Page 63 of The Christmas Fayre on Holly Field

Bobby nodded uncertainly.

‘Was that Mammy’s fault?’ she asked.

Bobby wrinkled his nose. ‘I don’t think so.’

‘It wasn’t,’ she insisted. ‘If you use things a lot, they eventually wear out and need replacing.’

‘Like my old rugby ball?’

‘Exactly like your old rugby ball.’ It didn’t matter how many times Harriet had pumped it up, the ball hadn’t stayed pumped for very long, the air leaking out of it faster and faster each time, until eventually she’d been forced to buy him another one.

‘Stop worrying,’ she told him, ‘and go to sleep.’

‘You said I can read.’

‘You can, but only until ten o’clock, then it’s lights out, OK?’

‘OK. Night, Mammy.’

‘Night, Bobby bach. Love you.’

She watched for a moment to make sure that Bobby was indeed snuggling down with his book, then she went back downstairs.

‘Let me freshen that for you,’ she said, seeing that Owen’s glass was almost empty. He handed it to her and she refilled it, pouring herself a glass of white at the same time.

She made sure to sit in the armchair and not join him on the sofa, because she didn’t trust herself. She wasn’t quite sure why she had invited him back. She badly wanted him to kiss her but there was no way that was going to happen with the children upstairs wide awake, and she knew full well that they probably wouldn’t go to sleep until Owen had left. Like her, they weren’t used to having a strange man in the house. Since Declan left, the only men who had visited were Harriet’s dad and the bloke who’d serviced the boiler. Until Owen.

‘How are you going to manage?’ she asked abruptly, Bobby’s question playing on her mind.

‘Manage what?’

‘Your loo situation.’

‘Oh, that. I’ll be fine. I can always pop up to the farm and ask Aled if I can use his, if I need to.’

If he needed to,Harriet huffed to herself. Of course he would need to. ‘How long do you think it will take to get it mended?’

‘It depends on how soon the garage can fit me in and how long it takes for a pump to be delivered. Assuming they could fit me in on Tuesday, they’d have to order the part, so maybe another day. Thursday?’

‘That could be five days without a toilet.’ Harriet was horrified.

Owen shrugged. ‘It’ll be fine,’ he said.

‘It won’t be fine at all. You’ll have to stay here.’ As soon as the words left her lips, Harriet wanted to take them back. What was she thinking? Where would hesleep?

‘Thanks for the offer, but I’ll manage,’ Owen said.

The very fact that he had refused made Harriet all the more determined. ‘Nonsense, I insist. As long as you don’t mind sleeping on the sofa, you’re welcome to stay.’

‘It’s very kind of you,’ Owen said, ‘but you don’t want a great big hulking man kipping in your living room.’

‘Am I right in assuming that if your water pump doesn’t work, not only have you not got a toilet, but you’ve also not got a shower?’

‘True. But I can manage, honestly.’

‘What with?’ Harriet scoffed. ‘Don’t tell me you’re going to use that solar shower contraption. In case you haven’t noticed, there isn’t a great deal of sun at this time of year to warm it up.’

‘It’s not as though I don’t have any water at all,’ Owen said. ‘Don’t forget there’s a standpipe in the field.’

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