“She’s got quite the temper, hasn’t she?” Miles asked.

“I can bloody well hear you!”

My cousin barked a laugh. “Oh, yeah. She really has.”

CHAPTER THREE

Dear Lady Love,

My love language is a mix of acts of service and words of affirmation. How do I tell a prospective partner what I need without sounding needy? I feel like that’s such a clingy mix that I will never find anyone who understands me.

Thanks,

L from Perth, Scotland

Hi L from Perth,

That is definitely a tough mix. You may have to temper some expectations. You probably won’t get both of those things all the time, and you’ll also have to take your partner’s language into perspective. For example, if your partner’s language is acts of service, you could do things together that benefit you both, or you could consciously share household duties like cooking and doing the dishes. If theirs is physical touch, you will need to make sure to give them extra touches, even if you’re not a particularly touchy-feely person.

Just remember that if you doubt that you can be loved, you might find that other people may doubt that they can love you, too.

Good luck,

Lady Love

***

The weather had become overcast since I’d escaped the insanity of wrangling the goats and come inside to clean up. I’d long since showered and changed, and there was still no sign of Aunt Cat returning.

Neither had Alex returned back to the house.

Since the cloud cover had lowered the temperature, I grabbed a knitted cardigan and put it on. I wasn’t going to make the same mistake of wearing nice shoes, so I stopped in the mudroom on my way through the house and put my wellies on instead.

Surprisingly, my mud-caked, forest-green wellington boots matched with my red midi dress and grey sweater.

Maybe I’d spent too long under the hot water.

That or I was simply losing my mind in general. Given the insanity of where I lived, that was probably the most likely scenario. Between my father’s matchmaking attempts and my aunt’s goats, it was bound to happen sooner or later, wasn’t it?

“Would you like me to check on the goats, milady?” Arthur asked, hovering in the doorway. “It’s not a bother at all.”

I shook my head. “No, thank you, Arthur. Would you mind terribly seeing if you could find Aunt Catherine? She appears to have disappeared into nowhere and I was hoping she’d have materialised by now.”

He bowed his head. “I’ll see what I can do. I expect she went into the village. I’ll make a few calls.”

“Thank you. I appreciate it. Would you make a pot of tea for when we return? It looks chilly out there.”

“Of course, milady.” He hesitated. “Maybe you’d prefer a coat.”

“I’ll be fine. Thank you.” I closed the door behind me and shivered. There really was a chill in the air, and I wrapped my cardigan around me, crossing my arms to keep it in place. A peek up at the sky told me it was going to rain soon enough, and I hoped the rain would hold off until I was back inside. It was unlikely because, well, England, but it was always worth a little hope.