Page 156 of He's the One

Theo pinned his gaze on a squirrel in a neighbouring tree and kept going. He made it to the first platform and clung to the tree trunk, his heart pounding.

“Now we have to unclip, then clip on again,” Col said.

“I should have let you do it on your own,” Theo mumbled.

“You’re up here now and James is coming behind so we have to keep going.”

Somehow, Theo managed to clip off and clip on, and gritting his teeth, he headed across the reasonably steady rope bridge to the next platform.

“Really good,” Col said at his ear. “Unclip again, then clip on.”

Theo baulked when he saw the next crossing. There might be ropes to hold onto but the steps were a foot apart and in a zigzag pattern.

“Distract me,” he whispered.

“It’s great that the stable block is completely done. Don’t think I haven’t noticed that little sigh of happiness every time you walk in. Leaving a wall in each room as bare stone and taking the ceilings out of the bedrooms as well as the main room has made all the difference. And I love the colour you chose for the walls and the kitchen units.”

Theo stepped onto the next platform, which wobbled and he sucked in a breath.Clip off, clip on.

“Managing to double the size of the bathroom to fit a large tub and add ensuites to the other bedrooms has been brilliant too,” Col said.

“Do you think Dominic will like to live with us?” Theo tried not to grip so tightly. He had pins and needles in his fingers.

“I hope so. Now his release date’s finally been set, I’m desperate nothing goes wrong.”

“Arrgh!” Theo’s foot slipped off the rope and he clutched tighter at the rope loop hanging overhead, wobbling like crazy.

“You’re okay,” Col said. “Put your foot back on and keep going.”

Theo reached the next platform and as he clipped back on, realised he couldn’t just walk across this one. He’d have to keep clipping off and clipping on to make his way around the vertical supports.Oh fuck.

“You’re doing great,” Theo’s father shouted from below.

I am not looking down.

The divorce of Theo’s parents hadn’t seemed at first as if it was going to go smoothly, but it had been finalised last week. Money had smoothed the way. His mother and grandmother were living in Sussex. Apart. It seems like his mother hadn’t been able to forgive her mother for how her life turned out.

“Tarzan swing coming up,” Col said at his back.

Fuck.“It looks bigger up here.”

Col sniggered.

Theo rolled his eyes. James joined them on the platform while Theo was still plucking up enough courage to launch himself at the net wall.

“You’re not supposed to have more than two people on the platform,” James said.

“Fuck!” Theo jumped and a moment later he was grabbing hold of the net. Actually, that hadn’t been too bad.

He climbed down, watched Col jump, then James, and they made their way to the next clip-on point.

The relationship between James and the marquess had been written about in a few publications, but all the articles had been positive. Change in public attitudes had helped. Life at Asquith was so much better now that his father and James were together. Everyone was happier, including the staff.

Theo knew Dastardly hadn’t been popular but he’d not registered just how much Muttley had been disliked. Working in the gift shop now was totally different. It was a happy place. Theo had even managed to bring in new inventory, though they still had a year’s supply of sheep-themed tea towels.

Col’s mum was working at Asquith too, just part-time, on a rota for the Woman’s Institute, which had a small stall inside the gift shop, selling cakes and jams and chutney. Asquith was starting to build quite a reputation on TripAdvisor. Theo had revamped the website and put a picture of Isla on the front page.

“You okay?” Col asked. “You jumped really quickly.”

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