Page 18 of A New Family at Puddleduck Farm (Puddleduck Farm #6)

Phoebe was about to go up and see Sam and Lily when she spotted them in the yard heading her way. She went to meet them. ‘Sam, I’m sorry. I got waylaid on a call. But I should have let you know.’

‘It’s fine. Don’t worry. I guessed it was something like that.’

To her relief he didn’t sound too put out. ‘How’s our beautiful baby?’ She leaned over the buggy and touched Lily’s hair. ‘Have you got a smile for your mummy?’

Lily gurgled and Phoebe’s heart swelled with love.

‘And how’s our Roxie?’ she added, bending to stroke the dalmatian, who was waiting patiently for her attention.

Roxie wagged her tail and Sam raised his eyebrows. ‘Roxie’s got a confession to make, although I can tell you about that later if you’re in a rush.’

‘I’m not in a rush. What’s she been doing?’

‘She’s been stealing cat food again. You know how we always put the bowl up on the big windowsill in the front room so Snowball can reach it and she can’t?’

Phoebe glanced at him curiously. ‘She can’t get up there, can she?’

‘Apparently she can if she puts one paw on the back of the sofa and leans across. I caught her today, the little monkey.’

‘Oh my God, the clever little madam.’ Phoebe laughed. ‘I bet Snowball loved that.’

‘I think he actually came to tell me. I was in the hall and he came out of the front room yowling and when I went in there I caught her in the act.’

‘So our dog’s a thief and our cat’s a grass. I guess we’ll have to find a new place for his bowl.’ They both laughed now. ‘I popped in and saw Maggie when I was out,’ Phoebe added. ‘She helped me get some things into perspective. We can have a proper chat later.’

‘Great.’ His face closed down a little and she realised it probably hadn’t been the most diplomatic time to tell him that bit. ‘I’d, er, better get back in to work. Are you going for a walk?’

‘We are. Just around here in case it starts raining again.’ He touched her arm. ‘I love you.’

‘Love you too, Sam.’

A few minutes later, feeling much lighter and with a pleased Roxie beside him, Sam pushed the buggy with a peaceful Lily down towards the neddies.

Ninja, accompanied by one of the donkeys, came ambling across the damp paddock to greet them. Sam pulled the buggy up to the fence but not too close and handed out carrot slices to soft, eager mouths.

Lily, who already loved the donkeys, shouted out something that sounded like ‘donk’.

It would be donkey, not daddy, that was her first word, Sam thought ruefully.

He glanced over towards the dog field. There was someone with two German Shepherds in there.

Both dogs were tracking round the perimeter fence.

Their black and tan coats and low waving tails were distinctive against the short green grass.

Then their owner blew two sharp bursts on a whistle and one of the dogs ran back towards him.

The other one ignored the call and continued sniffing.

Sam watched them for a moment. One responsive dog and one with no recall by the look of it.

No wonder they needed a secure dog field.

He was pleased their new venture was going so well.

Even if it had meant there was no room left for him to do any riding lessons.

It was a brilliant source of income for the charity.

He was also relieved Phoebe hadn’t been bottling things up after last night but had talked to Maggie. They’d always been twin souls.

He sometimes wished he had a close friend – someone he could sound off to about things without worrying he’d be judged. But Phoebe had always been his best friend. It was a double-edged sword, sometimes, having a soulmate who was also your best friend.

‘Get over yourself, Sam,’ he said aloud as he crossed behind the dog field and walked up towards the perimeter fence line of the Puddleduck Farm land.

This was the furthest point of their land and where it came closest to the Beechbrook estate.

He looked up at the belt of woodland that shielded Beechbrook House.

A bright rainbow curved across the sky above the trees, a shimmering arch of red, yellow and green.

One end of it disappeared behind the woodland coming down in the place where Sam judged the manor house to be.

That was appropriate. Wasn’t there supposed to be a pot of gold to be found at the foot of a rainbow? Rufus had plenty of gold.

On the other hand, there was more than one type of gold in life, Sam thought, counting his blessings.

He had a partner he adored, he had a beautiful baby and he lived in this amazing place in the countryside.

It was a dream life by anyone’s standards, and the insecurities that plagued him occasionally about not being a good enough father, not being up to the job, were temporary. He was sure they were.

He looked back at Lily. She’d fallen asleep, her dark eyelashes resting against her pale rose cheeks. She was so perfect, so precious. He had so much to be grateful for. Then, almost on autopilot, he took his mobile out of his pocket and read Judy Barker’s message.

* * *

Phoebe’s afternoon flew by, as they always did when she was working. It had been good to listen to Maggie’s quiet wisdom at lunchtime.

