‘Creaking ahead. I doubt I can offer him a position until the New Year. I’ve been turning down bookings for October so that we can look at repurposing the cottage. The ground floor will be turned into the holistic centre with individual treatment rooms. The craft studio will be fitted out with mats and wall mirrors. We intend to offer meditation classes, as well as installing a few pieces of standard exercise equipment at one end – two treadmills, maybe two static bikes, a CrossFit machine and a multigym with weights.’ He smiles to himself, flicking shut the sketch pad and placing it on the table. ‘Thank you. Perfect pose and the perfect light to catch those shadows. I couldn’t resist.’

His bad mood has evaporated as suddenly as it began and I feel we’ve cleared the air between us.

‘Time to get back to work,’ Nico says, tiredness giving his voice an edge.

Studying him for a moment, he stares out blankly at the garden. I feel a sadness descending over me as I watch him summoning the effort to ease himself up off the chair. He’s moody because he’s exhausted; a man so passionate about his beliefs and his goals that he doesn’t listen to what his body is telling him.

‘Nico, when was the last time you ate? You weren’t at dinner tonight.’

He blinks, a small frown wrinkling his brow and accentuating those deeper lines. ‘Earlier.’

‘Just as I thought, you don’t know, do you? I’m going to pop over to the kitchen to make you a sandwich. If you want to keep going you have to take care of the basics, or your body will rebel.’

The little smile that creeps over his face is annoyingly smug.

‘It’s a long time since anyone fussed over me, Fern. Be on your guard because I could get used to it.’

15

A Moment to Reflect

Margot isn’t here at weekends, so mealtimes aren’t set and food is self-service. When I wander into the kitchen to grab a yoghurt and some fruit for breakfast, Dee-Dee is there prepping veggies for tonight’s dinner.

‘Ah, just the person,’ she says, looking up. ‘Anton, our gardening assistant, is back and already hard at work. His wife is much better, he informed me, and judging by the fact that he’s turned up at the weekend means he’s in need of a little quiet time.’ She raises one eyebrow as she peers across at me.

‘Oh, right. Yes. Of course, it’s his domain. I think I’ve pulled enough weeds for one week, anyway. So that means a change of itinerary for me next week, then.’