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things would be easier with work and Adam if I didn't
return to London until my name is definitely cleared and I know
exactly where I stand."
    "I agree and I'd love you to stay on."
    Jayne so obviously meant this that Leah couldn't help but leap up
and hug her.
    "Was your letter good news?" She asked.
    "No, not really."
    "Oh sorry. It's just that I thought it might be from some
builders to say they were coming to fix the roof."
    "No." All the earlier happiness was wiped from Jayne's
face.
    "He's not going to have it done? That good for nothing... Jayne,
what is it?"
    "Nothing. Well no, not nothing, but like you I think I'd rather
wait until I know exactly where I stand before making a move."
    "It's not just the roof, is it?"
    "No, not just that. The leaky thatch seems almost too trivial to
worry about. Please, let's not talk about it now."
    "OK, but when you do want to and if there's anything I can do to
help..."
    "I know, lovey. Thank you. Just having you here helps. It's good
to have family and not to feel so alone."
    Leah swallowed. It must have been hard for Jayne to cope with losing
both her elderly parents so close together. Leah had been so wrapped
up in her new job and new man she'd not been of much help. She'd
attended the funerals and written occasionally but that was all. She
felt so bad about that, especially compared to Jayne's compassion
over Leah's troubles. Now Jayne had something else worrying her,
something so bad she couldn't even face talking about it. There was
no way Leah could make up for her thoughtlessness in the past, but
she could try to ease some of Jayne's present worries.
    Jayne had said the leaky thatch was almost too trivial to worry
about, but obviously it was still a worry. Maybe it was one problem
Leah could help with. Jayne was behaving just as Leah had been at
work and in her relationship with Adam - treated badly without
sticking up for herself. Unlike Leah who had no one to defend her,
Jayne had Leah.
    "So, what's the plan today?" Leah asked.
    "The usual feeding and cleaning out." Jayne sounded so
tired.
    No wonder she was tired. It was only eight o'clock and already Jayne
had tackled hard physical work before cooking breakfast for her idle
townie visitor. Leah offered to do the rest of the morning's tasks
and give Jayne a break.
    "So, it's just the chickens to be given feed and water and have
the eggs collected, the pigs to be fed and cleaned out, the sheep to
be fed..." she trailed off. She couldn't do it all before lunch,
she couldn't even lift one hay bale on her own.
    "I try to think of it as one job at a time, otherwise it's all
too daunting," Jayne said, but at least she was smiling again.
    "Yes, well I'll start with the chickens."
    "Thanks, lovey. Tell you what, you do that and I'll take the
pick-up to feed the sheep. I can load up with hay and salt blocks to
store in the little shed up there. That'll save me bothering with
them at all tomorrow and make feeding them much easier for the next
week or so. I've been meaning to do that, but taking the truck means
tackling several gates. Sometimes I just don't have the time or
energy for things that'd make my life easier."
    Leah fed the chickens, an easy task compared to trudging up the field
carrying a bale of hay for the sheep and was pleased she was helping
to spare Jayne that task for a few days. She'd get her to think of
other things they could do to make her life a bit easier. Jayne
thought Leah was clever so she'd try to live up to her expectations
with a few time and motion improvements. Maybe she didn't need to
think of them - just help Jayne find the time to set them in place.
Jayne's problem wasn't that she couldn't think of good ways to do
things, just that she didn't have the time or energy because she was
alone.
    As soon as she'd taken in the eggs, Leah mixed up the pig's feed and
gave it to them. As they noisily ate, she swept out their pens, and
spread fresh straw. Leah remembered how she'd been unable to shift
the