Page 93 of Love ad Lib
‘I feel as if I might float away if I didn’t hold onto something.’
Henry squeezed her hand. ‘I’ll keep your feet on the ground. I’m sensible, dependable and most importantly, heavy.’
Libby laughed and threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly, then immediately let go.
‘Sorry…’
He opened his arms. ‘Any time. Remember our contract states you can initiate any act that involves bodily contact.’
Oh god. Now, she was thinking about acts that involvedintimatebodily contact.
She tilted her head to one side. ‘Are you a hugger, Henry?’
He looked away, his cheeks colouring. ‘Under the right circumstances.’
Had she pushed him too far?Fuck. She’d been flirting with someone who, for these few days at least, she should be in a business relationship with.
‘Okay,’ she said brightly. ‘So far, I’ve almost been completely overwhelmed by some trees. Want to tip me over the edge by showing me a field?’
He grinned. ‘And if that doesn’t do it, I can throw in some spectacular hedges.’
Libby’s experienceof the English countryside was entirely informed by film and television. She may have walked for miles in the rain with Lizzie Bennet to visit Jane at Netherfield Park, or picnicked with Emma on Box Hill more times than she could remember, but each trip was undertaken from the comfort of a sofa or a cinema seat. Now she was strolling through open parkland on a perfect summer’s day, with the quintessential English gentleman by her side.
‘I’m going to show you the highlights,’ Henry said as they strolled through the short grass. ‘The estate is pretty large, so we’re going to do the arboretum, Dad’s biodynamic fields, and finish at the lake.’
She could already see it in the distance, people setting up marquees by the edge of the water.
‘Can I hear pigs?’
‘Yep, they’re Eveline’s,’ he replied, pointing to a large house and garden that lay between the Manor and the church behind them. ‘Gram-Gram pitched a fit when she turned part of the rectory garden over to them. I don’t know why, it was a jungle of brambles before that.’
‘Eveline said she’s a part-time pig farmer?’
‘From what Estelle says, Eveline isn’t a part time anything. Apparently, she works longer hours than I do, which is saying something.’
‘What does she do with the pigs when they’re grown?’
‘Everything from sausages to bacon to charcuterie. I’ve tasted some of it and it’s out of this world.’
‘Does she sell it?’
Henry shook his head. ‘She’s not allowed to, but I think she’d just give it away anyway. Gram-Gram told Estelle that Eveline was using it to bribe people to like her.’
‘That’s a bit harsh!’
He grinned. ‘She’s only jealous. She tried to make some kind of point a while back by refusing a side of bacon, and now regrets that decision.’
Henry stopped and pointed at the landscape before them.
‘So, Foxbrooke village is behind us, and the Manor, church and rectory are all on the edge. Over there we’ve got the lake and the Dower House where Gram-Gram lives. Beyond the wood in the distance is the river Foxbrooke. It marks the border between our land and another estate which is currently up for sale. And to the left, up the hill, is the arboretum that my great, great, great grandfather planted. It’s not far.’
As they walked, Libby thought about what her great, great, great grandfather might have planted. A potato? Henry’s world was so far removed from hers, the only overlap she could comprehend was the present moment.
To an outsider, they might look like a couple on a walk. But he was travelling through life first class, and she belonged in steerage. The thought of them having any kind of relationship outside a weekend of fake dating was like Rose and Jack on the Titanic; doomed from the outset.
However, fantasising about a life in the countryside wasn’t off limits. The sun was warm on her skin, the sky a brilliant blue, and surrounding them were thousands of shades of green. Despite her inherent fears about dirt, everything smelled fresh and clean.
The arboretum was large, with plenty of space between the tallest trees and the smaller ones planted between them. Henry pulled down a low-hanging pine and crushed some of the needles between his fingers and thumb. He brought them to his nose and breathed deeply.
