by Heidi Swain
‘Home.’
‘I gathered that,’ I said crossly. ‘But where exactly is home?’
‘Oh I don’t live on this road,’ she said, buckling up. ‘I just thought it would be easier for you to park here. I’m on the estate. There’s no way I’d let you see my place.’
‘At least you have a place,’ I muttered.
‘Believe me,’ she said, ‘you really wouldn’t want my place.’
‘Well, if it’s that bad why don’t you move into the hall?’
She looked at me and chewed her lip.
‘Now’s not the time,’ she said eventually. ‘But I will tell you why one day. Now, come on, what did you think?’
‘What did I think about what?’
‘Jamie, of course!’
‘I haven’t seen him,’ I admitted.
‘So, what’s with the heels and eyeliner then?’ she pounced, clearly not believing a word. ‘That’s a ridiculously precise line for someone who’s pretending they haven’t made any effort.’
‘I didn’t say I hadn’t made any effort.’
I had made an effort. I’d made a huge effort, but not because I was out to impress my boss’s son. I had gone to so much trouble because I suddenly felt I needed to put my emotional armour back in place and that a professional demeanour, outfit and attitude would supply me with just what I needed to get me through my first, and quite possibly last, encounter with the prodigal son. I didn’t know why Angus had lied about what I was really doing at the hall, but if I was going to be challenged, then I was determined to be as prepared as I could be to face whatever Mr Connelly Jr decided to throw at me.
‘Let’s just say I’ve heard him then,’ I said to Hayley, ‘and if his face matches his attitude, then you’re welcome to him.’
‘Fair enough,’ said Hayley, with a sly grin. ‘I’ll hold you to that.’
Back at the hall there was no sign of Jamie, Catherine or Mick, but Dorothy was fussing over the preparations for brunch and Angus was fiddling about with the Advent calendar.
‘Morning, Angus,’ I said, ready to cover my tracks. ‘What time did you all get back? I saw the Land Rover parked up when I went to pick Hayley up from town.’
I didn’t want him to have any inkling that I had overheard the heated exchange when I came back from my run until I was ready to let him know.
‘Good morning,’ he smiled, ‘good morning. Jamie managed to get an overnight flight in the end, but we didn’t ring to say we were on our way because it was ridiculously early.’
‘You’ll all be ready for an early night tonight then?’
‘Indeed we will,’ he agreed, stifling a yawn. ‘Mick especially as he did all the driving. My goodness, don’t you look smart? Now where’s Hayley?’
‘She’s no doubt checking her make-up,’ said Dorothy, while trying to juggle two pans and a pile of plates.
‘I would offer to help,’ I said in passing, ‘but I’m only here to plan Christmas.’
Angus looked up so sharply I was afraid he was going to pull a muscle.
‘What was that, Anna dear?’ he asked.
‘I was just saying, did Catherine tell you that I’ve decided to stay on for Christmas?’
‘Yes,’ he said, looking to my mind relieved. ‘Yes, she did and I’m so pleased. We all are.’
I raised an eyebrow in his direction, but he didn’t say anything else. Even if he had really caught the gist of what I had said he obviously wasn’t prepared to give me a heads-up as to what was going on before we were all gathered together.
‘There,’ said Dorothy, taking a step back and looking well pleased, ‘all done. Now, would you go and rally the troops please, Anna? I think Catherine and Jamie are in the morning room.’
Chapter 9
I’d never been an advocate of eavesdropping, but it seemed I had suddenly developed something of a talent for it. I was just about to knock on the door of the morning room to say that brunch was ready when Jamie’s voice struck up again and his tone suggested that he was in no better temper than when I had heard him arguing with his father earlier.
‘Are you absolutely mad?’ I heard him say. ‘Do you really expect me to do this without any further discussion?’
‘No,’ said Catherine calmly, ‘I’m not mad. Although I have every right to be, given the sleepless nights and heartache I’ve endured since you upped and left.’
‘I didn’t just up and leave,’ was Jamie’s defensive response. ‘I had to get away to think things through and I had things I had to do.’
