Lottie was about to tell him that she’d be fine and knew her way around Firholme even better than him, but he’d already started walking off down the forest track. She caught up with him, wondering what had caused the abrupt downturn in his mood when out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of russet dashing up a tree.
‘Shh. Hang on a moment!’ Jay touched her sleeve, indicating she should hold back.
Lottie was shocked at his touch but froze anyway. ‘What?’ she mouthed.
‘Red squirrel.’ He lifted his hand slowly to point at an oak a few metres away.
She followed the direction of his finger but could see nothing among the leaf litter, bracken and twigs. Suddenly, there was a rustle and a flash of red as a furry tail appeared and the creature dashed from behind a trunk towards the woods. It stopped halfway to another tree and dug at the ground, found an acorn and started to nibble it.
It was a magical moment, seeing a wild animal in its natural habitat, especially one as cute as a red squirrel. They were quite rare now, and had been pushed into smaller pockets of the Lakes by the greys.
She and Jay stood very close together, neither moving in case they disturbed the squirrel, its fluffy tail quivering in the shaft of sunlight. The squirrel found another nut, popped it in its mouth and then raced off again, over the ground and up a tree.
‘It’s great to know they’re thriving here at Firholme,’ Jay said, when it became clear the squirrel was gone. Lottie moved away and they continued walking back to the house. ‘They love eating the spruce cones, you know.’
She was pleased that he shared her excitement. ‘Firholme is one heck of an office.’
He nodded enthusiastically. ‘I worked in an office after I left college. I’d trained as an accountant and I’m not knocking it as a career, but I pretty much hated it from the start. I’d worked a vacation job with a tree surgeon and I’d enjoyed that a lot more, so I went back to uni and retrained in landscape management. I worked for the forestry commission in the Highlands of Scotland and Kielder Forest before I came back to the Lakes. They had red squirrels there too.’
His animated expression made it clear that the squirrel had lifted his mood again.
‘They’re beautiful creatures,’ Lottie said. ‘I only hope they won’t be driven out by the greys.’
‘Or chased away by Trevor. I have to keep him on the lead when I’m walking through here. He goes mad if he gets a sniff of squirrel.’
‘I can imagine,’ Lottie said, having seen Trevor hurtling out of Jay’s cottage on his way for a walk. ‘Occasionally they come onto the feeders outside the cottage but I’ve never seen any here in the woods,’ she said, still with a glow of excitement from the squirrel encounter.
Her glow might also have to do with the fact that she’d enjoyed sharing the moment with someone who loved their surroundings as much as she did.
They emerged from the plantation and reached the top of the estate. The sun had come out and the courtyard of buildings and estate stretched out below them. The lake ploughed a shining furrow through the valley, reflecting snow-topped mountains.
Without a word, they both stopped to admire the spectacular view. ‘Not too shabby, is it?’ Jay said. ‘But you must be used to it?’
‘Actually, it still takes my breath away and I’ve lived in the Lakes all my life.’
He pushed a hand through his tousled hair. It was naturally curly, verging on unruly, and brushing the nape of his neck. ‘Look, I’m sorry if I sounded grouchy back there for a while. Don’t get me wrong, I love my job and I’m happy to help other people celebrate … It’s only that I don’t feel like joining in all the jollity at the moment.’
‘Christmas can be a tough time,’ Lottie said, guessing he found it very awkward to reveal any hint of his personal problems. ‘I didn’t feel much like partying myself, last year.’
His beautiful eyes darkened. ‘Why was that?’ he asked softly.
‘Oh …’ She already regretted mentioning a time that she’d hoped to put behind her. Not forget: that was impossible. It was still too raw.
She didn’t know Jay and he was probably the last person who’d enjoy listening to her troubles.
So why did she suddenly feel like pouring out everything to him?
Chapter Four
With a mountain of things on her to-do list, Lottie really should have been getting back to the office, but Jay’s tone was so gentle and encouraging, she felt she had to tell him what had happened the previous Christmas – or at least part of it.
She took a mental breath. ‘Last Christmas, my sister was seriously ill,’ she said. ‘She’d just been diagnosed with cervical cancer and was waiting for treatment. She’s also a single mum to my twin nieces.’
‘That must have been very hard to deal with.’ He paused by an old fallen tree, which people had been using as a makeshift bench, judging by the worn surface.
‘It was but … I’m sure you don’t have time for this. I’ve kept you long enough as it is.’
‘I’m not too busy to listen, so why don’t you sit down here for a minute and tell me about it?’
He sat down himself, giving Lottie no excuse. She joined him, although his unexpected empathy had the power almost to bring her to tears, the last thing she wanted when he was a virtual stranger. ‘Last Christmas was … very hard. Neither of us felt like celebrating but we had little Myra and Jodie to think about so we did our best. Our parents live and work in New Zealand and they couldn’t get any flights until the New Year so they couldn’t be there and even when they did come over
