The window had been left open and she breathed in a couple of lungfuls of fresh air before unzipping her suitcase and putting her clothes out on the bed. She’d hang them up later. Now, however, it was time to start work.
‘Oh my God!’ Nina started, as she looked up from the bed. A tall figure was standing in the doorway. ‘Dominic!’ she gasped, ‘I didn’t hear you. You gave me such a shock.’
‘Didn’t mean to,’ he said, daring to venture into the room a little. ‘I wanted to have this waiting for you – to cheer the room up a bit.’
‘Oh?’ Nina watched as he produced a small watercolour from behind his back, framed in palest gilt. ‘Oh Dominic, that’s lovely!’ She took the picture from him and looked at the sunset view over the river and across the meadows, in pale pinks and deepest blues. ‘You’re so talented. I bet you’re going to be in all the big London galleries before long.’
‘Well, I don’t know about that. I’ve got a show in Tombland at the end of August though.’
‘Really?’
Dominic nodded. ‘It’s a start,’ he said.
‘And I’m sure it’ll be a really good start, too.’ She smiled at him. Little Dommie – all grown-up and making his way in the world.
‘Anyway, I hope you like it,’ he said, nervously watching for her response.
‘I do! I love it. Thank you.’
‘Only the room was so bare.’
‘Not at all – with a view like this,’ Nina said, ‘and I already have half of the meadow by my bedside,’ she added, nodding to the flowers. ‘Aren’t they lovely?’
‘I’m glad you like them.’
Nina looked at Dominic. Had he picked them? She’d just assumed that Olivia had collected them for her. Suddenly, she felt embarrassed.
‘Anyway, I was just going to go downstairs and make a start on your father’s study,’ she told him, deciding it best to be businesslike.
‘Yes,’ Dominic said, his eyes straying towards the bed where Nina’s clothes were spilled out across the quilt. Nina saw where he was looking and realised that several pairs of lacy knickers and bras were on display and that Dominic had turned quite red.
‘I saw your other paintings in the hallway,’ she said quickly, trying to divert attention away from her exhibition of underwear. ‘They’re amazing. I don’t know how you do it.’
‘Well, I’m not very good at anything else,’ he said, his dark eyes flickering over her face for an instant.
‘Oh, I’m sure that’s not true. Anyway, you should be proud. I wish I was artistic.’
Dominic grinned. ‘If you can restore any kind of order to Dad’s study, then you’ll deserve the Turner Prize.’
They smiled at each other and Nina placed his painting on her bedside table next to the flowers.
‘I suppose I’d better make a start,’ she said, but noticed that Dominic’s eyes had strayed to the bed again. Nina followed the pathway of his vision and saw what it was that had caught his eye.
It was her nightie – girlie pink with spaghetti straps and covered in tiny daisies.
Olivia was still clenching her hands together and looking decidedly agitated.
‘So, I’ve been making a list of things I’d love your help with for the party arrangements, but the most important thing really is for you to help Dudley. I’m not sure what he’ll need in terms of a research assistant – I’m sure he’ll let you know – but – well – I’m not quite sure where you want to start,’ she said, her eyes wide and apologetic. ‘It’s all such an awful muddle, isn’t it?’
‘Is Mr Milton at home today?’ Nina asked.
‘No – er – he’s still in London, at his brother’s – but he’ll be back tomorrow.’ Olivia looked around the room in horror. ‘Probably best if I leave you to it? I don’t want to get in your way.’
Nina nodded.
‘Well, good luck then.’ Olivia left the room and Nina turned back and looked at the tip that lay before her. It probably hadn’t been a good idea to wear white.
She reached into the pocket of her cotton trousers for a hair-band and tied her bob back into a short ponytail before rolling her sleeves up. It was time for battle to commence.
After two hours of hard work, which had mainly involved shifting things from one side of the room to the other, Nina was ready to start on the paperwork. She’d managed to clear one of the desks, the one she assumed was to be hers, and had even put her own personal stamp on it: her framed photo of her little dog, Bertie, which had been homeless since they’d both left the clutches of Hilary Jackson.
