‘Whatever you’re doing,’ she said, ‘stop it immediately. Then google how long it’ll take you and Joe to get to Renfrew Manor.’
To Hannah’s surprise, Ed and Joe weren’t far away – so when she pulled the Eventurous van into the venue’s car park just under an hour later, she spotted Joe’s sleek black Audi a few spaces away.
Ed got out from the passenger side, and Joe from the driver’s. Instead of striding in her direction, though, they stood and waited for someone else to emerge from the back seat. Jude.
What is my life, Hannah thought, as she glanced down at her plain black vest top and the jeans that could have done with a wash before she wore them again. She hadn’t even put on a decent bra, for god’s sake. The strap of the simple, vaguely sporty thing she’d hastily fished from her drawer was peeping beyond the edge of her top. She was fated, it seemed, to be hideously over- or underdressed around her ex-boyfriend. There was no in-between.
She hadn’t reckoned on seeing him again so soon, and felt anxiety prickle at the nape of her neck, right below the ponytail she’d slung her freshly washed hair into. As she watched Jude unfold himself from the rear of the vehicle, she clocked that he – as well as their two brothers – were all in sporty walking gear: shorts, hiking trainers and thin t-shirts. Sighing at the injustice that the three of them somehow lookedgoodin this get-up, she got out of her van as they started walking towards her.
Up close, she could see Ed had caught the sun. A strip of pink had appeared beneath his eyes and across the bridge of his nose, and she made a mental note to have words with him about SPF levels. Joe, whose olive skin was a shade darker than everyone else’s, was positively glowing in the early-afternoon sun. With the stately home looming behind him, it was easy to imagine Joe as some Regency rake, here to charm the lord of the manor, drink his best brandy and deflower the stable boys.
Hannah tried and failed not to look at Jude, who – side by side with his brother – was ostensibly the same man in a different colourway. The four of them had laughed about this when they were younger; chuckled at the irony that Hannah and Ed were barely identifiable as siblings, while after reaching their full heights, Jude and Joe could easily pass as fraternal twins. Joe wore flashier clothes and had contact lenses in place of glasses, but the brothers’ sharp, uncompromising jawlines were the same; they shared near-identical high cheekbones and strong brows. They had the same full lips. With hair the colour of treacle and quick, deep brown eyes, Joe was arguably the more conspicuously attractive – though only if you weren’t paying attention to the details. She suppressed a shiver as she remembered the effect Jude’s intelligent grey-blue eyes could have, turned on her with singular focus, burning with an intensity that threatened to combust her.
‘So this is exciting,’ Joe said, mercifully interrupting Hannah’s train of thought before it could lead somewhere stupid. ‘My faith in you was always unequivocal, Hannah, but how did you wangle this?’
‘An old friend – well, colleague, really – runs events here now. He called me this morning to say there’s been a cancellation for your date. I was so excited I didn’t even stop to ask the reason why.’
‘Hopefully it’s nothing too dark,’ Joe said, as the four of them crossed the road and made their way through the large iron gates of the manor, then up its long gravel drive. ‘That way Ed and I won’t have to feel guilty about swooping in and booking the place – which I assume is what we’re doing?’ He looked at Ed, who was grinning like a kid on Christmas morning.
‘Who was the old friend?’ Jude asked, his face betraying nothing, though Hannah detected tension in his tone.
‘Matt,’ Hannah said, ‘from Oak Park. The golf club.’
‘I remember,’ Jude said flatly. Hannah wondered whether she should point out that Matt had a wife now, then remembered there was no reason for Jude to care either way – though that wasn’t obvious from the firm set of his jaw.
‘Speaking of .?.?.’ Joe said, as Matt – clad in a dark brown wool suit, white shirt and tastefully patterned tie – came down the large stone steps of the mansion’s main entrance to meet them. ‘You must be Hannah’s friend.’ Joe held out his hand for a shake.
‘That’s right,’ Matt said, beaming at the group, shaking more hands as introductions were made, and then leaning in to hug Hannah hello. ‘It’s great to see you,’ he said, lightly squeezing her bare arm.
‘You too,’ Hannah told him, slightly flustered at his attention, her skin tingling with awareness that Jude was watching them. She felt almost guilty, which made no sense at all. However, she reasoned there were going to be plenty of odd, uncomfortable moments between them over the next two months, so there was little point in analysing this one.
‘Shall we?’ Matt said, gesturing at the magnificent building in front of them. ‘We’ll head to the snug, get some coffee and I’ll explain how everything works here. Then we can do a tour for whoever would like to look around.’
‘Perfect,’ Joe said, ‘lead the way.’
