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Kitty smiled to herself, her cheeks aching with the effort to keep her grin low-key. It was nice to meet a man who admired her OCD brain. Usually, people found her pedantic tendencies annoying.

They arrived back at the house, and Thea showed Kitty through to the chaotic office. Her head reeled at the clutter, and as she sat at one desk, her fingers itched to sort through the pile of papers in front of her.

“I’m thrilled to help with the animals, but would you think me rude if I offered to help you with all this, too?” Kitty pointed at the stack of paperwork.

“Oh, my goodness, be my guest,” Thea said with a look of relief on her face.

Kitty was about to offer a plan of attack for the out-of-control paperwork when a little girl ran into the office. She held a naked and shorn Barbie in one hand and a peanut butter sandwich in the other.

“Mummy!” she cried. “Peppa Pig has finished. I’ve got nothing to do now.”

She noticed Kitty. “Who’s this?” she asked.

“This is Joshie’s friend, Kitty. She’s helping Mummy out for a bit.”

The little girl appraised her.

“She’s got very long legs. Like Barbie,” she said, waving her doll in the air.

Kitty smiled. She’d never in her life thought she’d be compared to a Barbie doll.

The girl took a bite of her sandwich, her head tilted to one side as she chewed. After what felt like minutes, her impish face erupted into a big grin.

“I like her,” she said, hopping onto Kitty’s lap, covering her trousers with sticky fingerprints.

Kitty cringed inside, freezing like a statue. She disliked kids almost as much as horses. They were unpredictable, noisy, and perpetually needed a good wash. As she sat with the little girl on her lap, all she could think about was laundering her clothes as soon as she got home.

The phone rang, and with a wave of her hand, Thea turned away to answer.

“My name’s Amelia,” the little girl said. “You can call me Ammy,”

“Hi, Ammy. My name’s Katherine, but you can call me Kitty.”

“I know,” she said, raising her gummy fingers in the air. Kitty watched them, wide-eyed, praying that Ammy wouldn’t touch her hair. She’d treated herself to a blowout in town.

“Are you going to marry my uncle?” the little girl asked innocently.

Kitty almost spat out her tea. She opened her mouth, gulping at the air like a beached fish.

“Bugger!” Thea said as she put the phone down.

“What’s wrong, Mummy? Did you forget to pay the bank again?” Thea blushed a deep red as Ammy picked apart her sandwich, having abandoned her Barbie in Kitty’s lap.

“The babysitter cancelled. Has a migraine. Dammit!”

Thea leafed through a contacts book on the desk, leaving a trail of muddy fingerprints on every page.

“Kitty can look after me,” Ammy said.

Thea’s eyes turned to Kitty. She took one look at her and shook her head.

“It’s okay. I’ll see who else I can dig up.”

Kitty’s brow creased. What was wrong with her babysitting for Ammy? Did she look that hopeless? She had to confess it was probably a good judgement on Thea’s part, but she hated being deemed inadequate at anything.

“I don’t mind,” she offered. “I have two nieces of my own.” Who she never saw.

Thea looked to where Kitty sat, Amelia settling back in her lap.