Gwen has already left to bring in the cattle by the time they reach the yard. Jack guides Bobby up to the barn. He ties off the reins and climbs down while Ted gently rouses Tom. The boy yawns and rubs his eyes, before scooting across the bench seat to throw himself into Jack’s upstretched arms.

‘Go in now, see Muriel,’ he instructs and, without issue, the boy races off.

Jack unfastens the wagon’s backboard as Ted climbs down. He has already set up the riddle in the barn, ready for sorting and bagging up the potatoes. Between them, he and Ted guide Bobby backwards through the cavernous doorway, so that they can unload onto the freshly swept floor. They work together methodically, with little need for communication and when at last the crop is piled ready, Jack clips up the backboard and he and Ted set about freeing Bobby from the shafts. When they are done, Jack offers his thanks and begins to lead the great horse towards the door.

‘I was wondering why you came back.’

He stops at Ted’s words. Bobby shakes his head, tired and irritable. Jack runs his hand down his neck to settle him.

‘I always suspected back then,’ Ted continues, ‘before the war, that you had feelings for her. I saw the way you looked at her. So, I wasn’t surprised to hear you’d asked her to marry you – it was the fact she’d said yes that took me aback. For years after I had a hard time trying to make sense of it all until, that is, Jim told me the truth of it. I was hurt, I’m not going to lie. I thought I’d missed my chance, but then he went on to say that Gwen had assured him you had no intention of coming back, and I allowed myself a bit of foolish hope that perhaps all wasn’t lost just yet.

‘But then you did what no one expected and back you came, and I wondered why, but I knew soon enough. You couldn’t stay away, could you? And I suppose what with this Allingham business it’s a good thing you’ve turned up like a bad penny. She needs you here, I accept that. And I told myself it wasn’t going to be forever, just for now … even though I could still see you looking at her the way you always have. But I had never seen her look at you that way. Until today.’

His words hang heavy in the air. He lets out a deep sigh of resignation and then he pulls himself up and walks out into the yard. In the distance, Jack hears the cows lowing. He stands in the echo of the farmer’s words, his heart pulsing, and for the second time in his life, he dares to hope.

Chapter Fifty-One