The driver was right behind her. “Saw you chatting to the man,” he said casually.

“No, he was chatting to me,” she said. “He seems desperate to find help.”

“So now you’re thinking you should not set your heart on Bedford, because here you have a home and work, all rolled into one. Mind you, if he’s a man on his own, you need to be very careful.”

He started the engine and began pulling out.

Maddy took a sideways glance at the man called Brad, who had replaced the cap on the can and was wiping his hands on an old rag. He then threw the rag back into the bucket, collected the can and started his way back to the Land Rover.

“STOP!” Grabbing her bag from the overhead shelf, she frantically yelled for the driver to pull over.

“Hey!” Drawing the coach to a halt, the man was astonished to see Maddy brush past him and start down the steps. “What the devil are you playing at?”

“You made me think,” she told him. “And you’re right. That poor man needs someone to work for him, and I need the work and lodgings. It’s ideal.”

“Don’t be rash, love. You don’t know anything about him.”

“And he doesn’t know anything about me. I heard the man in the garage say he’s a decent bloke, and he knows him, so I’m happy with that.” She told herself that no man could be as evil as the one from whom she was fleeing, an evil man who would take delight in doing away with her, and their son.

“If you were my daughter, there’s no way I’d let you off this coach! And I thought you were going to stay with a friend?”

“But I’m not your daughter – I’m not anyone’s daughter. Besides, I’m old enough to know how to take care of myself.” He opened the door and she clambered to the ground.

“What about Bedford?”

“There’s time enough for that,” she said. “And like you say, if this doesn’t work out, Bedford is only a spit and a throw away. Thanks for all your kindness. And now I’m sorry, but I’ve got to dash. Bye-ee!”

Running across the forecourt, she called out to Brad. “Hang on a minute!”

Turning round, he was astonished to see the pretty girl running toward him. Putting the can on the ground, he waited. “Okay, what have I done now?” he asked.

“It seems you have what I’m looking for.”

“Dear me! And what might that be then?”

“I need work and lodgings, and you appear to have both.”

He studied her for a brief moment. “Are you telling me you want to come and work at Brighill Farm?”

“Yes, I am.”

“But it’s heavy stuff. It’s a man I need more than anything.” He paused. “You wouldn’t happen to be a trained nursemaid, by any chance?” he inquired hopefully. “I’ve got a young son – Robin. He’s nearly eight.”

“No, but I’m used to children – with my smaller brothers and sisters, and all that.” She could feel herself blushing at the lie. “And I can turn my hand to hard work if needs be. But I can’t claim to do heavy labor. Like you rightly say, you need a man for that. But I’m keen, and I’m a quick learner, and I know my way round babies.” Her own darling son loomed large in her mind, making her heart dip. She prayed for the day when she could openly have him with her, “Look here, Mr…”

“Brad… call me Brad, everyone does.”

“Well, Brad – and you can call me Sheelagh – Sheelagh Parson.” It was a combination of her middle name and her late mother’s maiden name, so it wasn’t too much of a lie, Maddy thought quickly. “The truth is, I really need the work. Why don’t you give me a trial, and if I’m not up to scratch, what have you got to lose?”

The man took another moment to study her; the long dark hair and slim figure, and that steely look in her chestnut-colored eyes, then, “Do you have references, Sheelagh?”

Looking him in the eye, she shook her head. “No. Do you, Brad?”

She saw the smile growing on his face and when he laughed out loud, she laughed with him. “You’ll do,” he said. “I’ll give you a month’s trial, okay?”

“Okay.”

As she clambered into his Land Rover, Maddy was knocked breathless by a huge hairy dog that leaped on her from behind.

“Down!” Brad gave the order and it leaped back into the boot. Then: “Stay!” which it did.

“Are you all right?” he asked Maddy. She told him how she’d been taken by surprise, but that she wasn’t hurt.

Brad apologized yet again, this time on behalf of the dog. “His name’s Donald. He’s my sheepdog, and my best friend.”

Maddy was curious. “Donald? That’s a strange name for a dog.”

“It was either that or Duck,” he said wrily. “When I first started training him to be a sheepdog, the daft capers he cut were nothing short of hilarious. They reminded me of Donald Duck. Hence the name.”

“He’s beautiful.” Looking round, she observed his big black eyes and peculiar sticky-up ears, one white, one black.

“He’s very special. Knows me better than I know myself,” Brad admitted. “I expect you heard a snippet or two back there. These past two years, things have been pretty difficult.” He jerked a thumb at the dog. “If it hadn’t been for this fellow, I don’t know what I’d have done.”

“It’s good to have a friend through bad times,” Maddy said quietly.

“You sound as if you know a bit about it.” Something in her tone reflected a sense of hurt.

Maddy gave no response. Least said, least repeated, she thought. As for the man in the garage, she would not be too happy if a friend of hers was to break a confidence like that.

“Okay.” Brad understood. “As long as you do your work, earn your keep and don’t steal the family jewels, I’m happy to mind my own business.”

He gave a sigh, muttering under his breath, “Roofs leaking, trenches to be dug out, acres of land that need turning over. Barns going up.” He started the engine, put his Land Rover into first gear and rolled his eyes in frustration. “I need ten men to do the work, and here I am, taking on a slip of a girl who’s got fewer muscles than my daft dog.”

“I heard that!” Maddy was trying not to laugh.

“You were meant to.”

“So, you don’t want me after all?”

“Did I say that?”

“No.”

“The plan is, me and young Robin and Donald will give you a try, then if you’re no good, you’re out.” He glanced at the dog. “Isn’t that right, Don?”

Hearing his name, the dog sat up, cocked an ear, licked his master’s face, slobbered on Maddy, then spreading himself flat on the floor, he dropped off to sleep.

Wiping off the slobber with the grubby rag Brad handed to her, Maddy giggled. “You’re right,” she said lightheartedly. “Donald does suit him.”

As they drove away, the coach driver watched, “Women! They never listen,” he grumbled. “Still, that Brad seems a regular sort of a bloke. All we can do is hope she’s made the right decision.”

After meandering past isolated farmhouses and lanes that were so narrow the sides of the vehicle sheared away the hedges, they arrived at what Maddy could only describe as something out of a painting. “Wow! Is this your house?” At the end of a long untidy drive, the rambling cottage was immensely pretty, with its thatched roof and tiny windows. The porch was a smaller masterpiece, with stout wooden struts holding up the quaint little roof. Brad had left the lights on, and they lit up the surrounding dark, chilly landscape like a beacon.

“Like it, do you?” Brad was proud of his home, especially as he and his late wife Penny had lovingly brought it back from years of being derelict.

“It’s adorable.” Maddy’s enthusiasm was akin to his own.

“Well, thank you. But you wouldn’t have said that if you’d seen it some ten years back. It was just a heap of rubble and rotting timber, with the roof sagging into the downstairs rooms, and crumbling walls where the rain poured in.”

He described how hard it had been, bringing it back to its former glory. “When we first saw it, Penny wasn’t sure if she could live in it. But I fell in love with it straight off, so we went to the auction, and got it for a song. The surrounding forty acres of land were auctioned separately, and as my lifelong dream had been to start a veterinary farm, where animals might convalesce, I bought the lot.”