Country Affairs, page 26
‘Your brother?’ Tiggy frowned. ‘Oh no, dear. Will can’t be his father, he’s infertile. He couldn’t leave a child behind so he was determined to leave a legacy in his words, that’s what drove him on with his writing I think. What on earth made you think he was your brother’s father?’
‘But the letters. There’s a whole bloody pile of letters.’
‘Oh I’m sure they had an affair, I could paper the house with love letters he sent to other women when we were together, so much purple prose and to think that’s why I fell for him. Girls can be so silly can’t they?’ She looked at Pip who wasn’t quite sure if the remark was aimed at her, or a general statement. ‘I do love a nice romance though, makes you all warm inside doesn’t it? And a knight on a charger to rescue the damsel.’ She giggled at Todd.
‘Sorry about that.’ He didn’t look sorry. ‘Looks like I got that one wrong too.’
‘You did look rather dashing. No wonder Rory and Mick got in a tizzy.’
‘Mick?’ Pip looked at Tiggy.
‘Well all the men did, dear. I mean, it was just like in the films, wasn’t it?’
‘Bad rom-coms.’ Pip’s tone had an edge. The remark about Mick brushed her up the wrong way. She would have given anything for him not to have been bothered about Todd riding in to rescue Lottie, but he had been. And it explained why he’d been so out of sorts at the wedding. But that was all old news – and she hated old, tired news.
‘Sorry about all this, Tiggy. I didn’t mean to bring back bad memories.’
‘It’s okay. It was just a bit of a shock seeing one of his letters again. And I am sorry to disappoint you, dear,’ she patted Todd’s hand, ‘you came all this way for nothing.’
‘So who is his dad? Mine buggered off well before Greg was born.’
‘I can’t help you with that. Are you sure you wouldn’t like a cup of tea, love?’
Todd closed his eyes and very gently lay his forehead down on the table.
‘Will did like Australia. He used to go off on his little book tours and they all thought he was a famous author. Well, he did tell them that, and how were they to know any different? He didn’t like it here – all damp and cold and no adoration. I really try not to think about him, though, not a nice man. Here, I’ll write his name down for you and you can get in touch if you want and see if he knows anything. Although he’ll probably just send you his autograph. He thinks everybody is a fan.’ Tiggy scribbled on a scrap of paper and handed it to Todd. ‘Now, was I supposed to be doing something?’
‘Horse feed?’
‘Ah, yes, and I did promise Billy I’d put the washing on.’ She grinned. ‘He had to go commando this morning, his knicker drawer was empty.’
Chapter 21
‘Sorry about the mess.’
‘I’m sorry, I should have texted and let you know I was coming.’ Lottie looked around but couldn’t see anything that remotely resembled mess. ‘I just called in to drop off some horse nuts for Dad and thought I’d come and say hi on the way.’
‘Oh, don’t be silly, I’m so pleased you’re here.’ Amanda had never felt so pleased to see anybody in her life. Living in the gorgeous Folly Lake Manor had been a dream come true, but since her enforced rest she’d felt isolated. And now she was feeling better, and not rushing to the bathroom every five minutes to be sick, she’d started to feel trapped. True, she had now been able to start to turn the Wedding Fayre plans into reality, but her life hadn’t really got back to normal yet.
She’d watched the dust cloud that announced a visitor moving closer to the house and was pretty sure that even if it had been a double-glazing salesmen (not that she had anything against them per se, but one had to be very careful with how one maintained a place like Folly Lake Manor), she would have grabbed him and made him stay for a cup of tea. ‘To be honest,’ she lowered her voice conspiratorially, ‘I’m a bit bored.’ She straightened a cushion (did a cushion at the wrong angle count as a mess, wondered Lottie?) and smiled. ‘Dominic is being a bit over-protective. He wants me to take things easy and frowns at me if he catches me with so much as a duster in my hand. You know what he’s like.’ Lottie didn’t. She’d never known her Uncle Dom to be protective of anything, apart from his horses, until he’d met and married Amanda.
‘You’re feeling okay now?’ Lottie didn’t mind the dogs puking on the carpet, or blood pouring out of a horse’s knee, but people being ill made her feel queasy.
‘I’m fine now.’ Amanda beamed and patted her stomach. Even after a few horrendous months of sickness, she looked the picture of serenity and control.
