Page 28 of Sunset at Embthwaite Farm
“I wanted to ask if you’d be able to check on Jane once in a while,” he said. “I don’t mean more than that—you really went above and beyond today. Just to make sure she’s coping. I come by as often as I can, but she doesn’t like me to fuss, and I think she prefers being protective of me, rather than the other way round.” He sighed as he dropped his hand. “It’s a little complicated.”
“Families often are,” Anna replied. “I think it was the poet Mary Karr who said, ‘Dysfunctional families are ones with more than one person in them.’”
James gave a huff of laughter, a genuine sound. “True enough. There’s only Jane and me, and I suppose there is a certain amount of dysfunction just between the two of us.”
“You seem very close,” Anna remarked. As she said the words, she realised they caused her a funny little pang of envy. She wanted that kind of closeness with her own daughters. They were getting there, which heartened her, but they weren’t there yet. They weren’t really even near. A small sigh escaped her at the thought before she came to herself and gave James a bracing smile. “Anyway, I’d be very happy to keep an eye on Jane, and I could take Henry sometimes too, if it would be helpful. He’s so gorgeous.”
“I don’t want to presume,” James protested quickly. “You certainly have a lot on your plate as it is.”
“Yes, but when you’re living so close to death, being reminding of the joys of life can be a good thing,” Anna replied quietly. “I’d be happy to, honestly.”
“Thank you,” James said simply, and then they were left staring at each other in a manner that felt a little uncomfortable, although not in a bad way. In a sort of exciting way, actually, Anna thought, as James cocked his head, his cerulean gaze sweeping slowly over her, making her tingle with anticipation—and hope.
“There was something else I wanted to ask…” he began, and she raised her eyebrows, smiling faintly.
“Oh, yes?”
“I wondered if you’d care to go out for a drink, maybe this weekend?”
That faint tingle of anticipation became a positive buzz of excitement, coursing through her veins. Then, quite abruptly, Anna imagined heading over to one of Mathering’s three pubs for a drink with a handsome man and knew the gossip would be racing around the town within minutes, with all its inevitable fallout. Harriet and Rachel would probably know about it before she’d even driven back home. She wasn’t sure she could deal with that, on top of everything else. And yet…
“Still thinking about it?” James asked, his mouth quirking wryly.
“Yes, sorry, but not because… It’s just Mathering is a small town,” Anna explained in a rush. “And I haven’t been back here in quite some time, and what with my daughters and ex-husband here, my presence is already causing something of a stir.”
“Ah.” He nodded in understanding. “The inevitable gossip mill going into overdrive.”
Anna nodded, relieved he got it. “Yes, exactly.”
“Well.” He paused, his forehead crinkling. “If this doesn’t sound too forward, you’re welcome to come to mine. Unless someone follows your car all the way out of town, no one would know.” The smile he gave her was charming and just a little bit whimsical. “But if you’d rather meet in a public place, I understand, of course.”
Of course, it would be more sensible, as well as safer, to meet in a public place. Anna would have lectured both Harriet and Rachel about meeting a strange man in a secluded place, most certainly! But…she trusted James Adams, and she felt she knew him, both through Jane and the brief interactions they’d already had.
“I don’t mind,” she told him. “That would be lovely.”
His smile widened in a way that made Anna feel like laughing. He looked so pleased, and she felt the same. Something about the way they interacted felt amazingly easy, andright. Or was that just wishful thinking?
“Great,” he told her. “Friday, around seven? I’ll give you my postcode, as well as my number, in case something comes up.”
“Wonderful,” Anna replied, and that buzzy sense of something good happening rippled through her again, so she felt positively electrified.
Chapter Twelve
The next morning,Anna headed over to Jane’s with a dozen blueberry muffins and a packet of freshly ground coffee. There was a lightness in her step, a positive swing to it, after James’s invitation last night. It was only Tuesday, but she could hardly wait until Friday. Did it count as a date? she’d wondered endlessly already. She thought it might. Was she too old to be feeling this way? She thought she was, but she didn’t care.
“Oh, Anna!” Jane came to the door still in her pyjamas although it was ten o’clock in the morning. She looked exhausted. “Thank you for yesterday. I’m sorry I wasn’t more together. You must have been appalled by the state of me—”
“Not at all, Jane, and you really don’t need to apologise,” Anna returned quickly. “I understand completely how a little one can take over your life. And the brain fog…! Please. I get it, I really do.” She smiled, shaking her head, before holding out the muffins and coffee. “These are for you. A little pick-me-up.”
“Oh.” Jane brightened as she took the offerings. “Thank you so much. Do you have time to have a cuppa and a muffin?”
Anna hesitated, knowing she really needed to see Harriet and Rachel, but then decided that an extra half an hour could hardly hurt. “That would be lovely,” she said, and stepped inside.
Jane led her back to the kitchen which, despite Anna having tidied it just the night before, looked as messy as ever, or almost.
“Sorry, all your good work gone to waste,” Jane remarked on a sigh, and Anna smiled.
“Isn’t that always the way with children?” She glanced around the kitchen. “Where’s the gorgeous Henry?”
