Page 55 of Love ad Lib
She shook her head.
‘I can take you if you fancy it?’
Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod.
He frowned. ‘Are you too hot? Would you like a glass of cold water?’
Cold water? Right now, she needed a cold shower.
‘Right! All sorted.’ Estelle strode towards them, wiping her hands on her jodhpurs. She extended her hand towards Libby. ‘It’s clean, I promise. I just washed them under the outside tap.’ She gave Libby’s hand a bone-crunching shake. ‘I’m Estelle. But it doesn’t take a genius to work that out.’ She pointed at the English Setter. ‘That’s Joy, and—’ She looked around and whistled.
The black fluffy dog re-appeared, a massive and very dead rat in its mouth.
‘This is Chester.’ Estelle knelt. ‘Who’s a good boy? Yes, you’s a good boy! Well done, Chester-Chops! You going to eat that now?’
Chester dropped the rat at her feet.
‘Fair enough, can’t really blame you.’ She stood and booted the rat to the wall, then turned her attention back to Libby. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll deal with it later.’ Estelle put her hands on her hips. ‘Look, I need to make a few things clear from the get-go. Our parents are fucking mental, but we love them. We can slag them off to Bath and back, but you can’t say a word against any of them. Ever. Okay?’
Libby shut her mouth and nodded in quick succession as Henry cried, ‘Estelle!’
She ignored her brother. ‘And that goes for the rest of us too. If you don’t like us, keep it to yourself or fuck off.’
Bloody hell.Henry’s sister wasn’t taking any prisoners.
‘Estelle! Shut up!’
‘But you can say what you like about Cousin Rupert,’ she continued, ‘he’s a right twat. Oh, and Julian, Cousin Catherine’s husband, too. Don’t go anywhere near him after he’s had a few. Bloody perve.’
‘Estelle! Fuck’s sake—’
She held up her hands. ‘Okay, okay, I’ll back off, little bro.’ Her frown turned into a beaming smile, and she pulled Libby into a hug. ‘Welcome to the family.’ She disengaged, grabbed Libby’s arm and dragged her out of the stables. ‘You can meet Duke later if you’re interested in horses. All the best people are. Well, apart from Rupert and Julian. Do you ride?’
Libby shook her head and glanced over her shoulder at Henry as he followed with the two dogs. He mouthed ‘sorry’.
‘I’ll fix that,’ Estelle continued. ‘I run a stable. Anyway, I wanted to meet you before everyone else so I could break you in gently.’
Gently?‘Er—’
‘Have you met any of the family yet?’
‘Your dad and mammy,’ she replied as she was frogmarched across the courtyard, her feet doing two steps for every one of Estelle’s.
‘Were they wearing clothes?’
‘Mostly.’
Estelle nodded. ‘Well, that’s progress. Anyway, my mom can be a little overbearing, and Gram-Gram is a veritable dragon. Kind of like Voldemort in a dress. But underneath the snark, there’s a heart of gold. Connor, Leo and Willow are relatively normal. Summer is so full of herself she might explode, and Henry is less flexible than a straight-jacket. But you knew that already.’
She stopped abruptly and faced Libby, gripping her upper arms.
‘You’re the first outsider any of us have ever brought home, and you need to know we’re very protective of each other. But thank you for being here and for putting up with my brother. Do you like Chelsea buns?’
‘What?’
‘Chelsea buns. They’re like cinnamon rolls but glazed and made with dried fruit and mixed spice. Perry, our cook, makes the best ones ever and brought some out of the oven twenty minutes ago.’
Libby caught Henry’s eye and the corner of her mouth turned up.
