by Sharon Booth
Emerald had been a bit nervous, but it turned out that she was about to get everything she had wished for.
'Love is coming your way, no doubt about it,' the woman told her, turning the cards and beaming at Emerald in delight. 'I see a man you care about very much. There's a veil between you right now, like he's not seeing you properly. But he will. Mark my words, he will. Ooh, you've got some right cracking cards here, love. The future you dream of is within your grasp. Mind you, you've got some obstacles to face first, but you'll do it, never fear, and then — well, a new life. That's what it is. Can't say owt less than that. A whole new life and a load of love. How about that then?'
Emerald had to agree it was wonderful news, and well worth the twenty pounds she'd paid. Thank goodness for her father's credit card. She knew it was supposed to be for the wedding, but she'd allowed plenty for that, and she wasn't spending much — travel expenses and lunch. She'd never been a big spender, and her father couldn't complain about costs when she was taking her wedding planner duties seriously. Besides, anything was better than hanging around Fleetsthorpe all day. It would have been different if Eliot had let her help him, but he seemed to prefer to work with Jed. He was quite sexist, truth to tell. Gorgeous, but sexist. She'd have to sort him out when they finally got together, which, of course, they would. It was obvious that was what the tarot card reader was talking about. Who else could she mean?
'Emmy, are you listening to me?' Jed's voice brought her back to the kitchen at Fleetsthorpe, and all thoughts of her future with Eliot popped like bubbles in the washing up bowl.
'Huh?'
Jed sighed. 'All I'm saying is, maybe make a bit more effort, huh? These guys have taken us in, and it wouldn't hurt you to help out a bit more, especially now the barns are up and running properly.'
Emerald folded her arms, feeling cornered. Jed laughed and hooked his finger under her chin, lifting her face to his. 'Hey, are you sulking?'
'Of course not!'
'Good. I knew someone as kind and mature as you wouldn't sulk.'
'Are you laughing at me?'
'Maybe, a bit. Now, how about I wash, and you dry?'
Reluctantly, Emerald agreed, and picked up a tea towel as Jed began to scrub at the dishes.
'If you're not sure what you're supposed to do with that, I can give you lessons,' he told her, nodding at the tea towel.
Emerald laughed and flicked him with the cloth. 'Cheek of it!'
Jed flicked bubbles at her and she squealed.
'Having fun?' Eliot's gruff voice pulled them both up short and they stared at him. He looked desolate.
'Everything okay, Eliot?' Jed's voice was gentle. 'We thought we'd do the dishes. Help out a bit.'
Eliot nodded, saying nothing. Whatever had been said between him and Eden, it had obviously shaken him. Emerald felt so sorry for him. Poor Eliot. 'Take no notice of her,' she told him. 'It's probably the time of month. I'd ignore her if I were you. Just sit yourself down and I'll make you a cup of tea.'
She'd fixed him with a bright smile, expecting one in return. Instead, he'd positively snarled at her. 'Why would I ignore her? She's right! That lass has worked her fingers to the bone on this farm for two years, and now she's taken on the barns an' all, all to help out with our finances, and you can't even be bothered to wash a pot.'
Emerald was completely taken aback. 'I'm — I'm drying them now.'
'Oh aye, no doubt because Jed made you. Where were you this afternoon, eh? She were cleaning the bunk barn and washing the bedding, and she needed your help. You couldn't even offer to mind the kids or cook the tea. She had to get George to Ravensbridge, bake more scones for tomorrow, and then come back here and cook for us all. It's disgusting. You're lazy, that's the truth of it.'
'Eliot!' Emerald felt wounded to the very soul of her. How could he talk to her like that? What had that evil bitch said? 'I — I was busy.'
'I don't want to hear it,' he told her. 'Things are going to be different around here. You pull your weight, or you can go home, wedding or no. Understand?'
Emerald couldn't answer. She gaped at him, shocked. Eliot had never spoken to her harshly before. She'd thought they were friends. Her heart seemed to plummet to her feet and she was appalled to feel the unfamiliar sting of tears in her eyes. As they surveyed each other, Emerald wasn't sure what to do or how to respond. It was with huge relief that she heard the ping of her phone.
