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thing, maybe this was the clarity she needed. Sandra had worked her. She had her riled up and pushed and she managed to make Emma reach her own conclusions.
    “Patrick—“ Emma said.
    “You’re worried he turns out different to the person you think he is.” Sandra said.
    “I’m worried I like him and I’m not ready for that, it’s not where I need to be.”
    “You have your answer,” Sandra said. “Now let’s figure out what you do.”
    “What do I do?”
    “Only you can figure that out, but I think you should concentrate on the business and let things happen. He might not see you that way.”
    “I know, but if I do see him that way how can I work with him.”
    “God girl, you’re far too professional to let that get to you. You know your business, concentrate on that.”
    Emma knew she was a good accountant. This was new to her though. When she worked in an office she never lusted after the life a plumber lived, and she never fancied the sixty year old dropping a cereal box full of receipts on her desk. Sandra was right though, she’d have to treat this like a job. She could do that.
    “Another cupcake?” Sandra asked. “I’ll put the kettle on.”
    “I’ll have coffee then, please.”
    “Ooh, I like it. You’re fired up, girl.”

Chapter 3
    E mma was up at eight that Sunday morning. She’d start driving out to Patrick’s place at ten and she needed to get everything in order. She was meeting Daniel with Patrick at lunch time. She knew he needed to at least show Revenue he had some of his inheritance issues in the process of being sorted.
    Emma didn’t know if she could get everything finished with him on the spot down in Ballyhane, or if she’d need to take his files home and work on them. It was quite a drive away, but it didn’t bother her. Her iPod was loaded with music and a few audio books. She decided she’d listen to Queen, and sing along with Freddie. It was perfect driving music.
    Patrick had told her to dress comfortably, she’d be on a farm, she might be exposed and it could get a bit mucky. She brought her wellies in case she needed to plod through fields, but she wore her good walking boots for the drive.
    Emma was fired up. This would be the first time she did real accountancy work in over a month. This is what she was good at, not rustling up clients. And deep down she was excited to be working with Patrick.
    Her talk with Sandra the day before had cleared up some things for her. She liked Patrick, and she liked his life, but it wasn’t the right time to be thinking about anything like that. She would concentrate on helping Daniel get through his issues. He was only a young guy and he’d feel alone having lost both his parents so young. This was the time for Emma to do her accountancy magic.
    After an hour’s drive she found the small road that led to Patrick’s cottage. She couldn’t tell if it was a private road or a public road, but it was definitely the one he indicated; full of potholes. As she rounded a bend and began to see over the ditches she saw the cottage, and a number of other structures. They all had paving in front of them and they looked like old working buildings.
    Patrick had obviously heard her drive up and was standing outside his front door. Stan was next to him, jumping about. That dog was too excitable.
    Emma parked up and stepped out of her car. Stan bounded over to her and jumped up on her front. She ruffled his head, and gave him a big scratch. “It’s good to see you Stan! I missed you.”
    “He’s been excited all day,” Patrick said. “I think he knew we’d be having a visitor.”
    “Do you get many visitors?” Emma asked.
    “A few, I’m fixing up some of the buildings so I can have a place for friends to stay. They seem to like it here.”
    “I can see why.”
    Emma looked out over Patrick’s little plot of land. There was a stone wall that surrounded a garden, she could hear the clucking of hens and there were a few ducks and