chances are, she'll have it fine by herself,
but if she doesn't the vet will come out."

"How will he know to come?"

"You call if there's a problem."

"Ah but I won't have a clue if there's a problem. Can't I just
call the vet as soon as anything happens, or is that not allowed?"

"You could, but you can't keep calling. It'll cost and it's not
fair. You can't expect the vet to sit with her all night waiting for
something to happen."

"No, I suppose not." Leah knew she'd panic the moment
Rosepetal even breathed slightly more heavily than usual, but didn't
want Jayne to postpone her hospital appointment yet again. Besides,
she wanted to prove to herself, and anyone else who might be
interested, that she could handle life on a farm.

"Maybe we can arrange for you to see a calf being born? Do you
think that'd help?"

"Maybe." Leah wasn't convinced it would help enough for her
to be of any real help.

"We'll ask Duncan. There are plenty of in-calf cows at Home
Farm."

"That would be very useful." Any experience and training
she got were bound to be an improvement on her current state of
ignorance.

When Duncan came back with Rosemary, Jayne invited him in for tea and
explained about Rosepetal's imminent motherhood.

Duncan just nodded. Cows having calves didn't seem like big news to
him.

"I might not be here when it happens," Jayne said.

That got his attention all right. He understood that if Leah was to
be the attending midwife, there was more to the story.