After leaving her mother at the breakfast table, Jess decided to work out her worries in the fields until Luca arrived. She still had no idea what she was going to say to him. Would it be a good thing to take Luca’s offer and spend some time away from the farm or should she try again to help Adam or accept his decision and get on with her life?
On the way to the top field, she came across Will and could tell by his face that something disastrous had happened. He didn’t even want to speak to her but eventually told her that Gaby had decided to leave sooner than expected. Jess was shocked: he and Gaby had seemed so happy as they’d rowed home and Jess was pretty sure that they’d spent the night together. She had no luck in finding out what had gone on though, because Will angrily refused all attempts to elaborate beyond ‘she has other plans and they don’t include me’.
So on top of her turmoil about Adam and Luca, Jess was now fretting about Will but there was obviously nothing she could do about it, so she tried to concentrate on replanting the Innisidgen bulbs for the rest of the day. The late afternoon sun was mellowing when Luca arrived.
She spotted him walking up the road from the tractor and, wiping her hands on her old jeans, she jumped down from the cab and went to meet him in the yard before he started to traipse into the muddy field. She’d almost reached him when Will whizzed past on his quad bike. Luca waved at him, but Will didn’t even lift a hand and zoomed off towards the lower fields, with a face like thunder.
Luca raised an eyebrow. ‘Oh dear. Something I said?’
Jess thought there was no point hiding the news. ‘No. I’m afraid Gaby’s left the farm unexpectedly.’
‘Oh … I see. Do you know why?’
‘She didn’t tell anyone, just packed her bag and walked out earlier this morning. Will won’t say why. He won’t talk about it.’
‘So, I was right about those two?’
‘Apparently so. I knew he liked Gaby and that she fancied him. I suspected there was more to it, but judging by the mood Will’s in, it must have been more serious than a fling. I’d no idea how deeply he felt about her.’
‘And yet she still left?’ Luca said.
‘Yes. Something major must have happened and from the state he’s in, she’s the one doing the heart breaking. He’s devastated. He might be a grumpy awkward git at times, but he’s very loyal and now he’s fallen for someone at last, it’s hit him very hard. It’s going to be tough on him and I don’t know how I can help him.’
Luca sighed. ‘I’m sorry to hear it. Love is shitty at times. It’s brutal and dirty and there are always casualties.’
Jess swallowed hard. ‘Yes.’
‘Have you thought about what I said?’ he asked.
‘I haven’t thought about anything else,’ Jess replied. It was half true.
Out of the corner of her eye, Jess saw her mother making her way over, an anxious expression on her face.
Anna smiled briefly at Luca before turning to Jess. ‘There’s no water. The pump has stopped again.’
‘Where’s Len?’ said Jess, exasperated that she could do without any more problems. Still, the farm didn’t stop just because its owners’ love lives were broken beyond repair.
‘He should be back from the quay with that delivery any moment.’
Jess sighed. ‘OK. It’s probably the trip switch and, if not, an airlock.’ She thought of Gaby working her magic the previous August.
‘I don’t want to disturb Will, after you-know-what,’ said her mother, lowering her voice when she referred cryptically to Gaby. ‘But the goats need fresh water now, not to mention the rest of the farm.’
‘OK. You go and start feeding the goats and I’ll check the pump house. Hopefully it’s nothing serious and we’ll have water again soon. If not, we’ll have to fetch some from the market garden.’
‘Thanks.’ She treated Luca to an apologetic smile. ‘Oh, and while you’re up there, could you bring some hay for the goats from the barn?’
‘Yes, sure.’ Jess waited for her mother to leave, then sighed at Luca. ‘I’m sorry, I have to go. Life at the farm never stops. You’d think the goats would have more respect for family dramas.’
He brushed his lips over hers. ‘Goats, eh? No empathy. Look, I’m meeting someone at the St Saviour’s Hotel in a little while. Shall I call in again on my way back, hopefully after you’ve got this – and the goats – sorted?’
