Love Heart Lane Series

‘And that was it? Nothing else?’

‘Nothing else.’

As they reached the school gates, they ushered Finn and Esme towards their line in the playground. The bell sounded and Jessica appeared and waved over towards Felicity and Isla before escorting the children into the classroom.

‘Life is so simple at that age,’ sighed Isla, blowing Finn a kiss as he disappeared through the door.

‘Isla! Isla, wait!’ a voice called out.

Isla spun round to see Julia from the local B&B hurrying towards them. Her cheeks were flushed and she had a look of panic on her face, ‘I’m glad I’ve caught up with you.’

‘Since when have you been frequenting school playgrounds?’ asked Isla, knowing Julia didn’t have any children.

‘I’m looking for you, I tried your mobile, but it went straight to voicemail.’

‘That’s the joys of living in the sticks … no signal.’ Isla was intrigued, ‘What’s up?’

‘Let’s walk and talk,’ said Julia, who attempted to get her breathing under control. ‘I’ve jogged from the B&B and I’m out of breath.’

‘I’m all ears,’ said Isla, fascinated about what was troubling Julia as all three of them headed out of the school playground.

‘I’ve messed up,’ spluttered Julia. ‘And I’m hoping you are the woman to help me out.’ Julia exhaled, ‘And I know it’s a big ask and I don’t like letting anyone down … but …’

Isla stopped walking, ‘Spit it out.’

Julia took a breath, ‘I’ve made a blunder with my bookings, and I’ve double-booked a week on Friday. One of the parties is a rambling group trekking the mountain to raise money for charity and the other one is a booking for a sixtieth birthday … I don’t want to let any of them down.’

‘And how can I help?’

‘I didn’t want to cancel either of them, if word got around it’s not good for business, and I was thinking … who do I know who has enough room to accommodate one of the parties?’

The penny dropped and Isla laughed until she realised Julia was serious, then her expression turned to one of bewilderment before smiling nervously, ‘You are joking, right?’

Julia eyed Isla warily, ‘I wasn’t, to be honest.’

‘Julia, I’ve got a new baby and my gran’s just turned up unannounced to stay. And I’m not sure Drew would want a bunch of strangers traipsing through the farmhouse, and then there’s Finn too, and what about their meals?’

‘You could direct them to the teashop for breakfast or fry up a bit of bacon,’ said Julia with hope in her voice.

As much as Isla didn’t want to let anyone down, she knew that at this moment in time she couldn’t face strangers in the house even though there was ample space and vacant bedrooms.

‘They’d pay the going rate,’ urged Julia, hoping to sway Isla. ‘Sorry … sorry … I shouldn’t have mentioned it … I know you have enough on your plate.’

‘If I could help you out, you know I would. What’s plan B?’

‘I haven’t got one,’ admitted Julia, taking a breath.

‘I’m so sorry Julia, I just can’t help you at the minute.’

‘No worries, if you don’t ask you never know.’

Julia touched Isla on her arm tentatively before sadly walking away.

‘Can you imagine strangers traipsing through my house … no thank you,’ said Isla, knowing that she wouldn’t even feel comfortable mentioning it to Drew after his reaction to Martha turning up.

‘I can see your point, you’ve got way too much going on at the moment with the baby to think about, not to mention you and Drew. Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention, a guy came into the teashop yesterday and I pointed him in your direction, Rory’s too. Did he come by the farmhouse?’

‘What guy?’

‘If I remember rightly, he went by the name David O’Sullivan.’

Isla shook her head, ‘Never heard of him. What did he want?’

‘He had a herd of alpacas that needed re-homing. Prize-winning, apparently. He was looking for a nearby farm to home them.’

‘Oh, Drew never mentioned it, I’m sure I would have known if he’d visited the farm. Alpacas, you say?’

‘Yep, those funny-looking creatures with a tuft of hair bouncing on top of their heads.’

‘Farmed for the fleeces.’ Isla began to turn the information over in her mind. ‘Did he say how much he wanted for them?’

Felicity shook her head, ‘No, but I think he gave Mum a card?’

As they turned on to Love Heart Lane Isla stopped for a second. ‘Come with me,’ she said, quickly striding towards the farm with Felicity struggling to keep up.

As they approached the driveway, Isla traipsed Felicity around the edge of the field, over the small wooden bridge and through the orchard. In the far field there were Shetland ponies grazing alongside sheep and the mountainous terrain in the background. Even when the visibility wasn’t good the view was spectacular.

They stopped to get their breath back as Isla swung her arms open.

‘I don’t get it,’ said Felicity in wonderment.

‘We have acres of space! Can you imagine seeing alpacas grazing here? The children would love it!’

‘It’s not as though you haven’t got the land …’ Flick replied.

‘Isn’t it all the rage these days … alpaca farms? You never know, it might even cheer up my miserable husband looking at the comical creatures each morning. And you know it’s his birthday next week, and what do you get a man who has everything?’ said Isla, mulling it over.

‘A herd of alpacas?’ grinned Felicity.

‘They can’t take that much looking after and I’ve read somewhere they are fabulous with children. You said he gave your mum a business card?’

Felicity nodded as her phone buzzed into life, ‘Talk of the devil.’

‘I’ll walk back to the teashop with you.’

‘Here it is,’ said Rona, pulling the card from the till. ‘David O’Sullivan. I’m not sure where he was from, I’ve never seen him around these parts before.’

Isla turned the card over in her hand. ‘You know what, I’m going to give him a call,’ she said, taking herself to the quiet sofa area in the corner of the teashop. ‘I’m intrigued to know the cost of a herd of alpacas.’