Page 26 of He's the One

“I might have said that you and your boyfriend had broken up.”

Col groaned.

His mother moved a flower from one side of the arrangement she was working on to the other. “Does that look better?”

“No.”

She moved it back. Then moved it again.

A voice came over the PA. “Ten minutes until the marquee is closed for judging.”

“Do you need me anymore?” Col asked. “There’s not another line of friends who want to pair me up with the perfect man…even though he might be losing his hair, be vertically challenged, have false teeth after his unfortunate accident with a tractor, size 14 feet—nightmare getting shoes, be in his late forties or early fifties or maybe mid-fifties but looks much younger, and likes to do drag at the weekends? Not that I have a problem with most of that except I’d prefer someone my age.” Actually, hedidhave a problem with most of that but he would never admit it.

She winced. “Go and have a wander. I’ll see you later.”

Col gave her a hug and left the marquee. He checked out every guy wearing the Asquith uniform but, disappointingly, didn’t spot Theo. Hopefully, he would eventually. Rather than stick around where everyone else was milling, Col headed for the gardens to look for him there.

The area immediately around the house was neatly laid out with shrubs and flowers. Terraced lawns were bordered by a vast yew hedge and there was a walled kitchen garden where weeds were clearly not allowed to flourish. Col had always admired the way weeds could insinuate themselves everywhere, making use of the smallest amount of organic matter to throw out roots and shoots. They could even grow on the sheer face of a building. He’d found miniature trees high up in cracks in stonework, seemingly thriving on nothing but pigeon droppings.

There were lots of varieties of trees here, a whole bunch of pines, most of which he couldn’t identify, and he wished there were signs to tell him what they were. He found hidden paths and alleys, wandered through archways and discovered an avenue of bonsai trees displayed on stone pillars, protected by yew hedges.

When he reached the lake, he turned right towards the trees. As he headed down a well-trodden track, he stumbled across a little cave set into a slab of rock and went inside. Set into the walls were all sort of fossils and crystals. Most of the fossils were ammonites and someone had carved shapes into the stone too. There was a small bench and he sat for a few minutes and admired the grotto. It was probably Victorian. It was the sort of thing they liked to do.

Once he’d had his fill, he moved further into the trees leaving the curved pathway behind. Col hadn’t gone far when he saw someone heading his way. He felt a moment of concern that he’d been supposed to stay on the path, before he realised the person coming towards him was Theo. Col’s heart jumped. As they approached each other, Col was delighted to see Theo’s smile matched his.

“Hello.” Theo glanced from side to side, then up and down. “I’m frantically looking for danger so you can save me again. Oh look. A meteorite.”

Col laughed. “That’s the end of both of us.”

“Have you come for the show?” Theo asked. “Ack, a stupid question. Why else would you be here?”

“I’d heard a velociraptor had been seen in the vicinity and I thought—I bet there’s a guy who needs saving.”

Theo’s pout made Col swallow.

“How are you so…perfect?” Theo asked, then blushed.

“You’ll know I’m not when you hear the truth. My mother blackmailed me into coming today.”

Theo gasped. “Another mother who blackmails? And I thought I had the only one. So…the show isn’t your idea of fun? You’re not into flower arranging or producing six perfectly risen scones or growing the biggest cucumber?” He coughed. “You’re probably the type to go surfing in terrible weather, climb rocks without ropes, free dive or base jump from cliffs, and not pay money to admire carrots shaped like…genitalia. Actually, if you’ve not seen that carrot, you should. It’s bloody brilliant!”

Col chuckled. “Being introduced to a line of middle-aged women who want to pair me off with the sole gay guy they know isn’t the way I’d have chosen to spend my Saturday. I hoped I’d see you. I looked for you and now that I’ve found you, Asquith Hall feels like the perfect place to be today.”Oh God was that too much? Probably.

But Theo was beaming at him, his eyes wide. “You looked for me?”

Col watched Theo’s Adam’s apple move up and down and warmth curled in his stomach. “Not like a velociraptor would look, in a stalkerish sort of way, but I did surreptitiously check out every guy wearing the Asquith uniform. I assumed all employees had to be here today and thought sooner or later, I might have to step between you and a bear or tiger.”

“There’s a bear? Where?” Theo widened his eyes.

Col smiled. “I’ve scared it away.”

“Ever reliable. After our brush with death, I looked for you too. I wanted to thank you again, but I never caught sight of you. I finally plucked up the courage to ask one of your colleagues and they said you’d been let go.”

“I think my boss was told something about me that isn’t true, but instead of asking me, he used it as an excuse to get rid of me and said he had too many masons. Last in, first out.”

“That’s interesting, because I happen to know that along with Nyman asking for more money for unforeseen issues with the roof, he also said he needed more stonemasons.”

“Did he indeed?”

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