by Jenny Kane
Finding themselves ably assisted by Bea as they stirred soup and heated crusty rolls in the Aga, Tina suddenly said, ‘Do you think I should tell Sam what we’re up to? He’ll think we’ve got lost on the way to the loo.’
‘Don’t worry, it’ll do them good to have a talk on their own. Anyway, Charles won’t be interested in wedding stuff, and I’m dying to ask, have you got a dress? And if you have, can I have a peep?’
‘I haven’t, but if I had, you could certainly have a peep.’ Tina found herself relaxing further as Sam’s mum licked stray butter from her fingers. ‘Mabel is going to help me look for one.’
Mabel beamed. ‘Tina has asked Bert and me to be father and mother of the bride. I tell you, we fair near popped with pride.’
‘How wonderful!’ Bea clapped with enthusiasm. ‘I hope we’ll get to meet Bert. I’ve heard so much about him.’
As a slight cloud passed over Mabel’s face, Tina explained about Bert recovering from pneumonia, and being house bound for the time being.
‘Then I must go and visit him.’ Bea spoke as if it was a done deal. ‘I owe your husband for saving my son’s life.’
*
Not having anticipated being left alone with his father, Sam dug his hands into his pockets as he led the way around the side of the manor. ‘Do you think they’ll be long, Father? I’d rather like your opinion on something while Tina isn’t with us.’
Lord Malvern snorted. ‘If I know your mother, she had no need for the bathroom at all, but wanted an excuse to be nosey.’
Sam smiled. ‘In that case, would you mind a quick trip into the walled garden?’
‘Lead on.’ Lord Malvern surveyed the scene before him. ‘You weren’t exaggerating about the view over the gardens. It is quite something. Goes right down to Exmoor, am I right?’
‘It does.’ Wondering if his mother had given his father a stern talking to about being nice, Sam pushed open the gate to the walled garden. ‘It was the first thing I fell in love with at Mill Grange.’
‘And Tina was the second.’
‘Yes.’ Sam wasn’t sure how else to respond, so he shut the gate behind them and pointed to the far end of the garden. ‘Do you remember me telling you about our greenhouse when we visited Malvern House?’
‘Indeed. It was just after I’d had our orangery done up for your mother.’ Charles strode on, his head moving from side to side as he took in the rows of neat vegetable patches and the large chicken run.
‘I’d like to do ours up as a surprise for Tina. I’ve had some quotes done, but they were astronomical, so if possible, I’d like to do it up myself. I’d value your thoughts.’
‘Certainly.’
Coming to a stop before the tumbledown structure, Lord Malvern regarded it carefully. ‘A lot of work. Do you have the skills to set the panes of glass and so forth?’
‘Not yet. But I’m willing to learn.’
‘The wedding isn’t far off, even if you got a professional in. It’s unlikely you’d get the greenhouse ready before the end of May.’ Lord Malvern paused. ‘I’m assuming that was your plan?’
Sam sighed. ‘It was, but I’m having a rethink. What with work and everything, I haven’t even made a start on sourcing new glass, and neither Tom nor I can work out how to get the place done up secretly. There’s no way Tina would stay out of the walled garden for long enough. She loves the hens far too much.’
‘You couldn’t take her away on holiday before the wedding?’
‘Not a hope.’ Sam swallowed. ‘And there’s the other thing.’
‘Other thing?’ Lord Malvern sat on the bench by the chicken run and studied the greenhouse, his forehead creased in thought.
Sam took a deep breath. ‘Tina and I want to get married here, but—’
Charles’s placid demeanour disappeared and his shoulder’s stiffened. ‘Well if neither of you are worried about family or your mother’s feelings, then that is what you must do.’
Twenty-nine
Saturday April 4th
As they turned off the link road that led from the motorway towards Tiverton, Shaun pulled the car into the nearest lay-by.
Thea looked around in surprise. ‘Why have we stopped? Are you alright?’
‘I am, but I wasn’t sure if you were. The closer we’ve got to Upwich, the quieter you’ve become.’
