To Love a Way of Life by Natalie Hart Page A

to help with some escaped and lost horses. He might be out late, it would be dangerous if they got on the roads. He said not to stay up waiting for him, she had three clients to see the next day and even more until late in the week.
    Emma fixed herself a meal and went to her cottage, she settled down with a book. She had promised her mother she would draw and use the paints she had bought but she wasn’t in the mood. It wasn’t the right time for a celebration.

Chapter 8
    T he next few days passed without incident. The clients Emma dealt with were all listening to her, at least. Whether they took her advice was another question. She had tried to keep a straight face with Patrick, but she wasn’t sure if she had managed it. She was a little more distant with him and he seemed a little more distant to her.
    Sunday morning he said he wanted to talk with her, she doubted he’d mention his daughter but the thought hung around her mind.
    “Emma, will you tell me if you’re having issues?”
    “What do you mean?” She asked.
    “You’ve been quieter these past few days. You didn’t want to walk with me and Stan. And Stan missed you.” She knew he was really saying he missed her. She felt awful that it had become so noticeable. Patrick had never been shy with his feelings and now he was saying it was the dog who missed her.
    “I’m just getting used to Ballyhane,” she said. “And I’ve been working hard.”
    “You have been, everyone is raving about you, but—“
    “But?” Emma said. She felt bad for being snappy with him.
    “Not but,” he said. “I just hoped you could relax here, that you’d feel at peace.”
    “It’s new,” Emma said.
    “I know, I understand, but if there’s anything you need me to do then just say it.”
    “I guess I need to find my bearings,” she said.
    “You haven’t met anyone here in a social setting,” he said.
    “I’ve been so busy with working.”
    “And that’s not good. How about tonight we go out for a meal?”
    “I don’t know, I’m a bit tired.”
    “Then tomorrow, or during the week. You have the choice of the Chinese, a café that does lasagne and spaghetti, or there’s the gastro-pub a few miles out.”
    “I’ve heard a lot about that pub.”
    “Ok, just let me know when you’re ready for it. I’ll even dress up,” he said. “Just a little, jeans with no holes.”
    Emma wanted to laugh. A week ago she would have laughed but she couldn’t believe in any truth in her laughter. Her thoughts had been playing on her.
    Was she angry at Patrick for having a relationship? That’d be crazy woman territory, of course he had been with other women in the past but she felt it more intensely now. Was she worried that he wouldn’t want to start a new family? Or was she really just having difficulty adjusting to life.
    “Have you spoken with your mother? Or Sandra? Amy is your other friend isn’t she?”
    “You can’t get Amy on the phone,” Emma said. “She never answers calls, or texts, or e-mails, or Facebook messages. Too busy living the high life.”
    “She’s a hotel receptionist isn’t she?”
    “In a five star hotel, she thinks that means she has to live like she’s a guest there.”
    “Why don’t you invite your Mother or Sandra down then?” He said. “There’s a nice trail I know and I could pack you picnic and you could set off for the day. Sandra is a photographer isn’t she?”
    “It’s the latest in a long line of hobbies. She buys all the stuff and abandons them a few months later.”
    “Invite her down, I’ll leave you two to have a day to yourselves.”
    “Ok,” Emma said. “I’m sorry I’ve been so bitchy, it’s just a change.”
    Patrick brought Emma up in his arms. “It took me a while to adjust as well. And if it doesn’t work out here then I’ll travel to see you in the city,” he said. “I’ll make it work, for you.”
    ***
    E mma stalled for a few days, she worked with her clients and tried to make do.