‘I’ve a feeling we’re going to like it here, Bertie,’ she said, smiling at the little silver frame and noticing how at home he looked on his new desk. Yes, everything was going to be just fine, she told herself.
There was only one thing that had bamboozled her that morning, and that was a little cupboard in the corner of the study behind Dudley’s desk. She could see a piece of paper had been trapped in its door but, when she’d tried to tidy it up, she’d realised that the door was locked and that the key was nowhere to be seen. She’d looked around for it for a few minutes, but soon realised that she probably wasn’t meant to be able to find it and so she left the cupboard alone, wondering what was hidden behind its secretive door.
After the briefest of lunch breaks, followed by another hour of tidying, Nina looked up from a sample of Dudley’s scribble on the top of a particularly large mound of papers. Something had caught her eye from beyond the patio doors and, looking closer, she noticed a young woman out in the garden with dark wavy hair and a pretty face.
Nina walked across to the doors, which she’d opened earlier in the hope of alleviating some of the mustiness of the room. The young woman was half hidden in one of the borders behind a plant with leaves the size of an elephant’s foot, and was wielding a large silver spade. However, she’d stopped her work and was watching something, her gaze unwavering. Nina followed the girl’s gaze and saw the object of her fascination: Dominic.
He was walking across the lawn, his head inclined towards the ground, completely unaware of his female audience. And the girl was mesmerized. Nina hadn’t seen anything like it outside of a movie. Her vision was one of perfect softness, as if she was looking at a divine painting; she wasn’t aware of anything else around her, least of all Nina.
As Nina watched, she felt a strange tickle in her nose. It wasn’t really surprising, with the amount of dust that had been trapped amongst the paperwork in Dudley’s study, and her nose twitched, her face stretching and contorting. She was going to sneeze.
‘Aaaachooooo!’
The dark-haired girl behind the plant almost left the ground in shock.
‘Good heavens!’ she cried from across the garden. ‘Who are you?’
‘I’m Nina Elliot, the new secretary,’ Nina said, sniffing loudly as she approached her across the lawn.
‘Oh,’ the girl said, swallowing hard.
‘And you are?’ Nina smiled gently as she reached for a tissue from her pocket.
‘Faye,’ the girl said, her voice a little croaky until she cleared her throat. ‘Darnley.’
‘Hello, Faye,’ Nina reached the border to shake hands and was offered a warm, dust-encrusted one.
‘I was just looking—’ Faye started, but bit her lip and didn’t finish her sentence.
‘I’m sorry I startled you,’ Nina said quickly.
Faye nodded. ‘It’s okay. I was miles away, that’s all – planning a new herbaceous border for Olivia.’
Nina nodded, not quite sure what that sort of work entailed. ‘Sounds interesting,’ she said.
‘Oh, it is,’ Faye said. ‘Olivia’s given me a very generous budget and it’s a dream being able to plant exactly what I want, but it’s quite a lot of pressure, too. This garden’s so beautiful and I want to do it justice.’
‘I’m sure you will,’ Nina said, noticing the beautiful green lawns, the neatly clipped hedges and the arch that led to the walled garden, which wa
s smothered with a vigorous white rose, perfuming the air with its delicious scent. When she’d babysat, much of her time had been spent indoors and she hadn’t really got to know the gardens; a great shame, as they were so lovely. Perhaps she’d be able to explore them now though, she thought, imagining being able to take her tea breaks on a bench surrounded by lavender and birdsong.
‘New secretary, you say?’ the girl asked.
‘Yes.’
‘You must be brave to take Dudley on,’ Faye said, tucking a dark curl behind her ear and leaving a streak of dirt across her rosy cheek.
‘Oh, I don’t know about that. You should have seen my last boss,’ Nina grinned.
‘Worse than Dudley?’
‘Easily!’ Nina said. ‘But you’ve had a tough job too – although I’m guessing Olivia’s an easier boss to work for than Dudley.’
Faye nodded, ‘She’s brilliant, but there’s a lot to do. It’s never really been managed before, you know? Dudley’s never had time and Olivia never gets further than a few bedding plants and a couple of hanging baskets. I’ve been wanting to tackle the place for years and I’m finally qualified to do so. I really love it here – it’s such a special place – and it’s a real honour to be given so much freedom to make the garden work.’
