Mika let out a hoot of mirth. “You’d be surprised! I swear, it was like the instant I turned thirty, my body said, That’s it, I’m done putting up with your nonsense. Look after me properly or I’m going to break down like an old engine. I’ve been taking the threat very seriously.”

She left the room to the sound of their laughter and promptly tripped over a pile of partially assembled wooden planks in the hallway.

“I’m building a beehive!” Ian shouted apologetically. “I’m thinking of taking up beekeeping.”

Ken, who followed her to the kitchen to help, said somewhat drily, “Yes, he’s building a beehive. Just like he was building an amphitheatre last summer. Half the stage is still sitting in the barn!”

Mika smothered a giggle. “Sounds like he likes having a project.”

“He’s never without a project,” said Ken. “He never finishes them, either. And God help anyone he ropes in to be part of it.”

Balancing four cups of tea on a tray, Mika returned to the living room. Lucie had apparently decided the room was sufficiently dust-free for her because she was now holding a ball of yarn for Ian while he knitted. Mika handed over the tea and found a spot beside Ken on the sofa. She stayed for an hour, listening to Ian’s tales from the stage (from the fond but long-suffering expressions on Ken’s and Lucie’s faces, these were tales they had heard too many times already), and then she and Lucie returned to the main house together.

“Do you think the girls have finished helping Jamie in the library?” Mika asked, straight-faced.

Lucie gave her a rueful smile. “It was too much to hope you’d believe him, wasn’t it?”

“He wasn’t subtle.”

“Jamie can be difficult,” Lucie said, but her voice was soft with motherly love. “It’s not easy earning his trust. He’s been the only parent those children have had since they arrived, and he guards them like a lion. There’s a heart of gold in there, once you get past all the scowling.”

“How did he end up in that position?” Mika asked curiously. “He must have been in his mid-twenties when Rosetta first came here, mustn’t he? I wouldn’t have thought him the obvious choice to care for three toddlers.”