Autumn Leaves at Mill Grange by Jenny Kane (the little red hen ebook .txt) 📗

archaeological textbooks. Say what you like about the girl, Sophie was plainly as passionate about her subject as she claimed.

‘Are you feeling better?’ Thea crossed to the bedroom window as she spoke. She could see the excavation below in full flow, the aerial view giving an excellent perspective on the church’s layout. ‘Migraines can be nasty.’

Sophie didn’t bother pretending. ‘You know I didn’t have a migraine.’

‘True.’ Thea kept her eyes on Shaun as he and one of the local archaeologists set to work with a tape measure, taking down the dimensions of the area that had been uncovered. ‘Are you coming to work today? We need all hands on deck so we can finish on time.’

‘We?’ Sophie’s voice cracked with either anger, frustration or embarrassment, Thea wasn’t sure which. ‘You turn up when almost all of the work has been done, and have the cheek to make it sound as if you’re part of my dig.’

Thea concentrated on the view beneath to stay calm. ‘Your dig? It’s an interesting point isn’t it, who excavation sites really belong to? I’m sure several of those textbooks on your desk will discuss the ethical and legal issues often thrown up when varying bodies claim ownership.’

‘Don’t try and lecture me! You know what I mean. You are nothing to do with it. If you cared about Shaun and his work, you’d have been here the whole time.’

‘I think you’ve been reading too much Heyer and Austen. It’s the twenty-first century. I have my own job and my own life apart from Shaun, as well as one with him.’

Sophie appeared so shocked by her answer that Thea felt a tiny bit sorry for her. Would she think that way if she’d been raised in a house where her father had to hide if he wanted to read the popular press and her mother, according to Ajay, walked around like Lady Bracknell after the handbag incident? It must be like living in a time warp.

Thea tried again, ‘Are you coming back to the dig?’

Sophie sat down suddenly on the edge of her bed. ‘They’ll laugh at me.’

‘Who will?’

‘Everyone. They’ll all know by now. You know how gossipy it is down there.’

Thea forced out a smile. ‘Shaun hasn’t told anyone except Phil and me, and he’s only told me because he felt guilty. And so he should – he behaved like a prize idiot.’

‘He told Phil how I humiliated myself! That’s just great. Not!’ Her eyes glared, not at Thea, but at the heap of magazines on the floor.

‘Phil won’t say anything.’ Thea sat down. ‘We’ve all done stuff we wish we hadn’t. Making ourselves feel small, trying too hard, trying to help and it going wrong, reading signals incorrectly and all that. It’s okay.’

‘How is any of this okay?’

‘You have to make it okay. Accept you made an error of judgement and move on. Look outside; you did that. You made that happen. That’s an incredible thing.’

Sophie stopped staring at a pair of striped socks she’d discarded on the floor, and peered at Thea through her fringe. ‘You aren’t angry with me?’

‘For being a human with a misguided crush on a famous bloke? No.’ Thea licked her lips. ‘I can’t say I understand the way you got Shaun here, or your motive, where he’s concerned, but you did find the lost church of St Guron. Can you imagine how many tourists are going to want to see it?’

Sophie hid her face in her hands, mumbling. ‘I suppose at least Mother will be pleased. From not wanting you here, she is now keen to show the site off.’

‘Perhaps with you running the place? I could see you as head tour guide and site manager.’

‘What?’ Sophie’s pale face creased into confusion. ‘I don’t even have a degree yet.’

‘Not everything in life needs a degree. Anyway, you’ve done a lot of work already.’ Thea gestured to the books on the desk. ‘Your parents must be proud.’

‘Father yes. Mother, even though she is suddenly all for the church on her land – not so much.’ Sophie gave a hollow laugh. ‘I thought this might help convince her. Seeing how hard I was willing to work to make my dream of being an archaeologist come true.’

Thea pounced on the opening Sophie had unwittingly given her. ‘Then come and prove it, to her and yourself. Prove it to Shaun. Help us. The dig has to be finished in the next four days or the Mill Grange excavation will never be part of Landscape Treasures. And for that matter, prove it to me. Show me you aren’t the shallow, selfish, partner-stealing woman I’ve been taking you for!

Thirty-Six

September 24th

The signs to Gloucester and Cheltenham had come and gone in a blur of freezing numbness. Tina was beginning to think she’d imagined them in her desire for the journey to be over.

Although they’d avoided the motorway for as much of the way as they could, eventually they’d had no choice but to join it, and the wind against Tina’s face felt as if was coating her in ice. Tugging her scarf higher over her face, she wished she’d brought a thicker one with her, rather than the pretty chiffon she’d hoped Lady Malvern would like.

Seemingly impervious to the elements, Sam drove smoothly along the motorway, exhibiting a confidence in the freedom of travel Tina hadn’t seen in him before. It was the first time she’d witnessed his adventurous side. However much her eyes streamed against the onslaught of cold, it was worth it to see Sam relishing a few hours’ freedom from his condition. If the sound of the road and the wind hadn’t made speech impossible, she’d have told him so.

When the sign to Malvern appeared on a signpost, Tina felt a surge of relief that they’d be turning off the motorway. This was instantly followed by the arrival of a whole farm’s worth of butterflies moving into her stomach, and showing every sign of setting up camp for the foreseeable future.

‘Bit