“Most of the time, what goes on inside the female mind is a mystery I can’t even begin to solve," Luke said. "But you seem different. Why don’t you act like a lovesick teenager around me when almost every other woman does?”

“Refer to Exhibit A: your earlier comment about not judging books by their covers. I judge people by more than looks and money. They have to earn my respect. I’ve known millionaires with the personality of a dog turd and beggars who are gold.” I gave him a wink. “As I’ve only met you three times, the jury’s still out.”

Oh, he looked pretty when he smiled.

“I like that approach. If only other women weren’t so shallow and judgemental. At first, the attention was flattering, but after a while it begins to grate, you know? The one place I can escape is at work, and that’s only because I’m the boss. Even then, they all talk behind my back.”

“What do you do for a living, anyway?”

“I run a cyber security company called HC Systems. Our core business is building bespoke security programs for large corporations and government agencies, but we also test for loopholes in existing systems and fix them.”

“This was the company you took over from your father?”

“Yeah, not that I had a choice. He died suddenly, and I needed to support my mother and Tia. Mother and the world of work aren’t really compatible.”

That I could understand, except the woman who’d shoved me out through her money-maker had mostly been found in crack dens. I bet Luke’s mother hung out at the country club.

“You’ve done well with it by the looks of things.”

“My father was good at writing software, but he wasn’t much of a businessman. He’d take out loans and use them to make bad investments.” A roll of the eyes. “Really bad investments, like a vineyard in the Outer Hebrides. When I took over, the company was nearly broke. I wrote new programs, revamped the marketing, and diversified to bring in more cash.”

“Good going.”

He gave me a small smile. “It is now. I had a lot of sleepless nights in the beginning, though. And now I’m in the process of expanding overseas. We’ve been getting more American customers, and it’s got to the stage we need an office over there. The time difference is killing me right now—too many late-night phone calls.”

He stifled a yawn as if for effect, then apologised.

“Whereabouts are you planning to open the office?” I asked.

“I need to decide between California and Virginia. California’s better known in the tech industry, but the education system in Virginia’s pushing that way too. That means plenty of workforce availability, and there are some good tax breaks for investing there right now.”

Virginia. My home. I could certainly vouch for the state being a good place to start a company because I’d done it myself. Not only was the state government supportive of new business, the proximity to Washington, DC and New York meant a lot of key players were within easy travelling distance. But I couldn’t have an intelligent conversation with Luke about corporate affairs because as an ex-nobody, I wouldn’t be expected to know about those sorts of things.

Instead, I settled for, “I used to live in Virginia. It’s got a good track record for employment and, from what I read in the papers, you’re right about the government support packages for new companies.”

If only I was being me instead of Ashlyn, I could have offered him more help. After all, I had numerous investments in property and businesses in Virginia, and some of those were tech-based.

“I’m still at the planning stage at the moment. I’ll need to take a trip out there in the next few months for meetings.”

Where would I be in a few months? Would I feel well enough to go home? And what about the man who’d threatened me? Old me wanted to gut him like a fucking fish, but new me figured crawling under my duvet and squashing the pillow over my head would be the best course of action. And today, new me won the toss.

But I didn’t want to stay at Hazelwood Farm forever. I was still pondering my options when Luke changed the subject, unfortunately back to me. Bugger.

“So, what brought you to Lower Foxford specifically?”

“Uh, the bus?”

“No, seriously.”

“I am being serious. It was the last stop on the bus route I randomly ended up taking when the train I flipped a coin for broke down.”

Now he laughed. “Strange how an arbitrary decision can lead to a new course for your life, isn’t it?”

Wasn’t that the truth? Fourteen years ago, I’d made an arbitrary decision to steal a wallet and ended up meeting my husband. Funny the hands that life dealt you, wasn’t it? I just hoped Lower Foxford wouldn’t turn out to be a complete bust when it came to helping me back to normality.

An interruption from the waitress, asking if our food was okay, allowed me to sidestep further questions. Time to find out more about Luke.

“Have you lived around here for long?”

“My whole life. Mother and Tia still live in the house where I grew up.”

“Weren’t you lonely in such a small place?”

I’d grown up in London, and while I didn’t have family, I’d had acquaintances.

“Not really. I was one of those weird kids who actually liked school, and I made plenty of friends there. Sometimes I thought it would be nice to have a brother to hang out with, but the stork never delivered.”

“You got Tia instead.” The booby prize.

“Yeah. She was a surprise to all of us.” He gave a long sigh and his fork clattered onto his plate. “I worry about her.”

“In what way?”

“Mother’s got no interest in her at all. She thinks money buys love, and Tia doesn’t know anything else. Yeah, I know I should spend more time with my sister, but things are…difficult.” He took the last bite of his meal. “You don’t need to hear all my personal shit.”

I took the hint and looked at my watch. “About time we got back to Samara, anyway. Thanks for lunch—it was good to get away from the farm for a while.”

“Yeah, it was. Honestly, you’re not what I was expecting. I’m surprised someone like you is mucking out horse stables for a living.”

“Now who’s being judgmental?” I asked, thinking back to his earlier comment on women.

“Touché. It’s just I’ve met other women who’ve suffered through what you have, and they’ve all been bitter shrews. I guess it surprises me that you’re not.”

If only he knew the half of it.

“As Victor Frankl said, it’s ‘the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.’”

Before, I’d always been a fighter and nobody could bring me down. A madman took me to my knees, but he didn’t knock me out. Big mistake, because I was slowly getting back to my feet. Today, a shard of the old me had made an appearance. Not quite Diamond, but perhaps cubic zirconia.

