Free Springtime at Cherry Tree Cottage by Cathy Woodman Page A

aluminium with a cream top, is parked with the tailgate down.
    â€˜How many did you say you wanted?’
    â€˜Ten will be enough for now. There isn’t much room to store them at Mel’s.’
    I follow him into the barn and watch him climb up the side of the stack.
    â€˜Watch out!’ He pushes a bale from the top. It whistles past my ear and bounces across the floor. ‘And again.’ He continues until there’s a heap of bales on the ground. He half slides, half jumps down and goes to pick one up. His T-shirt has ridden up at the back revealing a sheen of sweat across his lightly tanned loins, and the blocks of muscle on either side of his spine. He’s wearing a worn leather belt and navy underpants with a bright pink band around the top.
    Forcing myself to look elsewhere, I pick up another bale and carry it out to the trailer.
    Robbie is fit and gut-wrenchingly gorgeous. There’s no harm in looking, is there? Louise says he’s single, but I don’t know for sure if he’s available, and I’m not interested in a relationship, but I can’t help wondering what he sees when he looks at me.
    He pauses from loading the trailer, a half-smile on his lips as he glances across. I catch sight of my reflection in the wing mirror of the four-by-four. I run my fingers through my hair, but there isn’t much I can do about my dismal turnout. I’ve been wearing the same polo shirt and jeans all day, my boots are dusty and my fingernails are cracked and grubby.
    Having loaded the trailer, I close the ramp and follow Robbie along the drive and down the lane in the truck. We pass the cottage again, where the cherry trees are in full bloom now, covered in the flouncy, candyfloss-pink blossoms that confirm that spring is here to stay.
    â€˜How was your meeting?’ I ask as we unload the hay into the stable beside Rafa’s.
    â€˜It was very promising. I showed the TV producer around the yard. He made all the right noises, but he isn’t going to make a decision until he’s seen a live performance. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, he isn’t available – due to other commitments such as holidays and filming – until the Country Show.’
    â€˜Is that the same as the Farm and Country Festival that Mel’s told me about?’
    â€˜No, that’s in April. The Country Show is at the end of June. That gives us three months to train Diva as a spare for the team.
    â€˜I need this contract,’ he continues. ‘He’s looking at hiring me as stunt rider and advisor on set, as well as four of our horses – Nelson in particular – and someone to give one of the actors a crash-course in how to ride.’
    â€˜Not literally, I hope.’
    â€˜Oh no. I’m pretty hot on safety. I don’t want any of my horses getting hurt.’ He pauses, resting one bale on top of another inside the stable. ‘What kind of day have you had?’
    â€˜I shod an ultra-sensitive thoroughbred. That was stressful.’
    â€˜Not Rambo?’ Robbie asks.
    I nod. ‘Do you know him?’
    â€˜Gina sent him here for six weeks of intensive training in the autumn. I’m not sure it made much difference.’
    â€˜She says he’s getting on well.’
    â€˜That’s quite gratifying to hear. I thought he might be too much for her.’
    â€˜After Rambo, I went over to the Sanctuary to trim a pony’s feet.’
    Robbie moves aside so I can throw the last bale on top of the rest.
    â€˜Have you ever thought of taking on a rescue?’ I ask. ‘I don’t know if he’d make a riding pony, but he was very sweet and quiet on the ground.’
    â€˜Sophia from the Pony Club is keeping an eye out for a pony for us, one that’s been through a family, been outgrown and passed down like an old pair of boots; one who knows their job.’
    â€˜Ponies like that are like gold dust.