‘But if you’d stayed,’ retaliated Catherine, ‘we could have talked. You could have put a stop to this ridiculous idea and his pig-headed assumption that it was all going to go in his favour far sooner.’
I wondered if they were talking about Angus and one of his schemes. If they were, it certainly sounded like a big deal, far bigger than the toad-like hobbies and obsessions the women at The Cherry Tree Café had hinted at the day I arrived in town.
‘And anyway,’ Catherine continued, ‘I was under the impression that you had come back because you had decided to go ahead. I was planning to ring David Miller next week. I didn’t think there was going to be any need for further discussion.’
‘I had made up my mind,’ said Jamie. He sounded tired now. ‘Still have really. I just didn’t expect to come back and find another employee had been installed and there would be yet more wages to pay.’
At least he hadn’t called me a charity case this time.
‘And from what I can make out about this one—’
I didn’t want to hear another word. I had had it proved already that morning that no good came from listening at keyholes and decided it wasn’t an occupation I would be making a habit of. I knocked sharply on the door.
‘In a minute,’ Jamie snapped.
‘What is it, dear?’ asked Catherine, her face appearing around the frame.
‘Dorothy asked me to tell you that she’s ready to serve brunch.’
Back in the kitchen Dorothy was fussing over the table and Hayley was hoisting up her jeans. I was amazed there was any room for manoeuvre inside them at all and couldn’t imagine she could get a great deal of work done while wearing them. Surely all her efforts for the day would have to be concentrated on just breathing? I was going to be interested to see how much she managed to eat without splitting her seams.
‘Anna, my love,’ said Dorothy, as we all stood around waiting for Catherine and Jamie. ‘Would you go and fetch the extra side plates from next to the dishwasher, please? I seem to have cooked rather a lot and I don’t think we’ll be able to manage without them.’
I was more than happy to escape the tense expectation oozing from Hayley, if only for a few seconds, and strained my ears to hear if Jamie was going to be more enthusiastic in front of the adoring staff about his return home than he was whilst moaning to his parents.
It was immediately obvious when he had walked into the room because Hayley began to giggle like a besotted fangirl and insisted on delivering what sounded like a well-placed kiss. Her silly simpering was ridiculously unprofessional but it was also typical Hayley: honest, open and spontaneous. Truth be told, I felt a little jealous of her ability to wear her heart so unashamedly on her sleeve.
‘You,’ she gushed, and I could imagine her standing with her hands on her shapely hips, ‘look amazing.’
‘And you,’ Jamie laughed back, sounding nothing like the borderline aggressive specimen I had been covertly listening to all morning, ‘have to stop stealing my lines.’
‘Huh,’ said Hayley, sounding a muddled mix of blasé and flattered. ‘If only I could get a tan like that from two weeks sunning myself in Skegness. Tell me, where is it that you’ve been again?’
‘Never mind that now,’ said Dorothy, clearly put out that she had to wait in line, even though she had already seen him once that morning. ‘What about another kiss for me then?’
Once the gushing and mutually beneficial appraisals had
died down, everyone took their seats at the table and I realised I had been loitering in the shadows far longer than I had intended. It had been my plan to slip in under the radar, but now it was too late and I would have to make a far more noticeable entrance.
‘Anna dear,’ called Dorothy, when she noticed I still wasn’t there, ‘have you found those plates?’
I took a deep breath, pinched some colour into my cheeks (an action I almost immediately regretted), picked up the required crockery and walked into the kitchen. Flanked by Catherine on one side and Hayley, who I was sure was trying to squeeze her way onto his lap, on the other, Jamie’s eyes flicked up to meet mine and that was when it happened.
Do you remember that moment in Four Weddings when ever-so-posh Tom spots very-distant-cousin Deirdre, and declares the fluttering in his heart and head are the result of Thunderbolt City? Yes? Well, multiply that by ten, add a sack full of butterflies and a steam train at full stretch churning around your stomach, and you’ll have some idea as to why I hadn’t needed to pinch my cheeks at all.
