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‘Gentle?’
‘Yes. I can’t imagine the stress he’s been under. He may be big and strong, but inside, all men are little boys who want to be loved.’
Estelle blinked.
‘Oh, I didn’t mean you should love him. That’s a silly thing for me to say. What I meant was—’
‘Why is it silly?’
Eveline’s mouth opened and closed a few times before she spoke. ‘Well,’ she began carefully, ‘because you’ve made it very clear you find James objectionable on almost every level.’
Estelle didn’t know how to reply. Even if she’d changed her mind about James in private, in public he was still enemy number one and her twin brother’s nemesis. And could she ever forgive him for how he’d treated Henry? As a child, yes. But as an adult?
‘Please forgive me for running my mouth off,’ Eveline said. ‘I just hope James coming back makes your life better. Now, why don’t we have a cup of tea and you can tell me all about your exciting life running Foxbrooke’s first festival!’
Eveline didn’t stay long. Estelle craved time with her friend, but every few minutes there was a knock at the door and another question which broke the flow of their conversation. The rest of the day flew by, and Estelle threw herself into work to stop thoughts of James. For brief snatches of time he was gone from her mind, but then he would reappear, lounging at the edge of her consciousness and smouldering at her.
After the festival staff had left for the day, and Estelle was so tired she accidentally signed off an email to a Portaloo company with four kisses, she shut her laptop and went to find Beverley and Sophia.
She found them in the kitchen. Beverley was dressed in her cleaning tabard and rubber gloves and attempting to remove a layer of stainless steel from the cooker through the use of elbow grease and microfibre cloths alone.
‘There you are, babe,’ she called over her shoulder. ‘I’ll be with you in a sec.’
‘Mum!’ Sophia said. ‘All bacteria surrendered and left the manor hours ago. Please stop.’ She threw Estelle a pleading look.
‘Sophia’s correct. And there are currently so many chemicals in the air I think my nasal hairs are melting.’
Beverley stopped and held the back of her hand to her forehead. ‘You’re right. I’ve been through three bottles of cleaner already since this morning.’ She tugged off her gloves. ‘You want some food? I’m too nervous to eat but I can get you something? Do the doggies need dinner?’
Estelle shook her head. ‘They ate earlier.’ She turned to them. ‘Go to bed.’ They dutifully padded over to two temporary dog beds she’d brought when she started sleeping the odd night at the manor.
‘I suppose you’ll be taking the beds back with you tonight now you’re not staying here anymore?’
Estelle couldn’t tell if Beverley was happy or sad at the prospect of her going back to living permanently at the livery. She was happy to be heading home, but it was tinged with sadness at her role changing back to being James’s business partner only. She needed to woman-up and get over herself.
‘Yes. I’ve cleared my things from the spare room already, so I can take these when I go later.’
Beverley took off her rubber gloves. ‘It’ll be a shame not having them around all the time. But now the men are here to take care of us, I suppose we don’t need them.’
Silence settled on the room. Once more things were changing and Estelle was on the outside looking in.
‘Can I make you something to eat?’ Sophia asked her.
‘Are you having anything?’
‘Only cake. My stomach’s too knotted for anything else.’
‘Sounds good to me.’
The three women sat at the kitchen table with mugs of tea and French Fancies whilst the ticking of the clock filled the silence. The anticipation was unbearable. It wrapped itself around Estelle, tighter and tighter, whilst painful flashes of adrenaline stabbed at her skin.
A little after eight, the throaty roar of James’s Ferrari outside had all three of them leaping to their feet.
Beverley ran from the room, Sophia following.
Estelle hung back, then picked up Chester and carried him to the front of the manor, the fingers of her free hand tight on Joy’s collar.
Heart thumping, she stood inside the house, looking out the open door as James exited the car. He immediately turned to move his seat forward to let Elyse out of the back. Almost midsummer, it was still light and Estelle’s breath quickened as she took him in. Had he lost weight?