Nina looked at the large blue eyes and instantly recognised a fellow romantic and daydreamer.
‘And I’m a friend of Dominic’s,’ Faye added quietly, assessing Nina’s response before she continued. ‘An old friend.’
‘Oh,’ Nina said, ‘I see.’ She nodded, remembering Olivia mentioning the heartbroken ex-girlfriend that she was so intent on getting back with Dominic.
‘But we don’t really talk these days. He spends half his time trying to avoid me. In fact, I spend more time talking to his mother.’
Nina wondered if it was her place to say something, but Faye beat her to it.
‘We used to go out together at sixth form,’ she said, ‘and we were friends for years before that. But all that stopped when university came along. Dommie stopped emailing, didn’t phone and avoided seeing me whenever he was at home in the holidays and then, one day, I got this awful email from him saying that he thought we should break up.’ She took a deep breath as if seeing the message before her again. ‘We met up at this little pub we used to go to and I spent the entire evening trying not to cry whilst he listed all the reasons why we shouldn’t be together.’
‘Oh, dear,’ Nina said. ‘Was it a very long list?’
‘He seemed to be doing a lot of talking, but I really didn’t hear much after the initial, “I think we should break up”. But it mainly consisted of him wanting to make it as an artist and how he had to dedicate himself completely to it.’ Faye shook her head. ‘It was as though he saw me as this terrible distraction.’
‘And you’ve been trying to get back together with him in spite of all that?’ Nina asked, her head cocked to one side as she tried to understand this young girl.
‘Well, kind of,’ she said. ‘But I really don’t know what to do. Only I’m not ready to give up on what we had. Although I have tried – believe me. I’ve been out with other men and even signed up for some really bad blind dates, but they just left me feeling empty. I’ve thrown myself into this gardening business as well to try and take my mind off things, but being here really isn’t helping. When Olivia offered me the job, I couldn’t believe my luck. I’ve always loved this place so much, and I really missed it when Dommie and I broke up. I couldn’t help thinking that being here might rekindle things between us.’
Nina watched Faye’s face and, for an awful moment, thought she was going to cry. Her eyes looked as if they were welling up with tears and her lips started to tremble.
‘I’m sorry,’ Faye said at last. ‘I shouldn’t be dumping all this stuff on you. I don’t know why that all poured out of me.’
‘There’s no need to apologise,’ Nina said. ‘Actually, do you know what I was just thinking?’ she suddenly said, with as much enthusiasm as she could muster.
‘What?’ Faye’s small voice asked.
‘I was wondering if there was any ice cream in the freezer. What do you think?’
‘Well, it’s certainly the weather for some,’ Faye said, smiling back at Nina, and they left the leafy border together and headed into the house as if they’d been friends for years.
Sure enough, the freezer was stocked with a very good choice of frozen dairy desserts and, twenty minutes later, Nina and Faye had worked their way through most of them.
‘Why do we bother with men?’ Faye asked with a sigh, finishing her last spoonful of raspberry ripple. ‘I mean, why?’ Her whole body shrugged and she blew out her cheeks into balloon-size proportions.
‘I don’t know,’ Nina said honestly as she savoured the last of the double-chocolate chip.
‘They either ignore you, let you down or make you fall in love with them then dump you.’
Nina looked at Faye. She was far too young and pretty to have such a cynical view about relationships.
‘They’re not all like that, though?’ Nina tried, licking the very last trace of ice cream from her spoon.
‘Well, the ones I’ve met have been. Take Dominic for instance – we’ve known each other practically forever and yet he won’t even know I’m here today. God! Have I just been really unlucky in love or is it always like this? Nina?’
‘What?’ Nina asked, surprised at suddenly being deemed the font of all knowledge.
‘What do you think?’ Faye pressed on.
‘Oh – sorry,’ Nina said, ‘I thought that was a rhetorical question.’
‘No – I’d really like an answer.’