'I have a message,' she managed to say, quite haughtily. 'If you'll excuse me, this is probably about your wedding.'
I'M ON MY WAY TO THE PARADISE AGAIN. SEE YOU THERE? PLEASE DON'T LET ME DOWN THIS TIME. I'M SORRY. X
She wasn't thrilled to see James's name on the screen yet again, but at least he'd given her the excuse she needed. Pointedly ignoring Eliot, she'd informed Jed that she had to be somewhere, then she'd stormed across the farmyard, ringing for a taxi as she headed towards the gate.
James rose to his feet as she entered The Paradise Hotel's restaurant. 'You look —'
'Oh, save it,' she snapped. 'I don't want to hear any more of your bullshit.'
His mouth fell open. 'Pardon?'
The waiter, who had hurried over to hand them a menu, looked deeply uncomfortable. He muttered something about giving them time to choose and hurried off again.
James leaned forward, a definite scowl on his face. 'What's the matter with you? I told you how sorry I was for that little misunderstanding in Leeds. If you haven't forgiven me, what are you doing here?'
'You're the lesser of two evils right now,' she informed him. 'And, please, let's not pretend that the Leeds fiasco was a misunderstanding. You knew perfectly well what you were doing, and that I'd never given you any cause to believe that I was interested in you so don't try to shift the blame onto me.'
'I never said you had,' he said sulkily. 'We all know you're too smitten with Eliot Harland to even look twice at me.'
It was Emerald's turn to gape. She felt her cheeks start to burn. 'What do you mean? Who said I had any feelings toward Eliot Harland at all?'
'You did, every time you mentioned his bloody name. God!' James threw himself back in his chair and shook his head. 'If I'm not sick and fed up of everything. My life is going to hell in a hand cart and this is all I need. I wanted to get out of the house, have something to eat and a bit of a chat with a person I considered a friend, and I get more grief. As if I haven't got enough going on at home.'
'Well, maybe you shouldn't stir up so much trouble then,' she said, battling with feelings of sympathy for him. He deserved everything he got.
'What do you mean by that?'
'Oh, come off it. Did you really think I wouldn't find out? About you and Jemima Harland, I mean, and about George. You can't send a solicitor's letter to Fleetsthorpe when I'm staying there and not realise I was going to find out about it all. Not that you care, obviously.'
James looked baffled. 'Okay, so you know about Jemima. What does that matter to you? It was years ago, and it's not as if you and I are involved. You made that very clear.'
'Maybe I don't like being made to look a fool,' she said.
'How have I made you look a fool?' He sounded genuinely bewildered.
'Because you made me believe I was the only woman you've been attracted to since Beth, and I thought —' She stopped, feeling stupid suddenly. Come to think of it, he'd never said any such thing. It was her stupid pride and gullibility. He'd never told her that she was the first woman he'd fallen for since he got married, she'd assumed because she wanted to. Same as with Eliot.
She slumped, feeling miserable. She'd thought that if only Eden was out of the picture, Eliot would fall into her arms, but she'd been stupid. She could see that now. He'd never look twice at her. They had nothing in common, after all. Could she really see herself living at Fleetsthorpe with him, playing mother to his kids and spending her days cooking, cleaning, and up to her knees in mud and sheep shit? Hardly. Whereas, Eden seemed to love it.
The truth was, the
y were meant for each other. Eden was Eliot's world. Emerald would never matter to him. She'd convinced herself that they had something because — because what? Because he'd been nice to her. Kind. Paid her attention. Sympathised. Cared.
Was she really that desperate for male attention? Was that all it took? A man only had to be nice to her and she thought they were in love? Emerald felt sickened. What was wrong with her?
'Emerald, are you all right?' James's voice was gentle, and he put his hand on hers.
She shrugged it away. 'I don't need patronising.'
'I wasn't being patronising. I was concerned.'
'It's all right, I get it. I was an idiot. You've had a long string of affairs and I was your latest challenge. And if I'd have said yes, I'd have been another notch on the bedpost. I should have known.'
James was quiet for a moment. Emerald was dimly aware that the waiter was hovering uncertainly at the corner of the room.
