Page 33 of Stars Shine In Your Eyes

“She has her heart set on her own garden center somewhere nearby,” Fiona said.

“We really need to make that happen,” Malcolm said, more to himself than to the two of them.

Josie hoped the conversation she’d had with his sister had given her another perspective on letting him help her make her dreams come true.

“She’s shared her vision with me,” Fiona said, “and I think what she’d most like to do is to revitalize the walled garden at the old manor house and create a nursery with plants for sale. Perhaps even a restaurant onsite. But getting permission is difficult, of course, and then there’s the financial investment.”

“Oh, it would be incredible,” Josie said, gazing across at the manor house.

“If anybody can do it,” Malcolm said, “it’s Alice. At twenty-five, she’s the youngest head gardener at Kew.” He was so proud of his little sister, it was adorable.

Josie didn’t want to be drawn to this softer side of Malcolm, but she couldn’t help it. Time and time again over the last few days, he’d proved to be devoted to his family. He was close to his grandmother, wanted to help his siblings, obviously respected his parents. Now he was giving up his vacation to help create a reading retreat. Not the usual holiday plans for a billionaire.

Did that mean she should exclude him from her no-man-ever edict?

“I can’t wait to get inside these cottages,” Fiona said. “I studied historical furniture and textiles at university. I had thought to go into restoration at one time, but life had other plans.”

“You could still do that,” Malcolm said. “Lewis doesn’t need you around to take care of everything for him all the time. He can hire assistants for that.”

“No, I want to take care of him. He’s my husband. But it’s really nice to take a few hours occasionally to do something like this too.”

Josie had the key Mari had given her, and she unlocked the first of the cottages. “Here it is. Prepare yourself. It needs a lot of work. But I thought there might be some chairs and tables and perhaps even some embroidered wall hangings that might be salvageable.”

Fiona didn’t seem to be listening. She was already exclaiming over a chair.

“This is Georgian. It’s an absolute crime that it’s sitting here neglected.” She ran her hand over the curved back the way she might lovingly stroke a favorite pet. Then she peered closer at the needlework on the seat. “And if I’m not mistaken, this embroidery on the seat cover and back is more than a hundred years old.” She tipped the chair to study the underside. She glanced up, her eyes shining with excitement. “It could even be original. That would make it more than two hundred years old. I can’t believe this furniture has just been moldering away all these years.”

Josie glanced around. “It feels as though someone, sometime in the past, left in a hurry, and nobody’s been in until now.” She recalled the story of the family who’d lived here and the widow and her son who’d left, never to return. The cottages would be so much better once they’d given them some TLC and elbow grease.

Over the next hour, Fiona took copious notes on the furnishings and the handful of other embroidered pieces. When they had gone through all the rooms, she said, “I have a friend who sells secondhand curtains and rugs that have come out of grand homes. They’re gorgeous and a fraction of the price of buying new. And of course I’m happy to do whatever work might be necessary to get everything fitted in the space. It will just depend on how much time I can carve out—” Her phone rang, cutting her off. “Excuse me, I should get this. It’s Lewis.”

To Josie’s ear, she sounded a little nervous as she quickly took the call.

“Hello, darling.”

From Josie’s end, it sounded like Fiona’s husband was barking orders at her. There was no sweet greeting such as Fiona had given him, and the call was over before his wife could say more than, “Yes,” and “Certainly, I’ll take care of it immediately.” Fiona hung up and tucked her phone away in her bag. “I’m afraid I have to run. Lewis needs me to set up a cocktail party for a group of Norwegian businessmen in town for the night. If I leave now, I should just have enough time to get everything in order for it.”

“Can’t he have someone else do that, Fiona?” Malcolm asked. “Especially since he threw it at you at the last minute?”

“Oh no, I’m happy to do it,” Fiona said. She gave him and Josie a kiss on each cheek, and then she was off, her expensive perfume the only thing lingering behind.

Alice had waved through the window earlier as she’d headed to work, so it was just Josie and Malcolm again.

“God, her husband infuriates me,” Malcolm said. “All of us. I don’t know what she ever saw in him. The way he treats her…”

“She seems fairly happy, doesn’t she?”

“No. When we were kids, you should have seen her laugh. She was the wildest one of all of us. But as soon as she met Lewis, she let him turn her into a perfect society robot. Instead of rebelling, she gave in to his every whim. And the problem is, I’ve heard things about him. Bad things. Whispers in the business community.”

“You mentioned that yesterday.”

“What I didn’t mention is that I’m sure he has a mistress. At least one.”

“That’s horrible,” she managed. Her heart was hammering. It was all hitting too close to home.

“The woman he’s cheating with should be ashamed of herself. She’s just as disgusting as he is,” Malcolm said.

Josie felt her cheeks flame. “Maybe that woman doesn’t know he’s married.”

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