Living in London, Lissa had taken advantage of the many amazing and varied cuisines the capital had to offer. She’d tried kangaroo; she’d eaten vegetarian mango curries with her fingers; she’d watched people throw things in the air at Benihana and lift up glass bowls of smoke and tell her to breathe in straw fumes. Kim-Ange had even once gone to a restaurant where everyone had to eat in the dark and had a very happy evening confusing the other patrons and the waitstaff.

But this was one of the strangest dining experiences she’d ever had. And yet the thick malted bread, slightly charred around the edges; the strong melting cheese; and the tartness of the sour onion all taken together when you were absolutely starving, and washed down with the foamy milk, was one of the most delicious and satisfying meals she’d ever tasted. She sat back in front of the fire with a smile, the sun streaming into the bare room, total silence except for the ticking of an antique clock on the mantelpiece.

“Thank you,” she said eventually. “That was very kind.”

“You’re welcome,” said Aonghas. “I’ll be sure to pass on your regards to Maisie.”

Lissa grinned. “Okay. Listen, don’t get it wet, try to sleep on your front, and I think you can take the bandage off yourself in a week. Otherwise call the service and they’ll make you another appointment.”

Aonghas smiled. “Ach, lass, I think I can manage that.”

“I think you can too,” said Lissa. “Good luck with Maisie.”

“She’s an aul bitch,” said Aonghas.

And Lissa drove away from the farm and stopped by the side of the field, where a clutch of extremely contented-looking peanut-butter-brown and white cows peacefully grazed in the cold sunshine on a field that glowed with buttercups, and they all looked beautiful.

Chapter 29

After several more house calls, and both of them getting lost countless times—as well as a near miss with a cyclist who called Cormac several names he hadn’t heard before and didn’t feel he entirely deserved, and Lissa finding that, off-puttingly, people knew more and more about her as she did the rounds so that by the time she got to the last house someone was sending good wishes to her mother—each collapsed at home, equally exhausted. Lissa wasn’t at all sure this placement was quite as restful as HR thought it was, although she had rather enjoyed the twenty minutes she’d had to sit stationary in the car while a flock of sheep was herded up the road. She must take a book with her for the next time she found herself waiting, then realized what a long time it had been since she’d even felt unstressed enough to consider reading a book. Interesting.