His mother shook her head. ‘You’re not sorry at all. Anyway I might see you at the lantern parade, although I’ve been roped into manning the WI tombola in the church hall, so who knows?’ She patted Harold’s head. ‘Try to stay out of trouble until then.’
‘Who? Me or the dog?’ Brody quipped, opening the oak front door for her.
‘Both of you!’ she called back.
He stood on the doorstep, seeing his mum off, with Harold by his side.
‘Don’t forget the diesel!’ she called through the car window. Finally she drove out of the gates to the yard into the sleet.
Brody walked around the side of the farm to the rear outbuildings.
‘Come on, let’s deal with the “menagerie”,’ he said to Harold, using the word that his mother had always used to describe his succession of pets and strays over the years.
Anyone would think he owned a full-on zoo, Brody thought wryly as he strode across his cobbled yard, and not simply two sheep and a donkey, all of which he’d acquired by accident in the past couple of years. The Jacob sheep had arrived after a client, who owned a smallholding, had had to go into a nursing home. Their previous owner haddied, so Brody had taken on Jackie and Jill, who’d been beloved family pets.
He’d been called out to Gabriel, the donkey, by a local and found the poor creature in a sorry state of neglect by the river, his owner having abandoned him. Now both Gabriel and the sheep seemed to live quite happily together in the field that separated Felltop from Sunnyside, which was just as well. Gabriel had a cosy shelter, created from an old stable block at the end of Brody’s cobbled yard. The donkey could wander in whenever he wanted, and the sheep had also been brought in out of the cold. Tonight was definitely a night to keep them all inside, out of this freezing night air.
He tipped some fresh feed in the donkey’s manger and filled the sheep’s trough with corn.
Even when he’d had a stressful or exhausting day at work, he found it therapeutic to care for his charges. He loved the scent of them, and the connection he felt when stroking or checking them over. He didn’t even mind the heavy work or clearing out the stable. OK, mucking out wasn’t the most fun, but it kept him warm on a cold day and took him away from worries about the practice and his personal life. Feeding and cleaning out the animals was simple and straightforward, unlike the rest of his life these days.
He stood back, watching the animals eating – having a donkey and two admittedly grown-up lambs in a stable felt very seasonal.
Gabriel started to tuck in. Brody patted his back, feeling the warmth of the animal’s body. ‘Good lad, Gabe. I don’t blame you, staying inside in this weather. I’d be the same.’
Sophie drifted into his mind. What a pity she was so against Christmas.
‘So the chances of her coming to the party aren’t great, mate,’ he said aloud to Gabriel, who carried on eating his dinner. ‘And I oughtn’t to feel disappointed about that, but I do.’
His voice echoed around the cold stone of the stable. Perhaps his mother was right: he had lived alone for too long at Felltop Farm, if the only conversations he had were with his animals. Yet Brody couldn’t see a way of that changing soon.
CHAPTER FOUR
A few wispy flakes of snow were falling as Sophie snuggled into the window seat of her sitting room, pulling a fleecy blanket over her legs and holding a mug of hot chocolate. Jingle and Belle had been very reluctant to venture out and spent most of the day curled up in their radiator cradles or on the heated airer in the utility room.
Since her visit to the vet’s a few days before she’d been busy, though not as rushed off her feet as during the summer season, when the guest house had been fully booked for weeks on end. The constant changeovers, breakfasts and guests to greet had been exhausting and, in the busiest period, she’d fallen into bed after dark, waking up early at sunrise.
Even though she loved hosting her guests, her first season had been draining. She’d told herself that she’d be fine if she kept busy and was surrounded by people, but she’d often felt quite lonely, especially at first. Gradually, though, without her even noticing, her heart ached less and she found Ben intruding into her thoughts less frequently.
When she did get some free time, she’d head out for longwalks on the fells or for trips into the village, grateful for how things had turned out after all, giving her the chance to live her dream.
The walks were one of the main reasons guests came to stay. In fact she had two rooms currently occupied by couples who were keen walking companions. They’d taken advantage of a clear day to rise before dawn and climb Helvellyn that morning, leaving details of their route with Sophie in case they got into difficulty, as per mountain-rescue advice to all walkers. You couldn’t rely on a mobile signal in the mountains, though it was a fine day, so the hill would probably be swarming with walkers and they’d be unlikely to be without help, if they did have an accident.
With the house empty, Sophie allowed herself a short break and wanted to double-check she’d got all her plans in place for her Christmas escapees. Although she had sophisticated booking apps on her laptop and phone, there was always the possibility that the Internet might go down in bad weather. Or the app cease to work. Or both. Years of experience in retail had taught her always to have a back-up plan, and so Sophie was prepared.
She flipped open a notebook with the names, addresses, phone numbers and emails of all her guests, plus any special requests. As this was her first time hosting a ‘full board’ experience, she was also using the notebook to work out her menus, entertainment and any other requirements. Since advertising the Escape, four of the five rooms were booked, which was one in the eye for the negative people who had doubted she’d get any guests at all.
A few locals had sneered at her ad, mostly owners of other accommodation who’d questioned the wisdom of swimming against the tide of seasonal offerings, particularly in Sophie’s first year of running the business, and needing to build repeat guests. Sophie had explained her reasons, taking great pride in telling them that four of the five rooms were already booked. She hoped that she might get another booking in the couple of weeks left before Christmas, so that Sunnyside would be fully occupied. That would be a nice way to finish off her first year.
Sipping her hot chocolate, she read through her notes again, in case she’d missed anything:
Room 1: Amber Smith. From Edinburgh. On her own. Online booking. Requested a quiet room with a view.
Fortunately, she thought, all the rooms had gorgeous views.
Room 2: Una and Hugo Hartley-Brewer. A phone booking. Brummie accents. Address in a Warwickshire village: not that far from Stratford.
Sophie would have something in common with them and it would be a conversation starter, being from a similar part of the world, but there was always the risk of them knowing someone she did. She added a note to herself:
