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

he’d have been wearing a disguise. Finding herself picturing the producer in a beige overcoat and trilby, she tried not to listen, but now she knew who was speaking, Thea found her curiosity getting the better of her.

Anyway, how I’m supposed to avoid hearing him?

‘… so I manoeuvred the right person into doing the interview… Yes, it worked a treat. The production team were impressed… Absolutely, a private word in the right ear and all that…’

Thea winced as Julian gave a muted laugh of self-congratulation before carrying on his conversation.

‘… you could say they’ll soon be seen in action on a wider stage.’

There was a lengthy pause as Julian listened to whoever he was talking to. Thea’s palms prickled. There was no reason to think he was up to something, yet the more time she’d spent in Julian’s company of late, the more she was inclined to agree with Shaun and the AA. He might well be good at his job, but when it came down to it, that was all he cared about. Thea suspected he wouldn’t care who got trampled on his path to the top.

‘She’s a natural. I’m telling you… yes…’ Julian’s voice dropped so he was almost whispering. ‘A shake up of the team is inevitable. If we want to be seen to be keeping up, we’ll need someone at the helm of the ship who is professional, likeable and, let’s be honest, easy on the eye.’

She? Team shake up?

Thea backed silently away from the coats. Glad no one was around to see her, she tiptoed away, heading for the sanctuary of the ladies’ bathroom.

Was that what Julian had been not quite telling them the other evening over food? That Landscape Treasures’ line-up was going to be changed to try and compete with the new look Treasure Hunters?

Splashing her face with cold water from the tap, Thea stared into the mirror as the obvious conclusion arrived in her mind.

I’m the only one he’s arranged to be interviewed on camera over the last few weeks. Surely he can’t mean that he wants me to take over from Shaun?

Feeling nauseas, Thea took a deep breath.

You only heard half the conversation. You could be wrong. But what if I’m not? Poor Shaun. He’d be crushed if Julian offered me his job.

By the time she’d left the bathroom and seen that the phone was now free, Thea had convinced herself she was imagining things.

Of course you’re wrong. Why would anyone in their right mind break up one of the most successful teams in recent television history?

Twenty-two

Monday March 30th

Helen hummed happily as she tidied her desk in the corner of the store room. If she was going to stay at Mill Grange permanently, she’d need to ask Sam and Tina about having a little more working space.

‘If I rent out my place in Bath, then I can rent somewhere small here. All I need is a one- or two-bedroom place.’

Helen sat down, her mind a happy haze of memories that the last twenty-four hours had given her.

Being with Tom, walking around Haddon Hill, while he and Dylan ran in all directions chasing butterflies and hunting for Exmoor ponies, had been so much fun. They’d snuck kisses when the boy wasn’t looking and soaked in the sunshine while Dylan told her about school and his friends. Later that day, Helen had passed Tom a note saying that she loved him. The expression on his face as he’d read her words, a heady mix of relief and desire, would stay with her forever.

They’d discussed their mutual notes on the drive home from Tiverton, after dropping Dylan back to Sue’s, before giving into passion the second they got home, and waking up together that morning, wrapped in a knot of linen on the tiny bed.

Muttering contentedly to herself as she collected the guest list for the week that Tina had left on her desk, Helen noted that, once again, every one of the six men booked in had elected to do archaeology training as part of their week of respite after years of forces’ service.

‘Sam’s right, once we start advertising the certificate, this place is going to need another tutor.’ Still at her desk, Helen pulled a piece of scrap paper from a pile in the corner and scribbled down some thoughts.

‘So, rent the house in Bath and find a little place here, or nearby at least,’ Helen mumbled as she wrote, ‘Tiverton or maybe Bampton or Taunton?’ Then she crossed out Tiverton. She didn’t fancy bumping into Sue in the supermarket.

‘I must find out how much agencies charge to rent out houses in Bath, or should I rent it out myself.’ Helen’s hand paused, before she added, ‘research agencies’ to her random list.

Her pulse beat fast as she read back what she’d written. ‘Am I really going to do this? Am I going to leave a well-paid job I love, for a less well paid job I love – and a man?’

Picking up the paper, she balled it up and threw it into her recycling bin.

‘At the end of the week you can write the list. It’s only been a few days since Tom and I got together.’

Checking the time, and seeing she had three hours until the new guests were due to arrive, Helen headed for the fortlet.

She could see Tom in the distance, sweeping mud from the edges of the fake dig. His black combats were speckled with mud; his slim muscular arms were pushing the broom as if he was in a race against time.

‘Hello,’ Helen called as she approached. ‘You’re an urgent sweeper this morning.’

 Tom beamed as he saw her, before checking over his shoulder to make sure no one was around. ‘Come here, quick.’

Helen felt oddly vulnerable as he kissed her over the dig site, and found herself dissolving into a giggle.

‘That funny?’

‘Sorry, I feel like a kid not wanting to be caught snogging behind the bike sheds.’

Tom wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. ‘Did a lot of