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The quick reply takes her aback, but she thinks, why not? These aren’t normal times. She replies, telling him to come.
‘How are you this morning, my love?’ Kitty asks. She bustles into the kitchen, replacing the tea towels hanging on the range handle with fresh ones. Nicole likes her efficiency, the way she’s always busy. She reminds Nicole of the women she grew up around, who weren’t afraid to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty, and who took pride in their modest homes and lives.
‘I’m going home today,’ she says.
‘On your own?’
‘I’ve got a friend coming to stay. An old friend of Tom’s. And mine, too.’ It feels nice to be able to say this. Nicole has felt everyone’s pity for what happened to Tom but also for the fact that she doesn’t have a support network.
‘That’s a relief. I’d hate to think of you in that place alone.’
‘I have to get used to it sometime.’
‘I suppose you do. You wouldn’t want to sell, would you, even after what’s happened, because it’s somewhere that the two of you built together.’
‘Exactly that,’ Nicole says. She’s touched that Kitty would recognise this. Their housekeeper has more emotional acuity than Olly and Sasha put together. It makes Nicole curious.
‘What about you?’ she asks. ‘Do you have family?’
‘Oh no, dear. I enjoy living on my own. I do it by choice. Have you seen my little cottage? It’s over on the other side of the old stable yard. It was originally the coach house.’
‘I haven’t noticed it,’ Nicole says, trying to think if she even knows where the stable yard is. The Manor is a disorientating collection of very old buildings. It’s easy to get lost within its walls and its grounds. ‘How long have you been there?’
‘Goodness,’ Kitty says. ‘I suppose it’s a while, now. Let’s see—’
She’s interrupted by Olly calling her.
‘Yes!’ she replies and mouths, ‘Sorry.’
‘Can I have that coffee?’ There’s a note of impatience in Olly’s voice that makes Nicole feel embarrassed for Kitty.
‘Of course!’ Kitty calls. If Olly’s tone bothers her, she doesn’t show irritation or embarrassment, but winks at Nicole. ‘Master’s calling!’
The wink interests Nicole. It’s the only little sign of insurrection she’s seen in Kitty.
Kitty hits a button on the coffee machine and waits as it busies itself preparing Olly’s drink.
‘I know you’ll have a friend staying,’ she says, ‘but if you ever need company, you’re welcome to come for a cuppa at the Coach House, or here. Any time.’
‘Thanks,’ Nicole says. She means it. There’s something soft and welcoming about Kitty, something safe and familiar. She could possibly be a friend. Nicole feels more comfortable with her than she does with either Sasha or Olly.
She lets her mind wander a little further. I’d feel different about having someone work for me in the Glass Barn if it were a person like Kitty, she thinks. Or if it were Kitty.
There’s a thought.
She remembers something else. ‘I saw a man at the end of the drive earlier,’ she says. ‘He came in and disappeared behind the hedges then he left again. It made me a little nervous.’
‘Was he a walker? They wander in sometimes, being nosy. Once we had an archaeologist asking if they could dig here.’
‘I don’t really know. I think he might have been. He went down the lane in the direction of the nature reserve.’
‘You should report it to the police if you’re worried.’
‘Perhaps I will,’ she says. ‘But I’m sure it’s nothing.’
Her phone buzzes with a notification. Patrick is on his way already. He’ll be with her in three hours. That’s very quick, she thinks. It’s as if he has nothing else on. Because of their falling out she realises she has no idea what Patrick is up to these days. She doesn’t know what his relationship status is, or if or where he’s working. But no matter. She’ll be able to ask him herself very soon.
Great, she messages back and hopes it will be.