Matt guided Hannah up the steps, his hand hovering just beyond the small of her back in a friendly, deferential gesture that she didn’t mind at all. Behind her, though, she could feel eyes following them intently. Without looking, she knew who they belonged to – and realised that he minded considerably more.
12
He hated this guy. Hadalwayshated this guy. Didn’t dislike him any less for the wedding ring glinting on the third finger of his left hand.
Jude supposed he could rationalise this reaction on the basis that Matt Hughes had met him before, but hadn’t found him interesting or important enough to remember. In fairness, however, they’d crossed paths on a boozy night at least seven years ago – and the fact that Matt loomed large in Jude’s mind while the reverse remained stubbornly untrue said more about Jude’s historic jealousy than his superior powers of memory.
What irked him right now was the easy, open dynamic Matt had with Hannah; the flippant way he was placing his palm a short distance from her spine as she ascended a flight of steep, centuries-old stairs in her thick-soled DM sandals. It was an act Jude would have agonised over as her friend, in case he accidentally touched her in a way she didn’t want; a liberty he’d never allow himself now they were .?.?. whatever they were. Less than friends, but more than strangers, he supposed. People who’d seen each other naked in every sense imaginable, but had tacitly agreed never to speak of it. It was odd – borderline intolerable, actually – that he knew what she looked like first thing in the morning, soft-eyed and sleep-mussed, but now felt he lacked the rights even to ask how her week had been.
He reminded himself that they’d agreed to civil relations for the sake of their brothers’ wedding, no more and no less. Hannah was under immense pressure to organise this event – far more than she’d admit to Joe and Ed, Jude suspected. The last thing she needed was him pushing his luck, angling for more friendliness than she felt comfortable with.
Inside the manor, Matt led them through a magnificent hallway, then around a corner into a cosy space with a bar. The wedding party was invited to sit around a low coffee table on a selection of antique, leather-upholstered seats as tea and coffee orders were taken. Jude found himself next to Hannah, his semi-bare leg pressed against her denim-clad one on the tiny sofa he’d settled in. Matt was on her other side, and Ed and Joe occupied the armchairs opposite.
They made small talk about Joe and Ed’s ideas and inspirations until a tray of barista-grade drinks and fresh biscuits appeared, after which Matt offered a deftly delivered sales pitch. This included a history of the estate, which Jude found fascinating in spite of himself. It was difficult not to be transfixed by the story of a building that had been standing, in one form or another, for more than five hundred years, was the birthplace of two British prime ministers and had been requisitioned as a military hospital during World War Two. He suspected that, if the weddingdidtake place here, his mother would have a hard time refusing to attend – which she’d thus far claimed was her intention, despite the questions this would raise in what she called ‘Derbyshire society’.
As Jude had predicted, Lillian’s response to the news of her eldest son’s engagement had not been positive. In truth, her stance could best be described as scathing and resentful – though the extent of her bitterness had shocked him. After four years of experiencing her iciness from the other side of the world, face-to-face exposure was bracing. It was like diving into a cold swimming pool after hours in humid sunshine; the contrast made the chilling effect of the water that much more shocking.
When Lillian had informed Jude she didn’t approve of his sticking around for the wedding, or acting as Joe’s best man, he’d told her – with a sick, heavy feeling in his stomach – that he was going to do it anyway. Afterwards, she hadn’t spoken a word to him for four days.
Jude’s refusal to countenance backing down had clearly come as a surprise to his mother. When she finally realised there was no question he’d hold to his decision, she’d rowed back on leaving rooms he walked into and stopped staring at him in wounded silence when he asked if she’d like a cup of tea. The thaw between them was incomplete, though, and Jude felt strangely as if the incident had tilted his world on its axis; reordered something inside him that he’d thought he understood. Her willingness to drive a wedge between him and his brother – tohurtJoe through him – had been absolute and unapologetic. Although she hadn’t succeeded, he couldn’t find it in himself to fully forgive her for trying.
For his part, Joe seemed entirely unbothered that she’d reacted to his wedding plans so poorly. On the evening of their brief spat on the topic, he’d merely said: ‘This is only what I expected from you, Mum. But let the record show I kept you abreast of events and saved you a seat. You won’t be able to claim later that I cut you out.’ He seemed more concerned about Jude’s continuing presence in the old family home than his own dysfunctional relationship with Lillian. He’d asked several times if Jude wouldn’t prefer to move into the spare room in Manchester, but for some reason, despite everything, Jude couldn’t bring himself to say yes. He retained a sense of responsibility for his mum that he couldn’t shake, and which Joe described as ‘entirely misplaced’.
