Country Rivals

by Zara Stoneley

  ‘I do hope that he doesn’t return to his mother when filming draws to a close – he’s a nice young man. He needs his independence.’

  ‘And if he does you’ll have pushed them together for no reason.’ Elizabeth arched an eyebrow. ‘I know you engineered that, Gran. Tab only had eyes for Xander until you interfered.’

  ‘I did not interfere – besides what interest would Xander have in a child? She needed a distraction, and I wanted them to do something for me. I do not do anything without a reason, Charlotte. I thought you would have realised that by now. At least you do notice some things, even if Alexander’s intentions completely bypassed you.’

  Heat rushed to Lottie’s cheeks. ‘Gran!’

  ‘Ah, so you did notice eventually. I am surprised that man lets his sister manipulate him like she does, but he is rather a product of his emotions as his mother was. Too kind for his own good.’

  ‘Sorry?’ Talking to her gran could be like unknotting a necklace chain, link after link entangled, and you were frightened of tugging too hard in case it snapped. Never to be the same again.

  ‘Well that woman did persuade him to come back here, knowing full well that he’d have to deal with you.’

  ‘Did she?’

  ‘Honestly, Charlotte. If an old woman like me knows that, then I’m sure your deductive powers are up to the task. I rather think she wanted him here to upset the apple cart, as it were.’

  ‘Apple cart?’

  ‘Your marriage, dear. And on one hand the poor boy couldn’t resist returning to Tippermere on the off chance he might see you, and on the other felt that his sister might genuinely be trying to help him. That woman is only ever going to do things for her own ends, though. I do rather think he was quite shocked to actually find you here.’ A small smile played on her lips. ‘Now I know exactly what you’re thinking, so you can stop right there. I do things for the good of the estate and my family. Pandora is only interested in herself, an island of need.’

  Lottie wasn’t sure she liked her marriage being referred to as an apple cart, it sounded far too wobbly.

  ‘Everything okay, darling?’ As if on cue the other half of her apple cart arrived and gave her a big sloppy kiss and a bum squeeze. ‘We’re done here. Good job that bloody wind died down or we’d have never managed.’

  ‘I know.’ As each gust of wind had billowed its way across the grounds, gathering up bunting, sweet wrappers, and paper plates as it went, Lottie had thought they faced an impossible task. But it had left as quickly as it arrived, leaving behind the very messy, but tranquil, remains of the show. ‘Everybody has been brilliant, I can’t believe how quickly it’s all been tidied away,’

  ‘Those lads have worked wonders,’ Billy clamped an arm around Rory’s shoulder and winked at Elizabeth. ‘Bloody good job the Drakelow drama queens have disappeared, though.’

  ‘Dad, you shouldn’t call them that.’

  ‘Bollocks, you know me, love. I say it as I see it, and that Seb is as bad as his wife. Right,’ he rubbed his hands together, ‘time for a pint, I reckon, everybody coming?’

  ‘We will follow on, William. Charlotte and I need to talk.’

  Billy and Rory looked at Lottie, who shrugged. ‘Do we?’

  ‘We do. Go on then, hurry along, boys.’

  They didn’t need to be told twice, they never did when it came to booze or a party. Maybe that was partly why she loved her husband so much, because of the similarities between him and her father. And maybe that was why lately she’d been so scared of messing it all up.

  Since Gold’s death, she and Rory had actually been as close as they’d ever been, drawn together by the tragedy, and the prospect of change. All those worries about how she might mess up his life had disappeared. They were a team again. Probably because the whole having-a-baby debate had been crushed by something far more pressing, she hadn’t had even a passing thought about the issue. Or she’d at least been able to bury her head in the sand and pretend it would go away.

  Today the insecurities had flooded back with the force of a hurricane, after he’d rescued Roxy. Only a fool would have missed the look of pure happiness on Rory’s face as the little girl had clung to him adoringly.

  Lottie watched her father and husband walk off companionably and wondered what she’d done to upset Elizabeth now. She didn’t like ‘talks’.

  ‘I think today went rather well. Well done, dear.’

  So maybe she hadn’t done anything wrong.

  ‘Let’s have a little walk.’

  Maybe she had.

  ‘Now, tell me what else is bothering you.’