'Emerald, there's been no one since Beth apart from Jemima. She needed someone. She and Harland were totally unsuited. Their marriage fell apart immediately, and that's when — when she turned to me. For comfort.'
Emerald's expression was scathing. 'Comfort? Is that what you'd call it?'
'I know how bad this must sound, but you have to understand that Jemima and I were both in a terribly bad place at the time. Our marriages were both dead in the water and —'
'I don't think Eliot and Beth were aware of that.'
James fidgeted, a worm on a hook. 'We'd been struggling for some time. Beth — Beth is unable to have children, you see, and it put an enormous strain on our relationship. Jemima and Harland had realised they weren't suited, but they had two daughters to think about.'
'And then, joy of joys, another baby on the way.'
'Well, quite. Jemima and I had always got on well and — you know how it is.'
'Oh, I do,' she said wryly. 'My father's done an awful lot of comforting in his time, too, as you probably read in the papers. In fact, I wouldn't be here right now if he hadn't done a lot of comforting during his first marriage. And he might still be married to my mother if he hadn't felt the need to comfort some cheap waitress from a Steak 'n' Bake pub in Gloucester.'
'Look, I know it sounds bad, but it's hard to explain how unhappy we were back then. We discovered we had a lot in common, and before we knew it, we'd fallen in love. It caused an awful lot of unhappiness, but what can you do when love strikes? Harland never forgave her, of course, and he blamed both Jemima and me entirely without considering for a moment that his behaviour could have had anything to do with it.'
'Eliot's behaviour was impeccable, I'm sure.' Emerald gripped the stem of her glass. 'He's a decent, honourable man. The sort that certain women take advantage of.' Even if he is a moody, ungrateful, ungracious yob when he puts his mind to it. She'd certainly seen another side of Eliot Harland tonight.
'You shouldn't put him on a pedestal you know,' James said. 'He's not perfect. He only married Jemima for her money, and to get one over on her family.'
'I don't believe you.'
'It's true! They banned her from seeing him — had a much more suitable chap in mind. Well, he wasn't having that, was he? Some jumped up rich people telling him what he could and couldn't do, so he bullied Jemima into marrying him.'
Emerald didn't buy it. 'How can you bully someone into marrying you?'
'Well, perhaps bully is the wrong word,' he admitted. 'Perhaps emotional blackmail better describes it. He made it clear to Jemima that he didn't believe their relationship stood a chance unless she married him. You didn't know Jemima. She was a gentle, caring soul.'
'She was related to Honey,' Emerald said. 'I sincerely doubt it.'
'You're related to Honey,' he pointed out. 'Does that make you a bad person?'
Emerald hesitated. 'Point taken,' she said at last. 'So, what went wrong between them?'
'It turned out that Eliot and Jemima had nothing in common, but he wouldn't let her go. She was the answer to his prayers, you see. When she arrived at Fleetsthorpe it was a rundown farm and the house was a dilapidated wreck. Jemima used all her own money, improving the house and financing his business. Without her, he'd have gone bankrupt years ago. Do you know, when she died, she had no money to leave? Yet, she'd had a small fortune when they married. He'd drained her entire account.'
Emerald felt a pang of anxiety. 'Are you sure?' It would explain the designer kitchen, the exquisite furniture, the tasteful decoration. She'd never understood how the farmhouse at Fleetsthorpe came to be so glamorous. It was all beginning to make sense now.
'Positive. He didn't want her to end the marriage because he needed money and he was hoping her family would step in and finance the farm. Unfortunately for him — and for me, of course — the marriage ended anyway, in the most tragic of circumstances.'
Emerald shifted on her chair. 'Yeah, well, that was pretty awful. I'm sorry she was killed. Must have been horrible for everyone.'
'Yes.' James stared at his empty glass. 'Horrible.'
'But you're still with Beth?'
'We tried to make a go of it, but it's not been the same. It was falling apart long before Jemima. Beth's infertility has taken over her life. Babies are her obsession. She had no room for me or anyone else. Jemima gave me the attention I craved. I know, it sounds pathetic.'
'It doesn't,' Emerald admitted. How could she say it did when her own need for attention had been as strong?