Jess touched his arm. He was funny and charming, but he did look odd in his smart chinos and jacket, standing in the middle of her muddy yard while she was dirty and scruffy. Their worlds were so far apart.
‘Thanks, see you later,’ she said and summoned a smile for him. She watched him exit the farm gate before she trooped off to the pump shed.
As she’d expected, when she checked the control panel and listened to the pump juddering, the problem was an airlock. She opened the vent, waited for the motor to start running smoothly again and when she was satisfied that things were working properly, she left the shed. Just in time, she remembered to go into the barn and collect the small bale of hay for the goats’ feed.
The hay was at the far end of the barn and as she bent to pick the bale up, she heard Will call her from behind.
‘Jess?’
‘Will? Are you OK?’
‘I’ll survive. What about you? Are you all right?’
‘Like you, I’ll survive,’ said Jess, reminded once again about Adam’s terrible dilemma. She would have to share the news with Will soon. He was her brother and Adam’s friend, but now was definitely not the time. ‘The pump stopped but it was another airlock,’ she said, wincing at even this loose association with Gaby. ‘And Mum asked me to get some more hay.’
‘I just came in for some oil for the tractor.’ Will hovered by the wooden partitioned-off area where they kept the oil.
Jess had never seen him so beaten down, not since their father had left. She knew she was risking having her head bitten off, but she had to try and help him.
‘I’m so sorry about Gaby,’ she began.
‘Yeah. Life’s shit sometimes, but we just have to get on with it …’ He paused. ‘What did Luca want?’ he asked, switching the focus to her. It was typical Will and reminded Jess how closely he guarded his feelings and how badly he must be hurt.
‘Just to talk, but I was a bit busy.’ She didn’t dare tell him that Luca had asked her to move to London.
‘Tell me to mind my own business but did you speak to Adam yesterday? I’m sorry I asked him to row.’
‘It doesn’t matter now,’ said Jess. ‘That’s gone.’
‘And is it over between the two of you?’
‘Yes, but there’s more to the situation than he’s let on. Adam spoke to me in confidence yesterday and it’s … well, it’s complicated. I know he thinks of you as a close mate and I’m sure that, in time, he’ll talk to you about it, but for now, let him dictate the pace.’
Will blew out a breath. ‘Sounds serious.’
‘It is, but only he can tell you. At the moment, though, he doesn’t know what to do with himself.’
‘Jesus. Poor Adam … but I’ll leave it unless he says anything. We were good mates once, as close as brothers I thought at one time. It saddens me he can’t trust me now.’
She touched his arm. ‘I hope he will soon. It’s not been the greatest time for any of us.’
‘No. So what about you and Luca? Where does this leave the two of you?’
‘I don’t know about that either. He was offered a permanent job by Hugo but I think he plans to leave Scilly for good.’
‘Are you going with him?’
She smiled. ‘How could I leave the farm? We’d be out of business in a week.’
Will’s lips tilted in an ironic smile. ‘Same here. If I left you on your own, we’d go under in five minutes.’
Jess gasped, but her heart surged with affection for him. So that’s what had happened, had it? Gaby had issued an ultimatum to her brother.
‘Both of us are pretty crap at this stuff, aren’t we? Love, relationships …’ he said.
‘So it seems,’ said Jess, allowing herself a smile. ‘I’ll talk to you later about Adam if I can. And I’m always ready to listen. I can’t promise to be any help, but you know where I am.’
‘Will!’
A bellow reached them through the far door of the barn and the smell of cigarette smoke made Jess’s nostrils twitch.
Will rolled his eyes. ‘Great. That’s Len. Last thing I need. Want a hand with the bale?’
‘No, it’s fine.’
‘Will, are you in there? I need you!’
Will picked up the bale anyway, calling, ‘OK. No need to go off on one, Len.’
Jess turned away, trying to compose herself before she had to go back to tell her mother the water was fixed. Will was right: they were both pretty rubbish at relationships. Perhaps that had something to do with falling in love with the wrong people.
She took a deep breath and followed Will towards the door before a huge bang lifted her off her feet and she was flying through the air.