“Now, that’s the attitude. And it brings me back to my first point. It’s not often you find a stable girl who quotes Frankl.”

He held the door open for me, and outside, the wind had stepped up a gear to biting. My donated jacket may have been quilted, but it sure wasn’t up to withstanding a vicious British winter. Another item to add to my shopping list when I next went into town.

“Cold?” Luke asked.

“Mmm hmm. I need a better jacket.”

“Want to borrow mine?”

“Nah, I’ll live. Thanks for the offer, but it’s too cold for you to be without.”

“In that case, come here.”

I took a step closer, stiffening as Luke put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me into him. While my husband hadn’t been affectionate, I’d limited contact like that to a few close friends.

But Luke wasn’t to know that. I didn’t want to create a scene, nor did I want to delve into my life history, so I forced myself to relax. He was just being nice. A gentleman.

And besides, he did make a good windbreak.

As we strode into the car park at the vet’s, a young girl ahead tugged a pony towards a trailer. Her father stood idly by, dressed in a totally unsuitable suit.

“Will you just walk!”

When the pony refused to budge, she walloped it with a riding crop then burst into tears.

“Just give me a minute, would you?” I muttered to Luke.

The girl and pony were in a standoff when I gently removed the stick from her hand.

“That won’t help anything. Get me a bucket of food, and I’ll have a go.”

“Really?”

“Get the food.”

She practically threw the reins at me, and over the next fifteen minutes, I coaxed the beast up the ramp one step at a time. A final shake of the bucket got the gelding inside, and I tied him up before returning to Luke.

“Sorry for the delay. I can’t stand anyone hitting an animal.”

He held up his phone, and even as he did so, it vibrated again. “No rest for the wicked. It’s good you cared enough to help.”

We had to wait a few minutes for the vet to come out, so I got a cup of terrible coffee from the vending machine while Luke made a phone call. When the vet finally did appear, his expression didn’t give much away.

“It’s her suspensory ligament, as I suspected. She needs a month of box rest.”

Samara wasn’t going to enjoy being confined to barracks. “What’s the long-term prognosis?”

“She should make a full recovery as long as you don’t try to rush her back into work.”

“I’ll make sure she gets as much time off as she needs,” Luke said. “Tia hardly rides her, anyway.”

I bandaged Samara’s legs up, and she walked straight into the horsebox, eager to get away from the vet. I couldn’t blame her. Being a pincushion was no fun.

“That’s the best news we could have hoped for,” I said as we drove back to Hazelwood Farm.

“I know. If you see Tia doing anything she isn’t supposed to, will you call me? I’ll deal with her.”

“Sure.”

I didn’t tell him I’d stop his darling sister myself if she risked hurting Samara.

The horse was still dopey when I led her back to her stable at the farm, and I made sure she had hay and plenty of water before I went back out to Luke.

“Thanks for today,” he said.

“It’s my job.”

“I guess.” He shifted from foot to foot.

“Don’t worry about the lorry. I’ll clean out the back. I’m sure you’ve got enough to do at the office.”

“Thanks.”

Cue slight awkwardness as he stepped forward and pulled me into a hug. What should I do with my hands? I rested them on his back, curled into tense little fists, as he kissed the top of my head.

“See you soon,” he muttered.

He didn’t look back as he walked to his car, but I could still feel his arms around me. Why so touchy-feely? Was that just his manner?

Normally, my reputation preceded me, and men gave me a wide berth. How odd for Luke to presume I’d be okay with his affections.

Odd, but not unpleasant. I wasn’t sure what to make of that.

***

I bought a packet of decent coffee in case Luke turned up the following Saturday, but there was no sign of him.

Portia came by herself, dropped off by a polished-looking woman driving a Mercedes. Perfectly coiffed blonde hair that didn’t move despite the wind, a tight forehead, that air of superiority that only came with years of practice. Mrs. Halston-Cain, I presumed.

Portia seemed subdued, so at least my poor ears got a break as she groomed Samara. I thought maybe she’d finally grown some compassion, but then I overheard her talking to Arabella. Apparently, Luke had told Portia she had to spend time with Samara as well as her other two horses if she wanted him to pay her livery bill.

As I picked up a broom, I couldn’t help wishing Luke had come along. I told myself it was because of the sweeping, but the truth was, I’d enjoyed his company. It had been refreshing to talk to someone with no preconceived notions of me, someone whose eyes didn’t flicker with fear when they heard my name. Luke treated me like a normal person.

I was just going back to the trailer for my lunch when the postman wandered onto the yard.

“Got a parcel for Ashlyn Hale. Know who she is?”

“That’s me.”

He got me to scribble my pretend signature on his electronic pad then handed the box over.

What was it? I hadn’t ordered anything. It didn’t feel heavy, and the return address was a PO box in Cambridge. Cambridge… Cambridge… I’d killed a man in Cambridge once, a Saudi arms dealer who’d come to visit his old alma mater. But I’d made that look like an accident. No, I quickly ruled out a connection.

Back home, an unexpected parcel would go straight to the lab for testing before I contemplated opening it, but here I didn’t have that luxury.

Instead, I used the old-fashioned method and shook it. It didn’t rattle.

After staring at it in my trailer for ten minutes, curiosity got the better of me and I slit the tape. It didn’t explode. Okay, that was a good start.

I opened the cardboard box then peeled back a layer of tissue paper. What the…? I held the garment up. A jacket. A top-of-the-range windproof jacket, dark purple with a black collar.

Oh, Luke.