Wide Pastures

When Uncle Niall left his Canadian fruit farm equally between his manager and his niece Lucie, with the proviso that Lucie should spend a month there, it seemed obvious that he was hoping to set the scene for romance. It also seemed, though, that there were certain factors he couldn’t have taken into account. There was the character of Lucie herself, not easily rushed into decisions; there was her gay friend Dinah, unrivalled as an upsetter of carefully laid plans; there was Matt Leverson the forceful neighbour, whose supposed designs on the farm caused Lucie some anxiety. It looked as though the old mans’ hopes might be disappointed; or had he after all, foreseen and intended a different ending to the story.