‘You should be looking after Tipping House, not me. You’d make a perfect Ladyship. I’m crap at it.’ Lottie slumped onto the sofa, then remembered the cushions and sat up again. ‘All the stuff you’ve done for the Wedding Fayre is brilliant. I wouldn’t have known where to start.’
‘Don’t be silly, you’ve done everything – and come up with that fabulous idea. All I’ve done is ring a few people, like you asked. That’s your home, Lottie, and you love it, don’t you? I know you do, and you’ll make a wonderful job of looking after it. I’d never know what to do, apart from fill in spreadsheets.’
‘But you’re so calm and organised.’
‘And you’re so brilliant and passionate.’
‘And even Rory’s left and gone back to his yard.’
‘I heard.’
‘Does everybody know?’ Lottie chewed the inside of her cheek and looked at Amanda, who nodded. ‘He just needed a break. He said I needed to lighten up and all I ever talked about was what we had to do. He said I don’t even help him with the horses as much now and he missed me. And he didn’t think he wanted to get married any more, and I’d been rushing into it just to please Gran.’ She drew a breath. ‘But I didn’t even know he thought we were getting married. I was just rushing into doing the pretend wedding.’
‘You don’t need to get married, though, do you? Did you really want to?’ Amanda sounded worried.
‘I don’t need to, no. I don’t know why he said that.’ Lottie gave up on trying to keep the cushions tidy and sank back. ‘And I never said I wanted to, did I?’
‘Not to me, you didn’t. Poor Rory, he does get himself in a mess, doesn’t he? Come on, I want to show you something upstairs.’ Amanda, Lottie decided, was somebody she’d normally be jealous of. She was so together, so – perfect. She sat with her knees together (like a lady should), walked properly, didn’t squash cushions, only said polite swear words (if there was such a thing) and was perfectly made-up even though she hadn’t been expecting anybody to call round. But she was also very nice, and kind. Like a tidier and more organised version of Tiggy.
‘Ta da.’
‘Wow.’ Lottie followed through the open doorway and it hit her. Amanda was going to have a baby. Okay, she’d known she was pregnant, but the reality of it hadn’t hit her until now. When she saw the nursery laid out with everything a new-born might need. ‘It’s gorgeous.’ And it was. Although everything Amanda did was – she had the type of taste that people paid vast amounts of money for. ‘Oh my God, I had one like that.’ Lottie smiled as she spotted the little rocking horse in the corner of the room.
‘You do like it? Really?’
‘Really.’ Lottie hugged her friend. ‘I’ve not seen enough of you lately, but I am so pleased, you know. I am sorry, Rory’s right, I haven’t had time for anybody and all I talk about is the house.’
‘You’ve been busy, and I’ve been puking.’ Amanda pulled a face. ‘But now I’m better we can party. Well not exactly party, but you know. And Rory isn’t right, although you do need to make sure you find time to get away and ride the horses. I mean, you know they’re not my thing,’ she grinned. Lottie knew. Amanda had come to her for riding lessons so that she could share Dom’s interest. But she was terrified of horses and gave up the moment he told her he didn’t care if she ever sat on a horse again or not. ‘But they are your thing, you’ve got to do something just for yourself. And by that I don’t mean for Rory.’
‘Oh.’
‘Lottie, he’s big enough to look after himself, in fact he’s big enough to be looking after a baby and you as well, but can you imagine?’
Lottie couldn’t. She giggled. ‘He’s good at looking after Tilly. Oh, this is wonderful Amanda, but I still can’t believe you’re having a baby.’
‘Nor can I. And it’s going to be your cousin, isn’t that weird?’
‘Very. Amanda,’ she played with the edge of the blanket that was draped over the crib, ‘does Uncle Dom mind about Tipping House? You know, that I’m inheriting it, not him?’
‘No.’ The reply was soft but definite. ‘Dominic never expected to inherit. He just wanted to help Elizabeth out until you were ready. It never was his and, to be honest, I think the thought of having to run it petrified him.’
‘Uncle Dom isn’t petrified of anything.’
