‘You aren’t going to throw up, are you?’ I frowned, checking my rear-view mirror before turning into a convenient field opening.

‘No,’ he said, puffing out his cheeks, ‘but I really need to pee.’

The fresh air seemed to wake him up a bit and he sounded more sober when he picked up the conversation again after I’d tossed him my bottle of hand sanitizer.

‘I know I should have kept more of an eye on things,’ he sighed. ‘But I accepted what Charlie was telling me, that everything was okay, only now it’s not. It’s really not.’

‘Is it that bad?’

‘Yes,’ he said gravely, ‘it is. And not that it’ll be enough, but we’re going to have to sell some land. Bloody good land too.’

‘Is that the only thing you can do?’

‘Yep,’ he said. ‘It’s our only asset. Dad must be spinning in his grave. It took him years to work the farm up to the size it is now and we’re already downsizing.’

‘But surely it’s better to let a bit of land go, than lose the place completely,’ I said, trying to find a glimmer of silver lining. ‘At least you aren’t losing everything.’

Joe looked at me and shook his head and I wondered if there was more to the situation than he was prepared to let on.

‘You know, Tess,’ he said, neatly changing the subject, ‘I’m really sorry my brother’s dog almost pitched you off that cliff, but I’m ever so pleased we met.’

‘So am I,’ I agreed, laughing at how chilled he managed to make the near-death disaster sound.

‘Do you believe in fate?’ he sleepily yawned.

‘I didn’t used to,’ I swallowed, ‘but I’m beginning to now.’

‘Well, I think it’s fate that we met,’ he said. ‘You arriving in Wynmouth more or less the same time as me, was meant to be, I reckon.’

‘Do you now?’

‘Yes,’ he said. ‘Because you know exactly how difficult it is to try and work with family so I can talk to you, and I hope you know you can talk to me too.’

‘Of course.’

‘I daresay you’re fully acquainted with the divided loyalty and the guilt that comes with it,’ he said, yawning again.

‘And the perks,’ I cut in, reminding him how he had assumed I had extended my holiday on the back of being a ‘Daddy’s girl’.

‘I’m being serious,’ he said. ‘I think we might be soulmates, Tess. Maybe we met in another life?’

‘Maybe we’ve already met in this one,’ I said, throwing caution to the wind.

He didn’t answer and when I looked over at him, his eyes were closed and he was breathing evenly.

‘Wake up, Joe,’ I said, lightly shaking his shoulder a few minutes later. ‘We’re here.’