Harper curled her legs up onto the sofa and laid her head on her arm. ‘That feels like it was the longest, weirdest day of my life.’

‘It was pretty mad,’ Pip agreed as she sat next to her.

It was gone ten, and even though they had to be up early the next day and they were all exhausted, Shay was still cleaning the mess the archaeology volunteers Cesca had called in had inevitably left. Harper had just finished tidying the kitchen, while Pip had been out to the cash and carry for supplies, having had no time during the day because of all the extra interest in the place. They had decided to grab a quick cup of cocoa before heading up to bed.

‘He’s not very happy that they took the box away, is he?’ Pip asked.

‘No,’ Harper said with a slight smile. ‘If he thought he could get away with it, he would have been straight down to Sotheby’s to see what he could get.’

‘More like Cash for Gold,’ Pip said, grinning, and Harper let out a giggle.

‘Probably. A bit of me doesn’t blame him one bit. We really could have done with it, but the way I see it, the jewellery wasn’t ours and what you never had you never miss.’

‘I wonder who it belonged to. There must be one heck of a story there.’

‘I’m sure. We’ll know more soon enough, I suppose. I’ll bet there are clues in local documents somewhere when we know what year we’re looking at.’

‘Do you think we’ll see any of it again?’

‘Cesca seemed quite positive that it would be declared treasure trove and that we’d get a percentage once it had been sorted. She thought the crucifix looked like Tudor workmanship and that it might be pretty valuable from an archaeological point of view. Said she knew at least two museums that would snap our hands off for it if her hunch was right. I have to wonder how she knows so much just from looking at it. The trouble is, confirming things could be a long process. It doesn’t really help us now. Personally, I’m just relieved it’s off our property, because the thought of having to keep it safe for another night was stressing me out.’

‘Imagine how much it might be worth. That cross alone could probably pay for your wedding!’

‘I can’t believe it either. All those money worries I had when we first moved here and were trying to get the business up and running, and the answer was under our feet all along. How crazy is that?’

‘If today is anything to go by, it might bring in a lot of business from curious tourists, so we might get our extra money that way.’

‘Fat lot of good it will do us if we’re worked into the ground and ready for nothing but the hospital.’ Harper gave her a thin smile. ‘If things are going to be that busy we might have to get some help in.’

‘Can we afford that?’

‘Probably not,’ Harper mused. ‘Short term, though, perhaps.’

‘Well, you know I leave the money and sums to you while I just add colour to the place.’ Pip stifled a yawn. ‘So, y’know… whatever you decide is fine by me.’

They were interrupted by Shay, who strode into the room wiping soil from his jeans, his face and hair streaked with more of the same.

‘God!’ Harper squeaked, jumping from her seat. ‘Don’t bring it all in here!’

‘Where else am I supposed to go?’

‘Outside… shoo!’

‘I can’t come in?’

‘When you’ve got those dirty clothes off you can!’

Shay grinned and threw a wink at Pip. ‘She wants me – see how she can’t wait to get me naked.’

‘Out!’ Harper yelled. ‘Now!’

Shay shuffled out again, half laughing but his expression almost reproachful. ‘Bossy boots…’

‘Ugh! There are some things about living with Shay I’ll never get used to,’ Harper said, returning to her seat. ‘One of those is the constant mess that comes with him. Honestly, I think when we’re married we’ll have to keep our separate houses.’

Pip shifted in her seat but said nothing.

‘You know you can stay here,’ Harper said gently. Where Pip was going to live once Harper was married was a subject they’d covered many times. Harper had insisted that there was no reason to change their current living arrangements, and that the addition of Shay into their home would make little difference as he already spent so much time there anyway. But Pip, in a passive-aggressive stance that Harper recognised only too well after years of knowing her, had staunchly insisted that she was moving out of the farmhouse and would find somewhere else to live. Finding somewhere near the farm and within her budget, however, was proving to be somewhat of a challenge. At the moment, her only option appeared to be one of the year-round caravan lets on the nearby holiday site. Not exactly prime real estate, and they both knew how unhappy she’d be living there.

‘Pip…’ Harper prodded her. ‘Come on… say something. I hate it when you go quiet on me.’

‘I’m tired, that’s all.’ Pip’s smile was so obviously forced. She got up from the sofa. ‘I’m going to bed.’

Harper watched her go. Lately Pip seemed to be missing her ex, Esther, more than ever. Not that she’d say it, but you weren’t friends with someone for the best part of ten years without developing an instinctive understanding of these things. She supposed that her engagement to Shay wasn’t helping, because the daily presence of their relationship, and the prospect of having to leave the cottage, would be a constant reminder of a future Pip had once thought she could look forward to. Now she was alone, and Harper desperately wished she could help. But, as Pip herself had said so many times, love didn’t work like that. Pip had to find it, or it had to find her. Whichever way it happened, there was little Harper could do to influence it, no matter how much she wanted to.