Nina gave a light smile. ‘Well, I don’t know all the answers, I’m afraid. I’ve just got out of a relationship, so I’m not the best judge around.’
Faye’s mouth dropped open slightly. ‘I always stick my foot in things. Sorry. I didn’t realise. Was it awful?’
Nina bit her lip. ‘If you don’t want to stick your foot in it further, I wouldn’t ask if I were you.’
‘Oh dear,’ Faye said. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘It’s okay,’ Nina said. ‘I’ve just had my confidence shaken a bit, but—’ she paused.
‘You’re still optimistic about the future?’ Faye suggested with a little smile.
Nina nodded. It was the first time she’d really thought about it since her break-up with Matt, but Faye was right. She was still optimistic about her future and she hadn’t given up on love. Not just yet, anyway.
‘But nothing’s further from my mind at the moment,’ she confessed to Faye. ‘In fact, I’ve come to the mill to try and get away from all that. For once in my life, I’m putting me first – and that means knuckling down and doing a really good job here.’
‘So, what if Prince Charming turned up right now?’ Faye asked.
‘I’d tell him that his timing’s awful and that he can jolly well come back later when I’m good and ready,’ Nina said.
Faye grinned. ‘Really?’
‘Really,’ Nina said with a very determined nod. And then a wonderful idea occurred to her. She might have sworn off love herself, but what if she could help bring Faye and Dominic back together again? Dominic was one of the sweetest people she’d ever met and she’d instantly warmed to Faye, too.
Nina bit her lip in contemplation. Olivia was convinced that the two youngsters should be a couple and Nina was beginning to see that, too.
Chapter Nine
Once Nina finally made it back into the study, she sat down on one of the newly excavated office chairs she had found in a corner of the room and thought of the last half hour spent in the company of Faye. She had instantly liked her and could easily see why Olivia was so attached to her. So what was Dominic’s problem? Did he really have no feelings for her anymore? Had his work taken over his life to such an extent that there wasn’t any room left for a girlfriend – or was there more to it than that?
Nina shook he
r head. She hadn’t been summoned to the mill to try and work out the love lives of its inhabitants – as interesting as they may be. She had a job to do and, half an hour later, she was immersed in a pile of old receipts when she heard a car crunch to a halt on the driveway. Ziggy had definitely heard it, too, because his barks echoed around the hallway, and Nina heard Olivia open the front door.
Curious to see who the visitor was, Nina got up and walked over to the window, spotting an old red Jaguar parked as haphazardly as the other cars, although she couldn’t actually see anyone in it.
She was just about to return to her desk when a man sat up in the front seat, brushing a pipe against his jacket, which he’d obviously just retrieved from the floor of the car. That, Nina thought, might very well explain the careless distribution of tobacco tendrils all over the paperwork she’d cleared that morning. Nina watched as he twitched his large white moustache and coughed before getting out of the car. It was Dudley Milton.
It was at this point that Olivia ran out from the house to greet him with a kiss. Nina smiled as she saw the two of them together: him so tall and hefty, and she so tiny and slim. Nina strained to hear them, but nothing was audible until they were both in the hallway.
‘I’ve got a surprise for you,’ Olivia was saying as she batted Ziggy away.
‘Have you really?’ Dudley’s voice was as loud as it was deep. ‘Not one of your godawful surprises, is it? Like another Labradoodle!’
‘Oh, Dudley! It’s nothing like that, but let’s have a cup of tea first, shall we?’ Olivia suggested quickly. ‘Get down, Ziggy!’
‘No – if you don’t mind – I want to get right to it.’ His voice was getting closer and Nina froze as she heard the door of the study opening.
‘But I wanted to tell you—’ Olivia’s voice stopped as Dudley entered the room, his large mouth dropping open when his eyes took in what had once been a scene of total chaos.
‘Dudley, dear—’ Olivia began.
‘What the HELL happened here?’ He turned around to Olivia, his face now as red as his V-neck pullover. ‘What’s been going on?’ he asked, but didn’t pause for an explanation. ‘I can’t leave the place for the space of two days without someone interfering.’
A Summer to Remember Page 7