  There was definitely something. ‘Like what? I’m fine.’

  ‘You are twitchy, Charlotte.’ Elizabeth paused. ‘You and Rory work well together as a team.’

  Lottie was pretty sure she hadn’t shown any reaction at all, but Gran had decided she was on the right scent.

  ‘He was quite determined to get to the root of those nasty articles in the tabloids, quite cross at the way he’d been portrayed.’

  ‘I know.’ Lottie wished she’d had a chance to change from her respectable to her comfy shoes before walking. Her feet were crying out for riding boots. ‘I miss Pip. She was great at sorting stuff out like that.’

  ‘I miss her too dear. Such a clever girl.’

  Elizabeth slipped her hand through Lottie’s arm, the other one on her stick as they walked slowly across the lawns towards the lake.

  ‘Pandora’s clever too.’ Lottie sighed. ‘I’m still not quite sure what she wants more, Rory or Tipping House.’

  ‘Rory is strong enough to resist that type of woman, Charlotte. He was quite wonderful rescuing Roxanne today, wasn’t he? The children are rather smitten with him.’ Her tone had softened.

  ‘I know.’ Lottie studied her feet. ‘He loves the kids, especially Roxy.’

  ‘Does he want to start a family, dear?’

  ‘Probably.’ She took a deep breath, hoping it would dislodge the feeling of indigestion, which she knew was actually something else.

  ‘And you don’t?’

  ‘It’s not that I don’t, it’s …’ Elizabeth waited, knocking the heads off daisies with her stick as they strolled. Lottie ground to a halt and looked at her grandmother. ‘I’d be an awful mother.’

  ‘And why do you say that?’

  ‘I don’t even like babies. I like cuddling puppies more than babies.’

  ‘But those are other people’s babies, Charlotte. Your own are rather different. I’m sure you would cope splendidly. Your mother was the same. She never really thought of having her own children until she had you, and she was an excellent mother. She adored you.’

  ‘And she left me.’ It burst out of Lottie before she could stop it.

  ‘Ah.’ Elizabeth started to walk again and Lottie hurried after her. ‘She left all of us, my dear.’

  ‘I know, sorry.’ Lottie put a hand over her mouth. She was being selfish. ‘It’s just,’ she had to say it, ‘I don’t want to lose Rory as well.’

  ‘Oh Charlotte, my dear, why on earth would you lose Rory?’

  ‘I know he wants children, and,’ she fondled Bertie’s ears, ‘I’m just not sure, and what if he finds somebody else to have his baby? I mean,’ she was feeling glummer by the moment, as unburdening herself was not providing the cathartic release she was expecting. ‘I know he might be immune to Pandora,’ or might not be, who knew? ‘And he might not mind too much at the moment, but what if he gets fed up of waiting? I might never change my mind, and that’s not fair on him.’

  ‘If he’s the man I think he is, he won’t get fed up, my dear.’ Her tone softened. ‘Why do you underestimate him? If you have your reasons, I’m sure he will understand. You have talked properly about this, I presume?’ She shook her head at the look on Lottie’s face. ‘Oh honestly, Charlotte. Men cannot mind-read you know, whatever they would like us to believe. You really do need to be quite plain speaking with them. And as for fair, to be fair
is to be open-minded, and I rather think you are taking quite a shuttered view.’

  ‘But everybody keeps saying he’ll make a wonderful father.’

  Elizabeth took Lottie’s hand in hers. ‘Ah yes, that mysterious thought-pervading everybody. This is not about everybody, this is about you, both of you. They might be right, my dear, who knows? And what does ‘wonderful’ mean? There are many kinds of wonderful, but only one life that’s right for you. I used to stand here when I was young with a head full of romantic notions.’ Lottie couldn’t imagine her gran having any kind of notions. ‘I always imagined that Mr Darcy might appear from this lake one day, dear.’ She smiled a secret, and slightly sad, smile. ‘I thought that would be rather wonderful, but your dear grandfather couldn’t swim, so maybe it wouldn’t have been quite so splendid after all.’ She flicked at the grass with her stick and her normal, slightly acidic, tone returned. ‘Now, I think I have had quite enough excitement for one day. You may walk back with me, and then go and find your husband. And Charlotte?’