Thea licked her lips, not wanting to ruin the day by telling him about the text message that had arrived on her phone shortly after they’d crossed the border from Gloucestershire into Somerset. It had been short and to the point; enforcing Julian’s offer of future presenting work and reminding her to keep the offer a secret.
‘I’m fine. Just enjoying the scenery.’ She smiled. ‘It’s been a lovely day.’
‘It has.’ Shaun picked up his phone, only to lower it again. ‘Do you have a phone signal here?’
Thea picked up her mobile. Three bars lit up her screen. She hesitated, not wanting to loan Shaun her phone in case another message from Julian arrived while he was using it. ‘Sorry, no. Did you want to call ahead for them to put the kettle on?’
‘No. I wanted to call that hotel and book us a room for the night on the way back to the dig.’
Guilt twisted in Thea’s stomach. ‘For a pre campervan cuddle?’
‘For a pre campervan toast crumb hunt.’
*
Sam had felt as if he was walking on eggshells ever since he’d followed Lord Malvern out of the walled garden. Guilt hung heavily on his shoulders throughout lunch, as he watched his mum and Tina chat about the house in general. He hadn’t had a chance to talk to Tina about his father’s reaction to them marrying at home, which, he thought, was perhaps just as well.
As Tina finished expounding the virtues of the manor’s interior, Sam piled their soup bowls onto the tray.
‘Would you like to see inside, Father?’
‘As we’re here, I suppose that would be sensible.’
‘Honestly, Charles, try and sound a little bit enthusiastic!’ Bea rolled her eyes. ‘Come on.’ She got to her feet, picking up some empty coffee cups as she did so. ‘I’ve only seen the kitchen properly so far. I’d love to explore the rest of the house.’
Giving his wife an indulgent look, Charles got to his feet. ‘What will you do while we look inside, Sam?’
‘I’ll come with you, downstairs anyway. Tina will have to take you upstairs though.’
Tina enjoyed watching Lord Malvern’s eyes widen. ‘You can come inside, and stay inside, now, Sam?’
‘Yes.’
Tina slipped a hand in Sam’s. ‘I told your mum about the efforts you and Bert have been making, and how they’ve been paying off.’
‘Good for you, Sam.’ Charles’s smile returned, lingering at the corners of his mouth. ‘Shall we go in?’
Leading the way, Tina could hear Bea behind her, telling her husband what a treasure Mabel was.
‘Mabel will have gone home to check on Bert, I’m afraid, but I’m sure she’ll be back later if you’d like to meet her.’
Bea placed the cups on the table as Charles surveyed his surroundings, his expression unreadable, although Tina couldn’t help but notice he spent as much time observing his son in an indoor setting as the setting itself.
‘Charles, I think I must visit Mr Hastings before we go home. He has done so much for Sam. He’ll be giving Tina away at the wedding.’
‘Will he now.’ Charles head titled upwards. ‘Then indeed he must be visited.’
Seeing his mother rolling up her sleeves, looking like a woman who had every intention of washing up, Sam tugged Tina gently to one side and whispered, ‘Should we ask them to stay for dinner? It’s almost three. Thea and Shaun will be here soon.’
Opening the large china cupboards doors, so their faces were hidden while in hushed conversation, Tina said, ‘I think your mother’s already assumed they’re staying. She made a big fuss over the lasagne earlier.’
‘Right.’ Sam nodded. ‘My father was a
bit prickly about the venue thing when we were in the garden. How’s it going with Mum?’
‘Hard to tell. She’s thrilled that you’re able to come inside. She got quite chocked when she realised how much progress you’d made. We’ve talked about the wedding, but not where it’ll happen.’ Tina grimaced. ‘They seem to love the house. We can win them round, can’t we?’
‘Miracles do happen.’ Sam winked before closing the cupboard again.
*
Tom pushed a chair under the desk and stood back to examine the affect. ‘What do you think?’
‘I think it’s a good job you two sharing one room is a short-term thing.’ Helen felt awkward. She knew that if they’d told Sam and Tina they were a couple when they’d originally planned to, then Dylan would have this room to himself already. And although Tina had guessed, she’d promised not to tell Sam until Dylan knew.