Clumsily I banged the plates on the table, making everyone else look up, and Jamie jumped to his feet, his intense green eyes never leaving my face. He wasn’t all that much taller than me and not at all like the man I had imagined courtesy of the monochrome photograph Catherine had shown me in the morning room or from the querulous voice I had heard.
‘Thank you, dear,’ Dorothy tutted, snatching the plates back up and inspecting them for cracks. ‘No harm done.’
Out of the corner of my eye I could see Hayley tapping her hand on her heart and fluttering her eyelashes, but I didn’t take any notice. I didn’t do anything. I just stood there like a fool, my gaze locked on most definitely the loveliest-looking man I had ever seen. It wasn’t just the intense eyes, the abundant freckles and the foppish hair that was in need of a trim, or the tan, although that was all more than enough to be going on with. No, there was a whole lot more happening than that.
I had never held much truck with the idea of love at first sight – surely when people championed that, what they really meant was ‘lust at first sight’, wasn’t it? But suddenly I wasn’t so convinced. What I was sure of, however, was that I’d never before just glanced at someone and felt like this in my entire life which, considering how much he despised my presence, how defensive I felt about being labelled a ‘charity case’ and how determined I was to set the record straight, was a huge inconvenience. It was a gargantuan pain in the backside, actually.
‘Jamie,’ said Angus, finally realising that introductions were going to be necessary, ‘this is Anna. Anna, this is Jamie.’
‘Anna,’ said Jamie softly, ‘I’m pleased to meet you.’
Ever since I’d heard him arguing with Angus earlier I’d been poised to bite back with something pithy and professional when we were finally in each other’s company, but hearing him say my name had turned my knees to jelly and my insides to mush. It was pathetic and improper and completely beyond my control.
‘Likewise,’ I smiled.
Forcibly I dragged my recently abandoned go-to alter ego back out to play her part and let the real me collapse on the sidelines to take a breather.
‘I know you have been missed here very much,’ I went on in a more clipped and formal tone. ‘How was the final part of your journey home in the end?’
I sat down carefully in my seat and waited for an answer.
‘Jamie,’ Catherine hissed when he didn’t say anything, but kept staring, ‘do sit down. We’re waiting to start.’
‘Sorry,’ he mumbled, looking confused as he bumped back down on his chair and blinked a few times before clearing his throat. ‘It was OK, Anna, thanks. A bit around the houses, but I’m here now.’
‘Excellent,’ I nodded, while trying to ignore more of Hayley’s wild gesturing in the background. ‘Great.’
I have absolutely no recollection of what we ate for that meal, but given Dorothy’s usually delicious fare I can only imagine that it was wonderful and that there would have been plenty of it. Angus had uncorked a couple of bottles of champagne and we all enjoyed a glass, except for Mick, who stuck to mineral water and gave me a conspiratorial wink when no one was looking.
‘So,’ said Jamie, as Dorothy stacked plates and handed out the coffee cups. He didn’t sound anywhere near as confrontational now as he had when talking about me earlier, ‘Dad tells me you’re here for Christmas, Anna.’
Technically that was true. I was staying for Christmas, I just wasn’t organising it. I was sure I saw a quick glance pass from one end of the table to the other and imagined Angus holding his breath.
‘Yes,’ I said, ‘that’s right. I’m here for Christmas.’
Was that a slight exhalation I heard?
‘I daresay you’ll find the festive set-up here a little different to what you’re used to,’ Jamie continued.
Also true, given that I always went to such lengths to avoid all things Christmas-related.
‘And talking of Christmas,’ said Catherine, just as Hayley was about to pipe up and no doubt put her size fives firmly in it, ‘your father has had a wonderful idea.’
‘Another one?’ said Jamie, still looking at me. ‘Well I hope this one’s cheaper but no less cheerful than the last.’
‘He thinks it’s about time we reinstated the Solstice celebration,’ Catherine continued.
‘Really?’ Jamie said, looking at his father, his beautiful emerald eyes wide in surprise.
