He’d heard all of Lucia’s stories before, and they all ended the same way - her finding something amazing/mothering a lost child/saving a village from water drought/having to perform an emergency arm amputation so someone doesn’t get trampled by wildebeest or something equally ridiculous. Angeline was enthralled.
Benji bounded up to them and Owen pulled him onto his knee, whispering something in his ear.
‘Laurel, Daddy says that you’re a farmer. Do you want to see my cows?’ Benji asked, jumping up.
Owen looked sheepish.
‘I didn’t say she was a farmer, Benji. I said she ran a farm,’ he said, rubbing the back of his neck. But Laurel just laughed.
‘Of course I do, Benji. Lead the way.’
She let the boy take her hand and lead her away across the garden.
Nate was going to have a few brief words with Alex and Lucia.
Laurel
Laurel’s mind was absolutely all over the place as she walked across the garden, hand in hand with Benji as he led her excitedly towards what he called ‘the cow house’.
There was Lucia, with her glossy chestnut Latina curls and beautiful, dark, soulful eyes. How could she get away with wearing what essentially looked like a hemp sack? Somehow, she pulled it off, swishing in to give Nate the weirdly intimate hug, punctuated with the clanging of bangles and anklets. Perhaps she still had a thing for him?
The thing that was the most annoying, however, was the fact that Lucia had the tiniest, silver septum piercing. It didn’t make her look like a bull with a ring through her nose. No, it accentuated her golden skin and her ridiculously full, rosy lips. She probably got it from somewhere like Addis Ababa in a special ceremony or something.
It was extremely unprofessional to talk about work in a social setting, but she had wanted to thank Alex and hopefully make it good so they could enjoy the weekend. But those snide comments about her working on a farm and smelling like shit? What was he, twelve?
Laurel had been all prepared to let that go for the sake of the weekend, especially after the ‘you’re not just a farm girl’ discussion she and Nate had in the car earlier. But no, Nate had to go and jump in and be a saviour, going on about everything there was at Little Willow Farm. Well, she didn’t need a saviour, and by doing so he damn well proved that status did matter to him. That he felt embarrassed by her being just a farm girl.
Perhaps it was good that she found this out now so she could take a step back, nurse her broken heart and move on.
Perhaps she was overreacting.
‘We’ve got four cows and three of them are in the field, and one of them is pregnant in the cow house. Mr Stapleton says it’s a big one,’ Benji said knowingly.
‘Mr Stapleton?’ Laurel snapped her attention back to the boy.
‘Yeah, he helps us with the animals.’
Benji tugged at her hand, urging her to go faster.
‘Benji, Laurel, wait for me,’ Nate called from behind her. He was jogging through the garden to them, stupid salt and pepper hair flapping beautifully in the breeze. When he got to them, he touched her elbow lightly. ‘You okay?’
‘Mmm hmm.’ No, she was not. She was annoyed with him.
‘Look, I’m sorry about Alex and Lucia, they’re just—’ He pulled a hand through his hair. ‘I don’t know what they are, but I’m beginning to see them, Alex especially, in a new and very unflattering light.’
What did he expect her to say to that?
‘Right,’ she murmured.
He frowned at her.
‘What’s the matter? Are you okay?’ Nate waited.
‘Hey Benji, why don’t you run ahead to see if Mr Stapleton is there?’ she said to the boy, who pouted but ran off.
Laurel turned back to Nate.
‘I don’t need you, or Jack, or my father, or anyone else for that matter, to defend me,’ she started. ‘I don’t need a saviour.’
