Page 149 of The Cottage at Brambleton Hall

Sammy fixed her eyes on the house. Shutters still sealed tight.

‘I thought I could fix it,’ she said. ‘If I explained. If I got it right.’

‘And Nate?’

At his name, Sammy stopped and turned around, noticing the way her steps had drifted offline, leaving wiggly dark tracks in the dew. ‘He’s . . . stepped back,’ she said. ‘He was there, and now . . . He’s being careful. Like he’s already decided it’s over. Well, it never really got going. I guess I wasn’t firm enough with Chloe. I thought that if I was, it would turn into something bigger than it needed to be.’

Jean’s expression tightened. ‘And now it has.’

Sammy took a small, humourless breath and began walking again. ‘Nate said I need to show Magnus I can be trusted.’

‘You need to speak to Magnus,’ she said. ‘And you need to speak to Nate.’

‘I tried.’

‘Try again, properly this time.’

Sammy had reached the back step. ‘It’s not simply about me, though,’ she said. ‘It’s not only my life involved here.’

Jean’s voice softened. ‘You’re the only one I love, Sammy. You’re trying to keep everyone happy . . . That isn’t working.’

Sammy stamped her feet to keep warm. ‘What should I do?’

Jean’s mouth curved slightly. ‘You already know. You just don’t like the answer.’

Hearing the gravel crunch behind her Sammy spun around. ‘Jean tell me what to do . . . please Jean.’

Magnus approached, keys in hand, his gaze moving briefly from her to the phone.

He stopped a few paces shy of the door. ‘Miss Jenkins,’ he said. ‘I will open up alone.’

The door closed, shutting her outside.

‘Speak to him,’ Jean said quietly.

Sammy didn’t answer.

There had to be a way to put this right. There always was.

Valerie flicked through each cookery book before placing them back on the shelves. Where they belonged. On her shelves.

Next, she topped up the diffuser – lavender – just the same as Mrs Williams used. She set the bottle back onto what she still thought of as Mrs Williams’s desk and continued unpacking.

Outside the small window, rain moved across the courtyard in silver lines.

Movement behind her. She glanced over her shoulder. Magnus.

‘Feels strange to be back in here properly.’ She said, easing a book onto the shelf. The muted tap of its spine against the others brought a smile to her face. Magnus didn’t reply, but that did not discourage her. ‘Though I suppose it always should have stayed this way,’ she added lightly.

She lifted her brass paperweight from the box, set it in the centre of the desk then folded the empty box flat against her knee. ‘Well,’ she said, unable to keep the note of triumph from her voice now, ‘I did warn you she wasn’t ready.’

Magnus’s expression remained unchanged.

Rain ticked softly against the glass.

Valerie crossed to the filing cabinet, pulling out a drawer, rifling through the folders. ‘Poor girl,’ she said, though the sympathy sounded thin. ‘Some people aren’t suited to houses like this.’

Still nothing from Magnus.