Page 35 of The Wedding Game

‘I can’t be bothered to go back up there, so it’s arms, please,’ I say and squeal with delight as Josh lifts me up and carries me, my legs wrapping around his waist. I scout around for hay bales. ‘This is inappropriate behaviour for your place of work,’ I tell him.

‘I’m the boss. It’s all good,’ he replies, before depositing me in front of a series of metal pens on a slightly less-wet patch of floor.

‘So what are we doing, and can I help?’ I ask.

‘Putting more food in here for the cows, so when they come in they can eat while being milked.’

Josh tells me what to do and lets me help. I’m intrigued by his work and excited by the prospect of helping animals eat so they can be milked, though I’ll bet the novelty wears off quickly.

‘Do you enjoy doing all this?’ I ask as I help pull armloads of hay into troughs.

‘I don’t think about it,’ Josh says with a shrug. ‘I guess so. There are boring bits and fun bits. It’s ever-evolving and I’m used to it. I wouldn’t know what the hell else to do if I didn’t do this. It’s the perils of taking on a house and a job together. It’s been in the family so long that I’m tied to it. It’s all I’ve known. It’s all I’ve wanted to know.’ He carries on loading hay as we move along. I admire this. Josh has a job and a beautiful home and he’s in charge of his own destiny, which is more than I can say for myself.

When we finish we move off and then he spins round,remembers to pick me up again, and I distract him by kissing him on his neck while he tries to walk us both outside. He murmurs his appreciation.

‘Want to meet the cows?’ he asks as we head into the field. He lands me on a patch of grass and I lean against the wide metal gate and look out at his herd of black-and-white cattle.

‘They’re Holsteins,’ he says.

‘They’re beautiful,’ I say, a wistful expression on my face. ‘And you butcher them for beef.’

‘Don’t start,’ he continues with a smile, seeing my face. ‘I know exactly what you’re about to say. But where do you think your food comes from?’

‘But theirlittle faces,’ I say.

‘These are dairy,’ he tries to placate me. ‘Milk. That’s our core business.’

‘And, soon, ice cream,’ I say as a cow moseys over. She nuzzles Josh and then me with her warm nose, thick eyelashes and beautiful face.

‘Oh God, they’re like pets,’ I say softly, stroking her nose.

‘Hmm,’ Josh says sceptically, picking me back up again. I’m not sure that it’s essential, but I enjoy it nonetheless. A cow trots after us merrily as if to follow us back to the farmhouse.

I lean towards Josh’s ear and whisper, ‘See? They’re like pets.’

‘Stop saying that,’ he says with a laugh.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

‘I feel like I’m on holiday,’ I tell him later that evening after we’ve both showered, wrapped ourselves in warm fluffy towels and Josh has ribbed me about the quantity of attire I’ve brought with me, as he sees how many clothes are inside my case.

‘Are you moving in?’ he teases. ‘I thought you were only here for two nights?’

‘YouwishI was moving in,’ I say jokingly as I rifle around in the case, eventually finding what I’m looking for. My packing system needs some work.

He’s quiet and then says, ‘Strange kind of holiday. One where I put you to work all day.’

‘I enjoyed it,’ I tell him as I pull on my T-shirt, neaten out my hair and pull it back into a band.

‘Really?’ he asks hopefully.

‘Yeah,’ I say, pulling on my jeans and socks and wondering if I should put make-up on or not. Ordinarily I would, when dating someone is in this early stage, but after working in the sun with Josh all day I’ve got a bit of a glow. It might just be the heat from the shower.

‘What are we going to do tomorrow?’ I ask. ‘Can we feed the calves again? I loved that so much.’

‘Not tomorrow. Tony will be in to do that. I don’t work Sundays. We can have a lie-in, breakfast in bed and not move all day.’

‘That sounds good too,’ I reply before we descend the large wooden staircase and turn towards the kitchen in search of dinner.

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