It's 1972. Fifteen years earlier, teenage Laurie Henshaw came to live at Webber's Farm with his elderly uncle and settled in to the farming life. Now thirty-two, Laurie has a stroke in the middle of working on the farm. As he recovers, he has to come to terms with the fact that some of his new limitations are permanent and he's never going to be as active as he used to be. Will he be able to accept the helping hands his friends extend to him?<br><br>With twenty successful years in the city behind him, Phil McManus is hiding in the country after his boyfriend set him up to take the fall for an insider trading deal at his London stockbroking firm. There's not enough evidence to prosecute anyone, but not enough to clear him, either. He can't bear the idea of continuing his old stagnating life in the city or going back to his job now everyone knows he's gay.<br><br>Thrown together in a small country village, can Phil and Laurie forge a new life that suits the two of them and the makeshift family who gathers round them? Or are they too tied up in their own shortcomings to recognise what they have?

Taking Stock

Small mumbled something and then lurched to his feet. Cat flinched and Laurie stepped further away, drawing her with him.


“Get out,” Laurie said. “Get out, don’t come back.” He could feel Cat trembling where his hand rested on her arm. “Cat is eighteen. She’s not your business if she doesn’t want to be. And I’ll be getting Constable Powers here first thing tomorrow to take a statement from her about why she left home.”


Small mumbled again and spat on the floor at Cat’s feet. She stifled a small sound that probably only Laurie heard as she stared at the revolting gob of sputum.


“Out,” Phil said, voice like iron. “I’ve had enough of people who try and twist other people around to get what they want. Get out. Don’t come back.”


Chapter 41