She hadn’t realised how sad she’d still been feeling about the baby they’d lost. She wondered if Sam felt it too.

They hadn’t been communicating so well lately.

They’d both been so tired. But now she had spoken to Maggie about it, she felt as though she had let go of a little bit more of her grief around it.

Her head felt a lot more ordered and serene.

Although Maggie was right. She needed to talk to Sam about it too.

It was a relief to finish her appointments, and she didn’t hang around chatting to her staff for too long at the end of the day.

She and Sam needed a proper heart-to-heart.

It would be good to get home and talk everything through with him.

Sam had always been so calm and steady. He would get it, she knew he would.

Then everything would be well again with their world.

* * *

Sam had taken advantage of Lily settling down for much of the afternoon in her play gym to cook a spag bol for their dinner.

It had felt good to cook a proper meal. He hadn’t done much cooking lately, and even a simple bolognese was a big step up from the rushed mix of cheese on toast and ready meals they’d been living on lately.

He was keen to talk to Phoebe. Maybe to tell her something of how he’d been feeling lately. He’d thought he was being supportive by not telling her, but maybe he’d just made things worse.

They had loads to look forward to. Christmas was approaching fast. Lily’s first Christmas. And they needed to talk about having a christening for Lily, not to mention getting their wedding back on track. His spirits lifted.

* * *

‘Something smells nice.’ Phoebe wrinkled her nose in appreciation as she came into the kitchen with Roxie at her heels. ‘Oh, Sam, you’ve been cooking. That’s really sweet.’ She crossed to the Aga where the pan was bubbling on the simmer plate. ‘It’s ages since we’ve had one of these.’

‘I was going to do some garlic bread to go with it but I just checked the freezer and we don’t have any.’

‘Yes, that would have been nice. Do you want me to go and get some?’

‘Don’t worry. I’ll go. I think our daughter needs changing.’ He picked up his car keys and jangled them. ‘You can do that bit. I’ll nip up to the Co-op.’

‘That seems like a very fair trade to me. Can you get some more nappies while you’re there? I think we’re a bit low.’

He’d been gone about twenty minutes when Phoebe heard the ringtone of a mobile. Not hers, which was still on silent from being at work. Sam must have left his behind. She spotted it on the table and went across.

The name flashing up on the screen was Judy Barker.

Why did she recognise that name? Phoebe felt a jolt of unease – God, yes, it was Sam’s ex.

They’d talked about her once at length. Things hadn’t worked out between them because Judy’s posh parents didn’t approve of Sam, but he’d been in love with her enough to have tried to make the relationship work a second time and they’d got back together for a while.

Phoebe could remember him telling her about it. Why on earth was Judy calling him now?

She was tempted to answer it but she hesitated too long and the ringing stopped. Then for a moment she stood in the kitchen feeling uneasy. What if Judy was trying to reconnect with Sam again? Third time lucky. Maybe she didn’t know Sam was a father now and settled with Phoebe.

The ping of an answerphone message being left sent a chill through Phoebe. The last thing they needed was an ex turning up, footloose and fancy free. Sam might be tempted. He might welcome the idea of an afternoon away from nappy changing and domestic chores.

Well, he wouldn’t if he didn’t see the message.

Neither of them had passwords on their phones.

They’d never seen the need. They often joked that trust was a good password.

Phoebe snatched up his phone and, with her heart beating fast because she thought she’d just heard the slam of a car door outside, she deleted the answerphone message.

She was sure there was a way of deleting the record of the call too.

Yes, there was. A quick sideways swipe and she’d deleted Judy Barker out of existence.

What if she’d texted too? She was about to look and see when she heard the front door bang and with her face flaming, she put Sam’s phone down and went quickly over to Lily.

She was chatting to their daughter happily when Sam came back into the kitchen.

‘One garlic bread with cheese. And I got a spare for the freezer.’

He’d bought flowers too, Phoebe saw with a stab of guilt, a bunch of red and yellow roses in cellophane wrapping. And he was getting out her favourite New York cheesecake.

‘Dah dah!’ He put it on the table.

She wished she could turn back the clock by five minutes. She was already regretting her crazy impulse to delete that message. She was also regretting not listening to it. It had probably been totally harmless, and now she’d never know. Cheeks flushing, she blew him a kiss.

‘Thank you. I’ve got a bottle of red out and the kettle’s boiled ready for the spaghetti so if we put that in the Aga now everything will be ready at the same time.’

‘Sounds great.’ He came across the room and put an arm round her and smiled down at Lily. ‘Shall I finish the dinner, Pheebs, while you feed Lily and put her to bed?’

‘It’s a deal.’