Page 136 of The Cottage at Brambleton Hall

Chloe grinned. ‘God, that sounds serious. Should I sit up properly?’

‘Chloe.’

Something in her tone must have registered, because Chloe did sit up, folding her legs under her.

‘All right. What’s up?’

‘Jimmy can’t come here anymore.’

Chloe laughed. ‘Sorry . . . what?’

Chloe laughing no longer made Sammy doubt herself. ‘You know perfectly well he’s not allowed on the estate. He must not come near the cottage. Never.’

‘Why?’

‘On Saturday morning,’ Sammy said. ‘They discovered a deer had been shot. On the estate.’

Chloe’s smile melted. ‘Okay . . . and what’s that got to do with Jimmy?’

‘He has a gun.’

‘Loads of people have guns round here,’ Chloe said. ‘It’s basically a hobby.’

‘Not like this.’ Sammy held her gaze. ‘This was poaching, Chloe.’

‘You don’t kill deer with a shotgun, you need a proper rifle, like they use in the army.’

That silenced her. This hadn’t been Jimmy – he owned a shotgun not a rifle; Sammy asked herself if she was overreacting. ‘Hang on . . . Chloe how do you know so much about guns all of a sudden?’

Chloe held her gaze. ‘It’s not like we’ve never . . .’ Chloe let that trail off.

Sammy looked away first. ‘No more Jimmy.’

Chloe huffed out a laugh, flopping back against the pillows. ‘Oh my God. You sound like Magnus.’

‘I’m serious.’

‘So am I,’ Chloe said. ‘You can’t honestly think Jimmy’s out there creeping about like some . . . what . . . country bandit?’

Sammy didn’t answer.

‘You do.’

‘He can’t be here,’ Sammy said. ‘If anyone connects him to this place . . . if Magnus finds out . . .’

‘Magnus isn’t going to come bursting in here doing inspections,’ Chloe cut in. ‘Relax.’

‘You don’t understand . . .’

‘No, you don’t understand,’ Chloe said, sitting up and hugging her knees to her chest. ‘It’s just a bit of fun. It’s not like I’m holding a gun to anyone’s head is it. He comes over, we have fun, he leaves. No one cares.’

Sammy ignored that. ‘I need you to promise me.’

‘Promise what?’

‘That you won’t bring him here again.’

Chloe stared at her, then gave a small, incredulous laugh. ‘You’re actually serious.’