'I tried to put things right with her, to make it up to her.' He gave her a faint smile. 'I even gave up on George, despite longing to claim my son as my own.'
'That must have been hard,' she said, grudgingly. 'Yet now you want him back suddenly?'
'It's not sudden,' he said. 'It seems that way because I've felt unable to tell anyone how I was feeling. I had to pretend that it was okay that Harland was raising my child. Who would I tell? Who would care? I couldn't tell Beth, could I? I'd hurt her enough, and with her inability to get pregnant ... I had to be unselfish about her. Then my mother came home, and I found myself wanting to unburden it all to her. She allowed me to express all the pain I've been bottling up for so long. She let me admit that I was grieving, and she gave me the courage to say out loud that I wanted and needed George in my life.'
Emerald bit her lip. She had to admit, she could sympathise with him. He must have gone through an awful lot. This wasn't as clear-cut as she'd supposed. James was so lonely, and he had so few people on his side. It was all right for Eliot. He had Eden and his family and friends around him. He even had her own father working to help him — thanks to her. James had no one except his mother. Not even Beth, though he didn't realise it. She wondered how he'd react when he found out about her and Jed. More pain and grief. He'd said their marriage was struggling, but even so, it would be another blow to him. He'd already been through so much.
Emerald felt terrible. She'd helped the Harlands go against this poor man. She'd got her father involved, got a solicitor onto him. All he wanted was his own son back. Who could blame him for that?
'Emerald,' he pleaded, 'you do know how much you mean to me, don't you? I'm sorry I was so stupid in Leeds. It was unforgivable. I suppose I wanted — hoped —'
'It's all right,' she said cautiously. 'It doesn't matter. You mean a lot to me, too. Maybe we should start all this again?'
He blinked, clearly surprised. 'Really?'
Emerald smiled. 'Shall we order first? Then, let's see how it goes.'
Chapter Thirty
Eliot sipped his tea, glad of the quiet. The kids were having a rare lie-in and there was no sign of the Carmichaels. Emerald would, no doubt, be in her bedroom, doing her morning yoga routine. It was a daily ritual that she never broke. It was anyone's guess where Jed was. Eliot had fed the dogs and checked the stock and had popped back to the house for a brew, to find Eden alone in the kitchen. It was a rare moment of peace, and he'd hoped to find her in a bit better mood than she'd been in the past few days.
&
nbsp; She seemed okay. Not full of the joys of spring, but reasonable. She'd offered to make him some toast and he'd agreed, even though he'd already had breakfast. Worrying, he found, could be hungry work sometimes.
He stifled a groan as Jed rushed into the kitchen, carrying his laptop. 'Morning, Jed.'
Jed didn't return the greeting, which was unusual. Instead, he placed the laptop on the kitchen table and said, 'I don't wanna be the bearer of bad news, but have you seen this?'
He pointed to the reviews column on the shiny new Fleetsthorpe Bunk Beds website.
Eden finished buttering rounds of toast, wiped her hands and hurried over to take a look.
'Bloody hell,' Eliot murmured, his hands cupped around his mug of hot tea, his brow furrowed as he stared at the screen in horror, 'which bugger's put this?'
Eden's mouth fell open as she spotted that her precious business now had six reviews, where yesterday there'd been only two. Four new ones, and all of them one-star!
'Dirty, noisy, inadequate facilities …' she shook her head, appalled. 'I don't understand. We've not had a single complaint.'
'Seems like someone's been unhappy, and has used the website rather than approach you,' Jed said.
'But the bunk barns are spotless!' Eden burst out, her eyes glittering with unshed tears. 'And how can they say they're noisy, or have inadequate facilities? What does that even mean?'
Eliot clasped her hand, feeling deeply anxious. 'Don't fret, my love. It's all right.'
'How can it be all right?' she demanded. 'This could ruin us before we've even got started.'
Jed and Eliot exchanged uneasy glances. Clearly, Eden was still stressed. She was very much a glass half-full sort of person, usually, and Eliot had never heard her sound so panicky before. He wished Jed had never shown her the reviews, but then, she'd be bound to check them herself at some point, anyway.