  Lottie looked up.

  ‘Do not rush into any decisions about the house or your marriage. It is always surprising just how much time you have. A bad decision is always far harder to reverse than a good one. Now, where’s that dog got to?’

  * * *

  ‘How can anybody say life in the country is boring?’ Jamie put a pint down in front of Tab and squeezed in next to her.

  ‘Oh boy, do I need this.’ Tab took a long slurp, then wiped the back of her hand over her mouth.

  ‘So ladylike.’ He grinned.

  The Bull’s Head was packed to the rafters, making conversation pretty much impossible unless you were prepared to do a Billy-style bellow. But Jamie didn’t mind. He was just happy pressed thigh to thigh with Tab, and he was more than happy to have an excuse to whisper in her ear.

  ‘Is it always like this?’

  ‘Oh yes, everybody has cake and burgers at the village show, then comes here afterwards to get plastered. Did you see the state of Pandora’s red hair? It was all on end – she looked like a lit match.’ Tab giggled. ‘And she was screaming that she’d broken a nail, she was yelling at Seb for not rescuing her earlier, and telling Rose she was a fat drunken dollop who needed to get a life. Not that Rose was conscious. She probably won’t wake up until tomorrow lunchtime. Her husband always comes to collect her in his tractor – just throws her in the trailer.’

  ‘She’s got a husband?’ Jamie was astounded.

  ‘Oh yes, they’ve got a smallholding and keep pigs and geese. She says her hubby was a pig in his previous life.’

  ‘And she was a goose?’

  ‘No, he’s always called her a silly goose, though. Think he got her one for Valentine’s Day one year as a joke. They do stuff like that; they’re a bit weird, but I like weird.’

  ‘Weird can be good.’ Jamie stared into his drink. ‘I’ll miss this place when we pack up; it won’t be that long now.’

  ‘Will you miss me?’ Tab traced a teasing finger along his inner thigh and he clamped a hand over it.

  ‘Yep.’ He looked sideways under his lashes and she was watching him intently. A smile playing over the mouth he’d grown quite fond of, lips he wanted to kiss. Being pressed up close to Tab always had a strange effect on him.

  ‘Come on, I’m going to take you home, Jamie boy.’

  ‘Home? But, your Dad …’ He could hear the alarm in his voice. Wanting to kiss her was one thing, but meeting the parents after two drinks, no proper dates, and not even lip-to-lip contact, let alone the sharing of bodily fluids, seemed a bit extreme.

  ‘You stupid twat. Christ, you don’t think I still live with him, do you?’

  He didn’t like to mention that he still shared a roof with his librarian mother, except when he was on location.

  ‘I’m in the place above the stables. Lottie and Rory let me move in when they had to put the wedding business on hold. Come on, it’s a bit too cutesy for me, but it’ll do.’

  Jamie didn’t notice if it was cutesy or not. Going up the narrow staircase with Tab’s pert bum only inches from his face was like clambering those last few tortuous steps to the summit.

  On one hand he didn’t quite want to get there, because once he did that was it. He’d reached the top, scaled the insurmountable, the only way was down. But on the other hand he knew it was now or never.

  He was trying to work out whether she really meant what she’d suggested, or whether this was just another laptop session, when she flung open the door at the top then spun around, her oh-so-kissable lips only inches from his, her dark gaze suddenly unsure.

  So he kissed her. Put his hands on her slim waist, closed his eyes and went for it.

  God, she tasted good – exactly like he knew she would.

  ‘Jamie?’ He opened one eye and there wasn’t a trace of apprehension left in hers. ‘Kick the door shut.’

  He peeled off her t-shirt and she was bra-less. Nipples the colour of fudge – dark against her incredibly pale skin. Oh shit, this was going to be a disaster. His cock was already straining against the zip of his jeans and his brain wasn’t co-operating at all. No way could he even try and count backwards or do any of those things that were supposed to put off the inevitable.

  At the first touch of his tongue her nipple puckered to a hard nub and her stomach contracted.

  ‘Have you got any underwear on?’ The words tumbled out and sounded like he was talking under water.

  ‘Have a look.’