‘He is of failing. He likes to be in control, to know he can succeed and Tipping House isn’t like that. It needs somebody like you, somebody who can let it be what it is, can accept it will never be perfect. If things don’t go quite right you’ll forgive them, Lottie, Dominic would find that very hard.’ She smiled fondly. ‘He’d kill himself worrying about every little detail, and there are far too many little details in that place.’
‘I like it how it is. I like the shabby bits.’
‘I know, and so does Dominic. We all know you can do it, Lottie. You and Tipping House Estate will be perfect together, just as Elizabeth was perfect, and so was your mother.’
‘Dad wasn’t too keen.’
‘But he was willing to support her.’
‘What if my idea doesn’t work? What if nobody wants to get married here?’
‘Then you’ll think of something else. Won’t you? Let’s go down, I want to show you what me and Sam have done, the details we put together after we met up the other day.’ She smiled. ‘Reptile Man is actually very good at his job, he sorted out all the speakers and lights.’
‘Sam hasn’t gone mad, has she?’ Lottie bit the inside of her lip slightly too hard with worry and winced. ‘She’s not made any little additions of her own, has she? No topless waiters or chocolate fountains. I have nightmares about a strobe-lit red carpet with a karaoke stage and Scruffy being guest of honour in his diamante collar.’
‘Diamond.’ Amanda giggled. ‘It’s tasteful. Honest.’
‘Gran says I should arrive on a horse.’
‘We’ve added that in too, Lady Godiva.’
‘I’m not doing it naked.’ She stopped dead in her tracks and Amanda cannoned into her. ‘No, no way.’
‘Joke, Lottie, it was a joke. Did you like the dress I found? You never said.’
Oh yes, the last time she’d chatted to Sam and Amanda she’d taken the wedding gown that Amanda had found for her, taken it up to try on. Shocked Rory to the extent that he’d jumped out of the window, and…. She’d kissed Mick. Her whole body heated up.
‘Are you sure I want to do this?’
‘Yes, you definitely want to do this.’ Amanda gave her a friendly shove. ‘Downstairs, let me show you what we’ve done. Sam is seriously good at this, you know, once you bring her down to earth. She is so driven, and she knows so many people. What Samantha wants, Samantha gets.’
Much as Lottie trusted Amanda and her impeccable taste, the thought of Sam wanting and getting scared her to death.
‘And I’m not arriving by parachute.’
‘Impossible in a wedding dress. I promise we haven’t changed your plan at all. All we’ve done is finalise a few bookings, like you asked us to. And put it all in a nice, simple spreadsheet so you can see where we’re up to.’
‘And I am not pretending to marry a footballer.’
‘No, we’re leaving the choice of groom entirely up to you, Lottie.’
‘Or wearing those six-inch heels again.’
‘Okay.’
‘Or letting her dog be my bridesmaid.’
‘Lottie trust me. Okay?’
***
Lottie took one look at the sheet of paper and burst into tears.
‘Oh no, you hate it.’
‘I,’ she picked the sheet up, crumpling it to her, ‘I think, oh God, now I’ve made a mess of it,’ she put it back down quickly and ran a shaky hand over it, which added new wrinkles, ‘sorry.’
‘Forget the paper, it’s me that should be sorry. Don’t cry, please don’t cry, we’ll sort it. I thought that was what you wanted us to do, but—’
‘Oh Amanda, you’re incredible.’ Which was all she managed to say through her tears and splutters.
‘Oh, Lottie, are you okay? Here, have a tissue.’
‘Great,’ sniffle. ‘I’m so happy.’ Sob. ‘I really am.’ She snuffled into Amanda’s arms. ‘Don’t do it again.’
‘No, we will.’
‘No, I mean don’t. I don’t want you to. I love it, it’s brilliant.’ She looked up and took a deep steadying breath and said it again in case the first time hadn’t come out properly. ‘I love it. They’re happy tears.’ But they weren’t exactly happy tears – it was more pure relief.
She’d laughed off the fact that Rory had gone (mainly because the way he’d done it had been funny) and not thought for one moment they wouldn’t work it out somehow between them. Until Gran had told her she needed a man about the place and nominated Mick. Which kind of meant Gran didn’t expect Rory back any day soon. But she’d managed to stick her head in the sand and ignore that.
She’d stuck her debt up in the tack room because it was amazing, not sobering, and she wanted a goal. Then Pip had been speechless, which was quite an achievement and meant it really was as scary as she’d known deep down.
