The Girl from Honeysuckle Farm / One Dance with the Cowboy. Jessica Steele

a moment. But, apart from him not being too concerned about anything very much just now, he’s as grateful to you as I am that you were where you were today.’ The matter settled as far as he was concerned, he took out his wallet, extracted his business card, wrote several numbers on it and, standing up, handed it to her.

      Phinn glanced at the card in her hand and read that he had given her his office number, his mobile number, the phone number of his London home and the one she had asked for—the number of the Hall.

      ‘No need to have gone raving mad,’ she commented. She had only wanted one telephone number, for goodness’ sake!

      ‘Just in case,’ he said, and she realised he meant her to ring him if she felt things were going badly for Ash. ‘Feel free to ring me at any time,’ he added.

      ‘Right,’ she agreed, and stood up too. She found he was too close and, feeling a mite odd for no reason, took a step away.

      ‘How are you feeling now?’ he thought to ask before he turned to the door.

      ‘Feeling?’ For a moment she wasn’t with him.

      Without more ado he caught hold of both of her hands. When, his touch making her tingle, she would have snatched her hands back, he held on to them. ‘You’re not shaking,’ he observed—and then she was with him.

      ‘Oh, I think the shock has passed now,’ she informed him, only then starting to wonder if this man—this complex kind of man—had stayed talking with her as long as he had so as to be on hand if she looked like going into full-blown shock. ‘You’re kinder than I thought,’ she blurted out, quite without thinking—and abruptly had her hands dropped like hot coals.

      ‘Spread that around and I’ll have to kill you,’ he said shortly. And that was it. He was gone.

      Starting to only half-believe that Ty Allardyce had been in the flat and made that staggering, not to say wonderful job and accommodation offer for her and Ruby, Phinn went quickly to the window that overlooked the stableyard.

      He was there. She had not dreamt it. Ty Allardyce was in the stableyard talking to Geraldine Walton. What was more, Geraldine was smiling her head off. Never had Phinn seen her look more animated or more pleasant.

      Phinn added ‘charm’ to Ty Allardyce’s list of accomplishments, and wondered what he was talking to Geraldine about. Keeping out of sight, she watched for a minute or so more, and then the two of them disappeared.

      While they were gone she observed that there was a pick-up vehicle in the yard that did not belong to the stables. She assumed that Ty Allardyce had driven over in it.

      She soon saw that her assumption was correct. When he and Geraldine Walton appeared again, he was hauling a bale of straw and Geraldine was wheeling a bale of hay. Phinn watched as the two bales were loaded onto the pick-up. She kept out of sight as the two disappeared again, and then reappeared with the special feed Phinn herself had bought for Ruby, who needed it on account of her teeth not being what they once had been.

      Feeling little short of amazed, Phinn watched as the two chatted a little while longer, before Ty got into the pick-up and drove away.

      Was he a mover or was he a mover? My heavens, it had all been cut and dried as far as he was concerned before he had even left Broadlands! Ty Allardyce needed someone trustworthy to keep his brother company while he returned to the business he had already neglected for far too long, and he had it all planned out before he had come to see her!

      While he might not have cared for her standing up to him over her right to trespass, it was plain that in his view, when it came to being trustworthy with his brother, there was no higher recommendation than that she had that day taken a header into the pool to get his brother out when Ash had got into difficulties. Plan made, all that he’d needed to do was come and see her and—as it were—make her an offer she couldn’t refuse.

      That he had known in advance that she would not refuse his offer was evidenced by the fact he had driven over in the pick-up. Efficient or what? Since he would be at the stables, he might as well collect a few things and save an extra journey later.

      Feeling a little bit stunned by the man’s efficiency, Phinn went out to check on Ruby. Inevitably, it seemed, she bumped into Geraldine Walton.

      ‘You didn’t say you were starting work up at the Hall?’ Geraldine commented, and seemed more relaxed than she had before.

      Phinn felt a little stumped as to how to reply. There was no way she was going to reveal to anyone the true nature of her job at the Hall. On the other hand, given that Geraldine could be tough when she had to be, she did not want to part with bad feelings.

      ‘I’m just hoping my secretarial skills aren’t too rusty,’ she answered lightly. It was the best she could do at a moment’s notice, and she hoped it would suffice as a white lie. ‘Must go and check on Ruby,’ she added with a smile, and went quickly on.

      Ruby came over to her as soon as she saw her, and Phinn told her all about the move tomorrow, and about the nice new paddock all to herself. Ruby nuzzled into her neck appreciatively—and Phinn came near to feeling relaxed for the first time in an age.

      She stayed talking to Ruby for quite some while, and was in fact still with her when she thought that perhaps she had given Ty plenty of time in which to tell his brother that from tomorrow on they were to have a house guest.

      Realising she had left her mobile phone and the phone numbers Ty had given her back in the flat, she parted from Ruby briefly while she nipped back to the accommodation she would be vacating in the morning.

      Finding the card, she dialled the number of the Hall and, for no known reason expecting that Ash would be the one to answer her call, was a little nonplussed to hear Ty’s voice. ‘Allardyce,’ he said, and she knew straight away that it was him.

      ‘Oh, hello, Ty—er—Mr Allardyce,’ she stumbled, feeling a fool.

      ‘Ty,’ he invited, and asked, ‘Did you want to speak with Ash?’

      ‘If I may,’ she replied primly. And that was it. A few minutes later Ash was on the line.

      ‘I wanted to ring you,’ he said, before she could say a word. ‘We hadn’t got your number, but I wanted to thank you so much, Phinn, for what you did today. I didn’t get a chance before. When I think—’

      ‘That’s all right, Ash,’ she butted in. ‘Er—actually, Ty stopped by to thank me. Um—I think you must have told him about my need to move from here?’

      ‘I’m glad I did. Ty says he knows we can never repay you, but that he’s offered you and your horse temporary accommodation here until you can sort something out.’

      ‘You don’t mind?’

      ‘Good Lord, no! Ty’s suggested I get busy sorting out the old stable in the morning.’

      ‘I’ll come and help!’ Phinn volunteered promptly.

      ‘Actually, I’m without wheels, so if you could come and collect me and some of my stuff, it…?’

      ‘I owe you—big-time. Nine o’clock suit?’

      Phinn went to bed that night with her head buzzing. She barely knew where to start when she thought of all that had happened that day. Drinking beer in the forge! That ghastly picture of Ash in trouble! His complex brother! His amazing offer! All in all, today had been one almighty day for huge surprises.

      Strangely, though, as she lay in the dark going over everything in her head, it was Ty Allardyce who figured most largely in her thoughts. He could be hard, he could be bossy—overbearing, even—but he could be kind too. Complex did she say? Ty Allardyce was something else again.

      She remembered the way he had taken her hands in his, and recalled the way she had tingled all over. Don’t be ridiculous, she instructed herself. Just look forward to going to Broadlands Hall to be a companion to Ash so that Ty can get back to the work he so obviously loves.