‘At least I won’t have many of his belongings to store until I find somewhere to rent. Sue’s only bringing the essentials over with Dylan tomorrow.’
Helen pointed to the deep windowsill. ‘Dylan could use that as his shelf for a while.’
‘His shelf?’
‘He’s bound to have books and cuddly toys that he views as essentials, even if they’re only weekend essentials.’
‘You’re right. I hadn’t thought of that.’ Moving forward to swipe a jumble of books and papers off the window sill, Tom peered into the garden. ‘Sam and Tina aren’t at the picnic table by the kitchen anymore. I hope it’s going alright for them.’
‘They spent long enough having lunch. The lack of raised voices has to be a good sign.’ Glad they’d had the foresight to bring their own lunch up to her room, Helen said, ‘Tina was hoping to do a tour of the house after they’d eaten. Perhaps we should slip outside and leave them undisturbed in case the attics are included in the itinerary?’
‘Good idea.’ Tom pushed his armful of possessions under the bed. ‘There’s nothing else we could do now until Dylan is here. Let’s go and see the fortlet.’
*
Face to face with the fortlet, the weight of their unspoken conversation about her immediate future rested on Helen’s shoulders.
‘I want to get it under a few layers of protection before the public come in for the Easter egg hunt. We could get the covers ready to put it into sleep mode.’
‘I’ll help you put them on now if you like.’ Tom bent down to lift a few blown in branches from the floor of, what was once, a Roman walkway.
‘I wasn’t sure if Sam would want to show his parents.’ Helen’s eyes flicked towards the house. ‘I hope they can win them over. It would be so wrong for Sam and Tina to marry anywhere but here.’
‘Yes.’ Tom paused, sensing Helen’s growing discomfort. They couldn’t avoid the elephant in the room any longer. ‘When you’re back in Bath, you will visit won’t you, when you can, I mean? Dylan will miss you. And I will too, obviously.’
Helen’s heart thudded faster as she risked a glimpse at Tom’s face. He was staring at his feet, his expression torn between hope and fear.
She found her mind zipping back to the earlier part of that day, when he’d made love to her as if she was the most precious creature that had ever lived. Her thoughts rewound across the weeks they’d worked side by side, helping others to learn to love their heritage as they strove to improve their personal futures. She thought on, picturing Dylan, who’d lightened her life in a way she hadn’t imagined possible, and suddenly she couldn’t think what it was that had been stopping her making a decision about her future.
Taking Tom’s hand, without a word, Helen walked them both into the woods that sheltered the far side of the excavation area.
Following her lead as she sat on the dry ground, her back resting against a hefty oak tree, Tom whispered, ‘Helen?’
‘I wanted us to tell everyone about us being together when we first planned to, I really did. But I got scared.’ Helen shoved a ringlet behind her right ear. ‘Although, I genuinely do think we ought to tell Dylan first.’
Tom wrapped her hand tighter in his, homing in on the first part of her statement. ‘Scared in what way?’
‘The enormity of it all. It’s happened so fast. To go from us getting together, to basically living together so Dylan can have some space of his own. I know it isn’t living together in the conventional sense, but it felt so huge.’
Not daring to speak for fear of saying the wrong thing, Tom squeezed her palm as he listened.
‘… and to give up my job in Bath and move here. I suppose I panicked.’
‘That I understand.’ Tom squashed up against her side. ‘I’m not asking you to give up your life in Bath. You love that job. I can’t ask you to gamble on me. That’s why I just asked if you’d come to see us once you were back there.’
‘Of course I would, and I hope you’d come to see me. I know it is two hours away, and with Dylan with you every other weekend it’s a big ask, but even if you were only there for when I got home from work…’ She tousled a hand through her hair, making her fringe bounce across her forehead. ‘But then I got to thinking that if we dated long distance for a while it would be less frightening, because if we missed each other we’d know for sure that we were meant to be together.’
‘If that’s what you want to do.’ Tom forced himself not to adjust her fringe. A single curl was hovering between her eyebrows in a seductive manner that she was oblivious to.
‘But that’s just it. I don’t know what I want. Didn’t know. It’s all been so jumbled in my head.’
‘But now you do know? What you want, I mean.’