And she’d thrown herself into the ‘save the mansion’ project because, well, she had to, and it would be fun. But as she’d looked at Amanda’s spreadsheet, all meticulous and neat, it hit her. It was real. It was her task, her inheritance. It was more than one sheet – it was pages. It was mammoth, unimaginable and impossible. All too much.
And yet, maybe it wasn’t. Rory had run because he could, and he’d made her feel selfish and obsessed, and alone.
But she wasn’t. Amanda and Sam had already done all this, itemised everything that they’d discussed, pulled together all the scraps of paper she’d given them. Ticked everything off, so they knew what had been done, and priced every last item. For her. Just for her. The tears welled up again and her nose started to run. Which was so unladylike.
‘You think it will work?’ She wiped the tears away with the back of her hand.
‘I know it will work. Sam thinks it will work, Pip does, Dom, Elizabeth.’ She waved an all-encompassing hand. ‘It’s a brilliant idea, Lottie, and like I said, if it doesn’t work, then I just know you’ll come up with something else.’
‘It was Rory’s idea.’
‘It was Rory who gave you the idea, but it’s yours, and we all know you can do it. Although I’m not sure you’d get on a horse in any of the dresses I’ve been loaned.’
‘Oh shit, the horse feed.’ She glanced at the clock on the mantelpiece, ‘Is it really that time? Dad will go ape. I promised him I’d be there an hour ago. Sorry, sorry.’ She headed for the door, then swung back to give Amanda another hug. ‘Thank you, really.’
Amanda smiled and wondered if Lottie needed a lecture along the lines of the hare and the tortoise. And then decided that nothing really would change the way she was, which was why they all loved her and wanted to help her so much. She was strangely strong, but vulnerable. You wanted to help her when she struggled, and yet just knew she’d work it out on her own if she had to. ‘You’re welcome. Er, I think you’re ringing.’
Lottie was, or rather her mobile phone, which was shoved deep into the pocket off her cut-off denim shorts, was. The muffled but distinctive ring tone that announced her affection for Kings of Leon also announced more trouble. ‘Christ, I really am in trouble if that’s Dad.’
She fought to pull the phone out, dragging the pocket lining with it, jumping on the spot as though it might help and making Amanda feel curiously maternal. Which considering there wasn’t much of an age gap between them was a bit worrying. It must, Amanda decided, be her hormones.
‘Oh, it’s Mick. What does he want?’ The phone stopped ringing, then started again.
‘Well, there is one way to find out, Lottie. Don’t you think you should answer it?’
Mick’s warm tone carried clearly across the room, and even though his voice was as steady as it always was, even Amanda could sense the urgency. ‘Lottie, you need to come home. Rory’s lost the plot, he’s taking all the horses – everything.’
Chapter 22
‘Rory?’
‘Oh good, you’re back, darling.’ Rory, who had two bridles over his shoulder and a saddle in his hands, kissed Lottie on the cheek and carried on walking, towards the horsebox. Her horsebox. ‘Be a darling, grab that box of bandages.’
Lottie picked up the box, which was at the side of the fountain, without thinking, and hurried after him. ‘Where are you going, did I forget an event?’ Which wouldn’t have been unusual. More than once they’d been up late into the night getting horses ready for an event the next day, which meant an early start. It wasn’t that she was completely disorganised – there was just so much going on and paperwork had a habit of going astray.
‘Nope.’ He went to take the box from her, but she hung on. Suddenly reluctant to let go, but not sure why. ‘I’m taking you home.’ He pulled at the box and she hung on tighter, until it became a weird push-and-pull game. ‘This is stupid, we can’t live like this.’ Rory gritted his teeth and dug his heels in, which reminded her weirdly of Tilly, his terrier. Which made her giggle and let go.
Rory landed with a thump on his backside, the contents of the box spilling around him, which made it even funnier – in a hysterical kind of way. ‘God, you are so sexy standing there.’ His fingers closed around her ankle and before she had time to react he’d pulled her down beside him onto the gravel driveway. ‘I need you at home with me. Christ, Lottie, I’ve missed you.’ His fingers were tangled in her hair and he rested his forehead against hers, which sobered Lottie up. She stopped smiling, reached out to touch his face.
