‘Well,’ I said, ‘at least it’s moved off now and the power’s back on,’ I added, holding up my steaming mug of hot tea. ‘No harm done.’

‘If only,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘I dread to think how many acres of crops have been flattened and right before we’re due to gather them in. It couldn’t have been worse timing as far as the harvest’s concerned.’

I hadn’t thought of that. Farming was certainly a precarious business. A whole year’s profits at the mercy of Mother Nature.

‘Is that why Charlie went out so early?’ I asked.

‘Yes,’ said Joe, offering me a slice of toast, ‘he wanted to assess the damage.’

‘Do you think it will be that bad?’

‘It might be,’ he explained. ‘Low yields and high drying costs can have a huge impact on the bank balance and if the quality isn’t there this year and it all has to go for feed, well . . .’ he said, swallowing hard, ‘it doesn’t bear thinking about. This is exactly why I want to diversify a bit more.’

Sunny Shores didn’t seem like your everyday farm diver-sification project to me, but I was beginning to understand the temptation of it when faced with odds you had absolutely no way of tipping in your favour.

We both jumped as the back door flew open and then banged shut.

‘Joe!’ Charlie roared and Bruce scuttled out of the kitchen and back to the sofa.

‘I’ll just go and see what he has to say,’ said Joe.

‘You can leave Bruce with me if you like,’ I suggested.

‘Thanks,’ Joe nodded, ‘that might not be a bad idea.’

The two men were in the kitchen for quite some time. I could hear their voices through the closed door, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying. There didn’t seem to be any escalation in volume, so I didn’t think they were arguing. The stack of papers was just beginning to tempt me when Joe came back in.

‘How’s it looking?’ I asked.

‘Not great,’ he said.

‘It’s a bloody disaster,’ Charlie shouted in response.

Joe shook his head.

‘I’m guessing you’re going to have your work cut out this morning,’ I said, ‘and I’ve really enjoyed my visit, but if you want to run me back now, I don’t mind.’

‘Are you sure?’ Joe asked.

‘Absolutely.’

Truth be told, I was looking forward to shutting myself away in the cottage and having a think about things.

‘All right,’ said Joe, ‘just give me a minute and we’ll go.’

*

‘Home sweet home,’ Joe smiled when we finally arrived at Crow’s Nest Cottage.