‘Yes.’ Helen shuffled around so she was facing Tom, holding his green gaze. ‘Just then, as we stood by the old walkway the soldiers used to patrol the area, when you asked me about coming to visit. That’s when I knew. I don’t want you to come and visit Tom, because I don’t want to leave Mill Grange in the first place.’
‘You want to stay here?’
‘Yes.’
‘With me?’
‘With you.’ She went to push the curl out of her eyes, but Tom’s hand darted forward and stopped her.
‘No, let me do that.’
Thirty
Saturday April 4th
‘Wow, now that’s a car.’
As Shaun pulled up next to the old-style Bentley, Thea admired the navy bodywork. ‘Sam’s parents must still be here.’
‘Does that mean we should make ourselves scarce, or do you think it’s okay to go inside?’
Thea swung her car door open and hopped out, stretching her legs. ‘I’m sure it’s fine to go in, which is just as well, because I’m bursting for a pee.’
Smiling as Thea darted towards the backdoor, Shaun unlocked the car boot just as Tom and Helen appeared from around the side of the house.
‘Need help with your luggage?’
‘Thanks, Tom.’ Shaun’s eyes widened as he noticed they were holding hands. ‘Looks like a lot’s been happening in our absence.’
Helen glanced at their hands self-consciously. ‘Oh you know life at Mill Grange, nothing stays the same for long.’
‘Yep, nothing like a historical house for constant change.’ Shaun laughed as he shook Tom’s hand.
Grinning, Helen said, ‘Actually, we didn’t think anyone would be around. We haven’t told anyone yet, so…’
‘So mum’s the word for now.’
‘Although,’ Tom exchanged glances with Helen as he said, ‘Tina and Mabel both guessed, so it’s not like no one knows, we just aren’t broadcasting until we’ve spoken to Dylan.’
‘Got it.’ Shaun nodded. ‘I’m delighted for the pair of you. Thea will be too. She’s just dashed in to the loo. She told me you two had the hots for each other, as she put it, the day you arrived, Tom.’
Helen’s eyes widened. ‘Did she?’
‘Yep.’ Hauling a pair of overstuffed rucksacks from the boot of the car, Shaun paused. ‘Now I think about it, she was convinced that Tina and
Sam would get together long before they did too.’
‘Spooky.’ Tom let go of Helen’s hand so he could take one of the heavy holdalls from Shaun. ‘Secret witchcraft?’
Helen pulled a bag of walking boots from the boot. ‘More likely she’s been talking to Minerva again.’
‘Sorry?’ Tom looked confused.
‘I’d almost forgotten she did that.’ Shaun smiled. ‘I haven’t heard Thea talk to Minerva for ages.’
Helen followed the men towards the house, explaining the Minerva situation to Tom. ‘Thea had a statute of the Goddess of Wisdom in the corner of her office when she worked at the Roman Baths. I often came in and found her in conversation with it.’
‘There are worse things to take advice from I guess.’ Tom’s eyebrows rose. ‘Perhaps I should get us a statue, then the next time we’re in a dither about what to do, we can ask it for guidance.’
Helen laughed. ‘That’s not a bad idea, although you do have to listen really really hard for an answer.’
‘Always a catch.’
Shaun pushed open the backdoor with his foot and checked along the corridor. ‘Should we dump our things and then get out of Sam’s way?’
Helen headed for the back stairs. ‘We were just considering heading to the pub.’
‘A plan with no drawbacks.’ Shaun took Helen’s bag from her. ‘Can you stay here and wait for Thea while we run stuff upstairs?’
‘Sure.’ As Shaun and Tom disappeared from view, Helen’s heart soared. She’d made her decision, and seeing Shaun’s delighted expression at their being a couple, she knew it was the right one.
Hovering outside the bathroom, Helen called through the door. ‘Thea, are you in there?’
‘Helen! Yes, won’t be a minute.’
Seconds later Thea threw open the door. ‘Sorry, it was so hot in the car. I grabbed the chance for a quick wash. It’s so good to see you.’ Engulfing her friend in a hug, Thea stood back and regarded her shrewdly. ‘Something’s happened. Tom?’
