“It’s not her baby,” Paula snapped. “It’s ours.”

“Well, I can’t say yes at the moment. Make the appointment and I’ll have to see what happens on the day.” Dan turned towards the office. “Where did you put the invoice from the agent?”

Paula shook her head at his back. “It’s on the clip above the desk.” She turned and strode into the laundry. Her mother! Dan had lost the plot. Paula wanted him to be there. There was no way she’d take her mother with her.

Even though the house was quite cool it was hot outside and she felt tired and scratchy. Her tummy rumbled again. Why had she eaten so much? She lifted the lid on the washing machine and started lifting out the jeans and Dan’s dark blue work shirts. The sight of the clothes in her hands made her stop.

“Oh no,” she moaned. She dumped them in the basket and reached into the machine for more. Lifting the next pile up, she groaned. Every item of clothing was splattered with flakes of white. There must have been a tissue in one of her pockets.

Tears pricked at her eyes and, to her horror, they rolled down her cheeks. Paula struggled to hold back the sobs that were shuddering in her throat. She gripped the washing machine and bent her head as hot tears dripped from her chin on to the remaining clothes.

* * *

Dan knew it was unfair not to commit to the ultrasound, but there was so much to be done and, without Tom there to help, the list was getting longer. He opened the door to the old sleep-out that Paula called the office.

He was sure the baby would be fine but he was not so sure the farm would be. There hadn’t been enough rain for the crops to fill out well and now it was too late. Harvest would be a day-to-day proposition. And he still had a lot of stock. It was risky keeping them if there wasn’t going to be anything to feed them but they had come such a long way with their breeding program. He didn’t want to jeopardise that.

Not selling their full quota of ewes at the sale still niggled at him. They had got an excellent price for what they did sell. Ted had been the one to change his mind at the last minute, wanting to cut the number of ewes they sold. They’d almost argued over it but Dan had given in, worried that his concerns over the unresolved will and his loan repayments were clouding his judgement. He and Ted hadn’t discussed the sale since.