  He looked. She had. The skimpiest bit of black lace he’d ever seen, and it was so not what he expected that he nearly came there and then. He was still wondering how the hell he was going to do this when she stripped his top over his head, unbuckled his belt, and was working on his flies.

  ‘Don’t. Sorry. I mean don’t touch me.’ The words stuttered out in an agonising staccato that he couldn’t control.

  It was too late. His cock sprang out like a jack-in-a-box and Tab’s eyes opened wide. ‘Oh my God, that is so much bigger than I thought it would be.’

  ‘This is not the time to talk about size,’ he said through gritted teeth, and did what seemed like the wisest thing, pushed her back onto the enormous bed that dominated the room.

  The second he was on her she stopped teasing, stopped talking. Her eyes were dark pools, her lips swollen beneath his.

  He’d meant to take his time, but when she opened those long, slim legs he lost all sensible thought and was in there like some teenager on a first date.

  ‘Bloody hell.’ Jamie ran his fingers through his hair, pushing it out of his face and propped himself on one elbow, looking down at Tab. ‘Bloody amazing, bloody fucking hell.’

  She smiled, a Mona Lisa smile.

  ‘Was it alright, did you …?’

  Tab grinned and traced a finger down his spine.

  ‘Sorry, I mean I know it was a bit quick.’

  ‘Sh.’ Tab put a finger on his lips and studied his features slowly, thoroughly, for the first time. ‘It was perfect.’ She’d done it. If she was totally, perfectly honest, the earth hadn’t exactly tilted on its axis, but something had shifted.

  ‘Do you think we need to do it again to be sure?’ He was staring at her boobs and she could feel a prickle as her nipples tightened. His mouth came down, sharp teeth tugging, and the prickle spread down to her stomach.

  What Jamie lacked in finesse, she decided, he more than made up for with enthusiasm and stamina. ‘Wow, yes, right there, that is so cool, really, really, amaz—’

  Then she forgot all about what she was about to say when he hit just the right spot.

  Chapter 28

  The horsebox juddered and there was a yell that Lottie was sure even the riders out on the course would have heard.

  ‘Ow! Bugger, stop it.’ Tab obviously wasn’t happy.

  Lottie looked at Rory and giggled. ‘Do you think I should go and help her?’

  The horsebox rocked more violently.

  ‘What is i
t with her and that horse? God knows what they’re up to in there.’

  ‘It’s not Tab’s fault. Joker is in love with her.’

  Rory shook his head and had a final look at the course. Lottie had declared it terrifying when they’d walked it together earlier, and then hastily added that it was of course ‘a piece of piss for you and Joker, just awful if I had to do it’.

  He knew that the big horse was more than capable of clearing every jump comfortably, his only worry was that the way Joker covered the ground so effortlessly, if he didn’t have his wits about him they’d take a wrong turning. Roaring Rob would have him for dinner if he did, after he’d disembowelled him.

  ‘He’ll get round, he’s brilliant.’ If he said it enough times he’d believe it.

  Lottie kissed him. ‘Stop being grumpy, you’re brilliant too, darling.’

  ‘What do you think Tab is doing to him?’

  ‘He gives her love bites.’ She grinned and stood up. It really wasn’t fair to leave Tab to get Joker ready on her own. ‘It took her ages to persuade Jamie that it was a horse, not another man. He said it was a worse excuse than saying the dog ate her homework – more original, but worse. But she doesn’t like telling him off.’

  ‘Jamie or Joker?’

  ‘Joker. She said he makes his ears go all floppy and his bottom lip wobbles if she gets cross with him.’ There was a bang on the side of the horsebox that made both of them jump.

  ‘I can hear you bloody laughing at me. I hope he dumps you in the lake, Rory Steel, you ungrateful sod. Now open this ramp and let me out before he starts sticking his tongue down my throat.’

  They dropped the ramp and Joker sauntered out, flapping his ears; not even the immaculate plaits and shining coat could make him look a proud thoroughbred. He just looked slightly comical and quite adorable.

  Tab looked dishevelled. Her normally sleek hair was tousled and damp, where the horse had chewed and nuzzled it, and he’d half pulled her shirt out of her jodhpurs.

  Rory grinned. ‘You look like you’ve either had a good shagging or gone five rounds with Mike Tyson.’