Page 8 of All We Want for Christmas
Lara set her half-full glass of sherry aside. ‘I’m afraid I have to pop back to the cottage to collect my radio. The drinks reception starts in half an hour.’
Fiona glanced at the elaborate clock on the mantlepiece. ‘Gosh, yes! Time’s flown by today! There aren’t enough hours in the day at this time of year.’
Henry groaned and settled back deeper into his armchair. ‘I could stay here with a whisky and a book. I’m too old for partying.’
‘A, you’re not old, and B, our guests will be expecting you, so I will surgically remove you if I have to,’ said Fiona, with an arch of her eyebrows. ‘It’s only for a couple of hours, then you can slob around as much as you like.’
‘I’ve never slobbed around in my life,’ Henry protested.
‘Then up you get,’ said Fiona, with a wink for Lara.
The stratagem drew amused glances between her and Flynn too. He’d finished his sherry and stood up at the same time as she did, while Henry eased himself out of the armchair, muttering.
‘I’ll just touch up my warpaint in the bathroom,’ Fiona said, ‘while Henry gets his old bones moving.’
‘See you at the reception,’ Lara said.
Flynn insisted on her walking out of the drawing room, with a chivalry that would have amused her had she not been so troubled.
‘I’d like to settle in and get an early night to be ready for tomorrow,’ he said, as they walked down the stairs.
Once in the main hall, he made as if to head for the front entrance, but Lara stopped him. ‘Not that way. There’s a quicker route. Follow me.’
‘You know all the secrets of this place by now, I guess,’ he said, as they went through a small door behind the grand oak staircase.
‘I know my way around,’ she said. ‘I’m sure you will too in no time.’
She had a feeling that he’d fit in anywhere he wanted to.
Her chest tightened momentarily as the cold night air hit her lungs. Flynn kept pace with her across the courtyard. A side archway marked ‘Staff Only’ led to another smaller courtyard, with offices and workshops and a gap cut into a yew hedge.
Her cottage came into view, a single lamp lit in the sitting-room window. Flynn’s new quarters, almost opposite, were in darkness.
He stopped a few yards outside his front door. The winter moon shone down on his face and her heart did all kinds of things she didn’t want it to do.
‘Lara, I’m genuinely sorry to have landed on you so unexpectedly and caused such trouble.’
‘The chalice was an accident,’ she said. ‘As for you coming to work here, Henry and Fiona are absolutely right. We – the castle needs someone to help. It’s important for everyone that these illuminations are a success. It’s a major investment and we can’t afford for it to make a loss.’
‘It won’t make a loss with you at the helm. Fiona told meit was your idea to have the grounds illuminated. She said you’ve worked wonders since you first came here.’
‘I wouldn’t say wonders,’ Lara said, keen not to hog all the credit and a little taken aback that her employers had spoken of her to Flynn. ‘I’ve just tried to put a decent programme of events in place that we can build on.’
‘And I’m here to support you. We can liaise on what you need at every step. You can call on me any time, night or day.’ His serious expression told her he meant it.
‘Thanks,’ Lara muttered, wanting to look away from that handsome face. It was a face that could so easily melt a heart – yet he was a colleague and, now, a neighbour. She couldn’t afford for him to become anything more. She’d learned the hard and very painful way what happened when you mixed business with pleasure. She shivered, surprised that the memory was still so raw over a year later.
‘I need to get off to the drinks reception,’ she said.
‘OK. Have you decided about the chalice yet?’
Even the mention of the C word sent unpleasant shivers through her, yet the situation had to be faced. Henry had looked very tired at drinks, and Fiona seemed frazzled. She couldn’t load any more worries onto them at this crucial time of year, especially when they thought some of their problems had been solved by the arrival of Flynn.
‘I – still haven’t decided 100 per cent. I’ll sleep on it and then decide whether to contact my friend to ask if she could do the repair quickly and discreetly.’
He let out a breath of approval. ‘I think that’s a very good idea and, as I said, my offer to go halves still stands.’
‘Well, I don’t feel comfortable at all with deceiving the Penhaligons. I really need more time to consider all the ramifications. And if I do have it restored, my decision to pay for it myself stands too. But thank you. Now, I really have to go. I hope you get a good night’s sleep in your new home.’
