He shrugged. David had been a regular visitor for some weeks now and he wondered why she even bothered to ask. The horses weren’t his after all – or the house if it came to that, thanks to his father leaving everything to Sunday instead of to him. But then he supposed he shouldn’t have expected anything else. Looking back to the time when Sunday and Tom had discovered that he was Tom’s child, it had taken Sunday a long time to accept that her husband had a child by another woman. It didn’t matter to him that she had tried every day since she had finally accepted him to make amends. He’d forgotten all the times Sunday had rushed to his room when he was caught in the grip of a nightmare after he first returned from the war, and all the times she had sat by his bed whispering soothing words and holding his hand until the sun came up. As far as he was concerned, since Kathy and Livvy had come along, they had always been her favourites, and this only added to his feeling of resentment.

‘So … you’ve been seeing this David for some time now, haven’t you? Is it serious between you?’

Kathy looked mildly surprised at the question; Ben didn’t usually show any interest in what she did. Then she threw her head back and laughed. ‘Of course it isn’t,’ she told him. ‘David is a really nice man and I think a great deal of him but only as a friend …’

When she quickly looked away and flushed, Ben frowned. ‘Ah! So, is there someone else you have your eye on?’

‘Might be.’ Kathy sniffed. She was saved from having to say more when Cissie appeared carrying a mug of coffee.

‘Here you are, grumpy,’ Cissie said, pushing it towards Ben and sloshing some of the contents onto the sawdust on the floor in the process. ‘You were so busy snappin’ Sunday’s head off back there in the kitchen that you stormed off wi’out this.’

‘Oh … er, thanks,’ he said, taking the mug from her.

Cissie wagged a plump finger at him. ‘There weren’t no need fer that,’ she scolded. ‘Sunday’s been good to you an’ you’d do well to remember it.’

‘Oh yes, and aren’t I good to her?’ Ben growled. ‘It’s mainly me who keeps this business going, in case you hadn’t noticed.’

‘I ain’t even goin’ to stand here an’ listen to you when you’re in this argumentative mood,’ Cissie told him with a glare. ‘I really don’t know what gets into you just lately, me lad!’ And with that she turned on her heel and flounced back across the yard. Ben narrowed his eyes and watched her go, and sensing that all was not well, Kathy scuttled after her leaving him to wallow in his self-pity.