Page 68 of The Do-Over

‘What the hell was that?’ I say, deciding to go in on the offensive. ‘Why were you all staring at him?’

‘He was with you at John’s memorial service,’ Rebecca says softly. ‘I remember thinking you seemed very close then. You’re a dark horse, Thea, I’ll give you that. Does that mean you’ve moved on from George?’

‘He’s just afriend,’ I say firmly.

‘A friend you spent the night with,’ Mum counters.

‘Nothing happened. It was platonic.’

‘Shame. I think he’s lovely,’ she continues softly.

‘He’s obviously doing all right for himself if he’s driving a Porsche,’ Phil observes.

‘I used to have one of those! You weren’t so impressed then,’ I exclaim crossly.

‘Did you? I don’t remember.’

‘Everybody just stop, all right? I knew this would happen. Alasdair is a very good friend of mine, nothing more.’

‘If he’s such a good friend, how come we’ve never seen or heard of him before?’ Saffy demands accusingly.

‘Because he was a friend when I lived in London, and we weren’t allowed to contact each other while I was officially on gardening leave. However, that’s over, so he got in touch and came down to see me yesterday.’

‘Does he know about George?’ Rebecca asks, seemingly fixated on my non-existent love triangle.

‘He does. He’s taking me over there in a minute, actually.’

‘Who’s George?’ Phil asks, looking nonplussed.

‘George is the man from the trust that Thea’s taken a shine to,’ Rebecca explains. ‘They had a bit of a kiss but then he freaked out and he’s been avoiding her ever since.’

‘I was having a vulnerable moment when I kissed him,’ I mumble. Even though I’m a fully functioning adult, I’m notcomfortable talking to my parents about this kind of thing. ‘Now he’s convinced himself he took advantage of me.’

To my surprise, Phil guffaws with laughter. ‘What’s so funny?’ I ask him, annoyed.

‘Two things. The first is that you were vulnerable. Apart from that brief period when you first left your job, I’ve never known you to be vulnerable, Thea. And the second is the notion that anyone could take advantage of you. What were you vulnerable about, anyway?’

‘Something to do with the mill, which reminds me. Rebecca, Ben, can I borrow you?’

I’m grateful for the change of subject and the opportunity to get away from the inquisition as they follow me to the kitchen.

‘What’s up?’ Ben asks once we’re alone.

‘I’ve made a decision. I’m all in for the family farm idea and you investing, Ben. I just have one condition.’

‘Which is?’ Rebecca asks.

‘One of my biggest concerns is that three is an awkward number. Two could turn against one at any point. So, and I’ll write this into the contract if you’re happy, we only go ahead with something if all three of us agree on it. Each of us has the power of veto, OK?’

‘I’m happy with that,’ Ben says.

‘Me too,’ Rebecca agrees.

‘Great. That’s sorted then.’

‘While we have you, there is one other thing, actually,’ Rebecca says, putting her hand on my arm to stop me leaving the room.

‘What?’

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