I wasn’t at all surprised by his response. I had already assumed that he would hate the idea of more people descending when he had only just arrived back from his travels.
‘Actually I always thought it was a shame you gave in and put a stop to it,’ he shocked me by saying, before more predictably adding, ‘but I’m not sure, what with everything else we still have to sort, that this is the right year to start it up again. I know how things snowball here and if we’re not careful you’ll be telling me next that you’re planning to host the local panto.’
‘The panto,’ said Hayley excitedly, ‘now that’s an even better idea than the Solstice celebration. I’ve never really been a fan of traipsing about the woods on the darkest day of the year.’
Clearly she was yet to reconnect with her Pagan side, but I had started to look forward to searching for the Yule log and listening to tales around the fire.
‘I don’t know about the pantomime,’ said Catherine. ‘I think organising the Solstice will be enough for us to be going on with for now and we really are very keen.’
I was further surprised that Jamie was prepared to give in without more of an argument.
‘Well in that case, I shouldn’t worry too much about it, Mum,’ he smiled, reaching for her hand and squeezing it. ‘If we really are going to host it, I think Mother Nature has the nuts and bolts of the occasion pretty much covered.’
Hayley snorted inelegantly and turned puce.
‘And we’re also thinking of asking the ramblers back,’ said Angus, keen to share all of his ideas at once now he knew Jamie was in a more agreeable mood, ‘and the library group.’
‘And the WI,’ added Dorothy.
This was surprising news, and as well as wondering why it had all stopped in the first place, I was also curious as to what had prompted the change of heart.
‘Well I never,’ said Jamie, looking and sounding even more shocked. ‘And there was me thinking Archie was going to have his own way for ever. What does he have to say about all this?’
Clearly the recent goings-on, or not, at the hall had been under the influence of one brother more than any other and it certainly wasn’t the one sitting opposite me.
‘He doesn’t know,’ said Mick meaningfully.
Jamie nodded and drained his glass of champagne.
‘Well, that’ll be something to look forward to discussing over the turkey then,’ he said, with something like relish. ‘I hope you’ve warned Anna just what’s in store now the clan have been called toge
ther.’
Neither Catherine nor Angus said anything and I wondered again what was really going on behind the scenes at Wynthorpe Hall. Everything had been jogging along smoothly enough when I arrived, but throwing the three brothers into the mix was obviously going to stir things up a bit.
‘Be prepared for pistols at dawn,’ Jamie said, looking deep into my eyes again, ‘recriminations and accusations.’
‘You make Christmas with the Connellys sound like a dodgy fly-on-the-wall docu-soap,’ I replied.
‘Christmas with the Connellys,’ he said, biting his lip. ‘I like the sound of that. How do you fancy being in charge of the filming, Hayley?’
‘I’d rather be in front of the camera, thanks,’ she huffed.
‘Of course you would,’ he said, throwing his arm around her shoulders and giving her a consolation squeeze.
She went an even brighter shade of red and was straight back to her bouncy self.
‘But all joking aside,’ he said, turning his attention back to his parents, ‘I might have disagreed with Archie on practically every single point he’s made recently, but he was right about the public liability situation.’
Angus began to shuffle in his seat.
‘Please,’ said Jamie, appealing to his father. ‘Please tell me that you now have a policy in place and that we aren’t still in the vulnerable state we were before my dear brother took it upon himself to shut this place down.’
‘Shut this place down?’ I questioned. ‘Was it actually open to the public then?’
The thought of the hall being officially open with no insurance made my heart skip a beat and it had nothing to do with Jamie’s fabulous freckles.
‘Not formally,’ said Jamie. ‘There were no guided tours or coach parties or anything.’
‘It was all much simpler than that,’ explained Catherine. ‘And much the same as we’d like it to be again now that Jamie—’ she stopped herself from saying whatever was coming next. ‘A space for the WI and other local groups to meet and hold events that can’t be accommodated in town,’ she said instead, repeating what had already been suggested. ‘That sort of thing.’
