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a goose wandering around. Behind one stone wall was a little lawn, with roughly hewn wooden furniture. They looked like they were being worked on. Emma wondered if Patrick was building them himself. Cornered off in one little enclave was a garden, well a vegetable patch. There were rows staked out and plants climbed wooden sticks rammed into the ground.
    Looking further afield Emma could see an almost uninterrupted view of fields rolling out before her and the hills and mounds undulated to create peaceful vista of different shades of green and brown, only interrupted by a few trees and ditches separating the land. She tried to listen for noise from the road but couldn’t hear any cars. What she could hear was the sound of the animals Patrick kept and the birds twittering in the trees and bushes. It was beautiful.
    “Come on,” Patrick said. “We have some time before we have to be at Daniel’s. I have some apple and cinnamon pie just out of the oven.”
    “This place is beautiful,” Emma said.
    “It’s nice, isn’t it? So different to my ninth storey apartment in London. The only nature there was a few badly-cared-for plants on my balcony.”
    As she walked into Patrick’s cottage she could smell the apple pie. Patrick had put his arm around her and given her a little squeeze. It was a touch of encouragement. Emma couldn’t help but remember her conversation with Sandra the day before. She pushed thoughts of spending evenings with Patrick out of her mind and concentrated on the smell of the pie.
    “I’m going to put on so much weight,” she said. “I ate three cupcakes yesterday and I can’t imagine I’ll have just one slice of this pie.”
    “It’s there to be eaten,” Patrick said. “But not by Stan, not even the crust.”
    “You mean I can’t cut my calories by feeding him some under the table.”
    “I’ll take him for a walk when we’re finished with Daniel,” Patrick said. “You’re free to join us, if you’re worried about the extra pounds.”
    “I think I could get used to this,” Emma admitted.
    “That’s the plan,” Patrick said. He laughed as he picked up the pot of coffee and swirled it around.
    “I know you prefer tea but this coffee is a favourite of mine.”
    “I’m not against coffee,” Emma said. “I’m happy to try a cup.”
    “It’s roasted by one of my clients. He buys the beans raw. Twice a year he travels to the Kenyan mountains where they’re grown and inspects everything. He roasts them by hand himself.”
    “It smells delicious, anyway.”
    Patrick poured a mug for Emma, then brought the pie over to the table. He took two plates from a large traditional kitchen dresser. He cut a slice for Emma, bigger than she really wanted, but taking the first bite she realised she’d happily manage twice that amount.
    “Do you get lonely here?” Emma asked.
    “I have Stan, and my books and the radio to keep me company,” Patrick said. “And I travel up to the city when I need some hustle and bustle.”
    “I don’t know, you’re miles from anyone else.”
    “You’d be surprised, the hills hide the cottages close by. A little village is a lot busier than you imagine,” Patrick said. “Are you really wondering if you’d cope?”
    “It did cross my mind,” she admitted.
    “If you have a car, you’ll be fine,” Patrick said. “But that does bring me around to something I wanted to ask you.”
    “Ok,” Emma said. She wasn’t sure where this was going.
    “We’re at least 80 miles out from the city, probably further from your place. You’re going to be down here a lot.”
    “The petrol will be a cost, but I can manage it. It’s worth it for all this new business.”
    “That’s the thing, I think you could be down here five days a week for at least two months.”
    Emma paused, she hadn’t realised he had signed her on for that much business. She had thought she’d spend two days down here and the rest working from home.
    “I didn’t think