Page 36 of All We Want for Christmas
Lara was pleased he had his friend, Harvey, living nearby, so he wasn’t completely isolated from his old life. She wasn’t even that miffed that he’d mentioned knowingabout the job again. She was just relieved that there was no ‘secret woman’ or whatever had been implied by the Ravendale rumour mill.
She’d already agreed with Jazz that he’d have had to be a fast worker to start seeing someone in Cumbria so soon after starting work at the castle.
Well, someone other thanher.
But Lara was annoyed with herself for caring what Flynn did in his private life. She was well aware that she’d been acting inconsistently: pushing Flynn away yet being jealous about who else he might be seeing.
She needed to behave more professionally from now on.
She knocked on the door of the Penhaligons’ apartment and Henry opened it. He was wearing his Barbour and a tweed hat and had an excited gleam in his eyes.
‘Sorry, I can’t stay, my dear. I’m off for a drive around the estate with the estate manager. Fiona’s finally agreed to let me out for good behaviour.’
Fiona gasped. ‘You make me sound like a prison warden!’
‘You’d make a good one,’ Henry replied, kissing her on the cheek. ‘See you later, and enjoy making the arrangements for the ball. I know you will.’ With a wink, he exited into the corridor and Lara heard him talking to the estate manager, a man with a distinctive Highland accent.
‘I do hope he’s careful,’ Fiona said, a worried crease between her brows.
‘I’m sure he will be. He looks very excited to be going out. How is he?’
‘Still waiting for further tests but, in himself, a lot better.Thanks for coming up here. Why don’t you make us both a coffee while I fetch something I promise you’ll find interesting?’
Wondering what Fiona could mean, Lara went into the kitchen. She was unsure whether to make real coffee or instant, but she could hardly delve into the cupboards for the real stuff, so she decided instant would do.
She went back into the sitting room with the mugs but Fiona was still nowhere to be seen. Lara thought she could hear a dull thud of a door opening and closing towards the corridor that led to the family bedrooms.
Sipping her coffee, she marvelled again at what a strange life it must be to own and live at Ravendale. Although it was mid-morning, a fire burned in the hearth and the lamps were on, making the tinsel and baubles shimmer in their light. Lara still hadn’t managed to decorate her own cottage, and now she’d have to give up some of her spare time to help Flynn find a costume. Actually, why had she done that? He hadn’t asked and now she’d have to spend half an hour with him getting undressed and dressed in various outfits.
Not that she’d be there when he got undressed, a prospect that sent a thrill right through her.
Argh, why hadn’t she said Flynn could take the costumes back to his cottage to try them on? She didn’t need to supervise, and Flynn’s outfit should have been the least of her worries. She hadn’t even decided what she was going to wear herself.
‘Penny for them?’ Fiona broke into her thoughts. She washolding two photo albums and Lara hadn’t even heard her re-enter the room.
‘Oh. Sorry, Fiona. I was well away.’
Fiona’s eyes crinkled with amusement. ‘Yes, you were staring into that fire as if it held the answers to life and the universe.’
‘Er, I was just thinking about what I might wear for the ball.’
Fiona’s eyebrows lifted. ‘Haven’t you decided yet?’ She laid the albums on the Chesterfield sofa and beckoned Lara to sit down in the armchair nearby. ‘I thought you’d have got everything sorted out by now.’
‘Not yet. I’ve been so busy.’
‘Gosh, yes. I should have realised. I didn’t mean to sound critical.’
‘I know you didn’t,’ Lara said. ‘And I can easily borrow one of the re-enactment costumes. I just can’t decide which one.’
‘The guides’ costumes?’ Fiona wrinkled her nose. ‘They’re getting a bit long in the tooth now. I was thinking we ought to invest in some new ones. You don’t really want to wear one of those, do you?’
‘Well, they’re probably more authentic than anything I could find in the hire shops. With everyone booking for the ball and other New Year events, they’ll probably only have giant bananas or Elvis left by now anyway. I don’t think Bananaman counts as a historical figure.’
‘Oh, we can’t have that,’ Fiona declared. ‘But the reenactment costumes are huge.’
Lara accepted this was true. They all had drawstring waists that could be pulled in, but they were still very much ‘one size fits no one’.
‘And I think I can help.’ Fiona tapped the top photo album. ‘These two albums contain photographs from the balls that took place between the wars.’ She handed over a large leather-bound album to Lara. ‘This is the one from 1920 to 1928.’ She kept the other on her lap. ‘And this album covers the years up to the Second World War.’
