Spring Blossoms at Mill Grange by Jenny Kane (a court of thorns and roses ebook free txt) 📗

Tom ran a hand over his mouth as he tried to work out if Sam was merely asking his opinion as to whether Helen would like a party, or if he was being asked to do the organising. Buying thinking time, he said, ‘That reminds me, I measured the plot between the chickens and the greenhouse, I scribbled the figures down and posted the piece of paper into your tent before I collected Mabel and Dylan. It should be big enough for a marquee.’

‘Fantastic, thanks, Tom.’ Sam looked thrilled. ‘Tina wants to get married where the chickens can watch.’

‘Seriously?’

‘Yep.’ Sam laughed at Tom’s expression. ‘We got to know each other while we built the chicken coop for Gertrude and her pals. Seems only right they should be there.’

‘Can’t argue with that.’ Tom laughed. ‘So is marquee hiring next on the to-do list?’

‘It is.’ Sam’s eyes fell to the clipboard of lists propped up against the side of the store. ‘We had a guy here last year who supplied them for the open day. Nice and local, so I’d like to use him again.’

‘Do you want me to call him, or do you have it covered?’

‘Thanks, Tom, but I’m okay on that.’ Sam upturned the final wheelbarrow needing to be washed down. ‘Anyway, about Helen. I’m going to talk to her about the excavation in a minute. It’s only a fortnight until she goes. I want everything labelled and written up, so we know where we’re at until Thea comes home.’

Tom looked out across the garden. ‘It’ll be strange without her here.’

‘It will.’ Sam hesitated as he noted a hint of wistfulness in Tom’s voice, and for the first time wondered if Tina’s conviction that he and Helen should be a couple was correct. ‘Her arrival was unexpected, but I’m honestly not sure we’d have managed so well without her.’

‘Then maybe you should ask her to stay?’

Sixteen

Friday March 27th

It didn’t feel right sitting in the back room of The Carthorse, tucking into something off the gastro pub’s a la carte menu, when the rest of the workforce were stuffed into the bar and pub’s small restaurant on a busy Friday night. Catching Shaun’s eye as she lifted a forkful of perfectly cooked Beef Wellington to her lips, Thea could see he wasn’t happy about it either.

Shaun hasn’t been happy about much since we got here.

Thea’s sigh merged into a suppressed giggle as she saw Ajay and Andy turn away from the table for a second and roll their eyes at each other, as Julian started talking about the show’s ratings. It had been a relief to find the geophysics boys had been invited as well. Shaun had been convinced it would just be himself, Julian and Thea; and that Julian would insist on sitting next to Thea. When she’d explained that, as the tables in the function room were circular, and that, if there were just three of them, she’d have to sit next to Julian, Shaun had gone quiet on the subject.

 Thea, on the other hand, had been sure the AA would be invited. It would have looked odd if they’d been excluded. Ajay and Andy had been with Landscape Treasures from the start, and were household names within the show’s fan base.

Julian was tucking into his chilli roasted salmon with gusto, talking between each mouthful about his plans for the show now they’d uncovered a mosaic every bit as impressive as those in Chedworth and Cirencester. His words, all revolving around how much kudos the find would bring Landscape Treasures, were becoming white noise. Thea was happily zoning out, when she suddenly heard her name mentioned.

‘Have you ever uncovered a mosaic as impressive as the one we have here, Thea?’

‘I have actually. I was part of a team that excavated one in Africa when I was a student. That was equally stunning, but different of course. Cultural influences can often be seen within mosaic designs. It was in a mausoleum on the edge of a—’

Interrupting, Julian flapped away the idea that the mosaic could have been anything like as good as this one. ‘Impressive it may well have been, but I bet the design wasn’t as good. A dolphin, splashed right across the bath floor – if you’ll excuse the pun! And made from locally sourced stone tiles as well. What were the chances?’

Thea didn’t answer. She had a feeling Julian wouldn’t want to hear that local stone was the obvious source for the tiles, nor would he want to hear that a dolphin design had been used on similar mosaics before, although not on such a scale.

As Julian waffled on, Thea found herself wondering if Shaun had been right about him all along. Not concerning his feelings for her, that was old fashioned jealousy as far as she was concerned. But, despite the impression he’d first given her on meeting, the fact Julian didn’t care about the archaeology was becoming clearer all the time. He was here to advance his career. Organising the television coverage of the discovery of one of the most important mosaic finds in decades would do him no harm whatsoever. One glance at her friends told her they felt the same.

‘Where in Africa, Thea?’ Ajay asked, in an attempt to stop Julian’s monologue.

‘Lepti Minus. It’s near Sousse in Tunisia. Well, near-ish.’ Raising her wine glass to her lips, Thea added, ‘Incredible place. I was lucky enough to be part of a team working on an entire Romano-African city, rather than a single building complex. There were baths, and villas and a forum and—’

‘Yes, that sounds great, Thea.’ Julian laid down his knife and fork and immediately picked up the dessert menu. ‘But your work ten years or so ago isn’t going to make any impression on our ratings now. They aren’t bad, but they could be better.’ Julian sat back with a self-satisfied belch. ‘No, this mosaic couldn’t have popped up at a