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“Then I hope it all works out for you,” he said quietly. “Thank you again for agreeing to help Thea, while you’re still here.”

Kitty plumped up the cushion she leaned on. “My pleasure, but do you mind me asking, what happened to Thea’s husband?”

Josh sighed.“Phil had aggressive bone cancer. They gave him two years to live, but he only lasted eighteen months. It was brutal.”

After he spoke, he clamped his jaw tight and looked at his glass of wine. “That’s terrible,” Kitty whispered, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. “It must have been so tough for Thea and Ammy. How has she coped? Thank goodness she has you.”

“It’s been rough, but kids are resilient. We talk about her dad a lot. Thea takes things in her stride, but don’t let that fool you. Every day is a battle for her.”

Kitty nodded. “Ammy will grow up without a dad. That’s so sad.”

“Do you want kids?” Josh asked, turning to her.

Whoa,where had that question come from? They’d only just had their first Twister game. It was hardly time to talk about babies. “I don’t know. Maybe one day, but kids don’t seem to like me much.”

“Ammy likes you,” he said. “She didn’t stop talking about you when I put her to bed.”

“Really?” said Kitty, surprised at how pleased she was to win the little girl’s approval.

“I think you’re going to have a little shadow there.”

She smiled at the idea.“Anyway, to have kids, one has to have a sex life,” she said, immediately regretting it, a burn rushing to her face. “TMI?” she asked, cringing.

Josh laughed. “No, I think that’s the way it happens.”

“What made you want to be a farm vet?” Kitty asked, desperate to change the subject. “I mean, I read the James Herriot books when I was younger, and it doesn’t seem very glamourous.”

Josh rubbed the light covering of stubble at his jaw. “It’s not. It was my dad. I idolised him, and I wanted to follow in his footsteps. Unfortunately, I inherited his practiceandhis single-minded approach to the job. I’m afraid I don’t find time for much else.”

“No sex life for you either, then.”

This time it was Josh’s turn to blush, his cheeks matching the colour of the overstuffed sofa cushions. Kitty’s body was warm and heavy with wine, and as Wendy snored between them, Josh eyed her with a thoughtful look.

“It’s nice to have you here, in Tottenbridge. I wasn’t sure what to expect when Jonty said you were coming. When we last met, you were a gangly tomboy, and now look at you.”

“Gangly?”she asked. What did he mean by gangly?

“Sorry, terrible choice of words. What I meant to say is that you are a pleasant surprise. I wish we’d kept in touch.”

Kitty’s face dropped. The conversation was going from bad to worse. First, he’d called her gangly, and now he’d called her pleasant. Pleasant was how you described a walk in the country or a garden party. She was practically drooling over him, and he called her pleasant.

“Oh shit, that came out all wrong, too,” Josh said, stumbling over his words. “What I meant to say is that….”

“Hello!” a hushed voice greeted them as Thea emerged into the sitting room. “Oh, Joshie. I didn’t know you were here.”

He stood up and gave his sister a hug and a kiss. Wendy also got to her fluffy feet and nuzzled Thea’s outstretched hands.

“I came over to supervise. I heard on the grapevine that Kitty was a bit of a hustler at Uno, so I couldn’t leave her and Ammy alone. I wouldn’t put it past your daughter to gamble the farm away.”

Kitty busied herself straightening the cushions on the sofa but couldn’t help smiling at his joke. “Did you have a good evening?” she asked.

Thea dug into her bag and brought out a cheque. She held it between her fingers with a big grin on her face.

“That’s fantastic! That should keep the donkeys in carrots for a while. Look, I should head off. I need to be up early,” said Kitty.

“Well, you can’t drive. You’ve had wine, and this village has no straight roads,” Josh said.

“I can walk.”