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

had been strong enough to address the matter of Sue, she’d felt beyond foolish. Tom had reassured her again that, no matter how much Dylan might want to be a family, being with his ex would not deliver a family atmosphere. It would bring arguments, resentment and a sense of loss that Tom didn’t want to live with.

A restful glow hit Helen’s chest as she remembered his words, ‘Anyone I was with now, who wasn’t you, would always be second best. I don’t want to settle for second best ever again.’

He loves me. I love him. We both love Dylan. But I told the Roman Baths staff that I’m back and Sam and Tina I’d left. I can’t mess them around just because I was an insecure idiot.

Tom turned over again, his arm finding her in his sleep, drawing her close.

As Helen cupped herself into his side, she let out a small gasp of pleasure as his fingers found her right nipple.

Is he awake, or was that an accident?

Not moving, feeling her whole body respond to the tiny movement of his fingertips, Helen closed her eyes.

Perhaps I’ll decide what to do later.

*

Mabel ran a duster around the frame of the nearest painting as Thea, her face drawn, quietly got on with polishing the dining room table. The old lady watched as her friend ran a finger over a section of the mahogany.

‘Isn’t that’s where the Nightjar got in through the window and scratched the table in the summer?’

‘In the middle of the night. Scared me to death.’ A lump came to her throat. ‘It was just after Shaun came to help restore the house. I don’t know what I’d have done if he hadn’t been here that night.’

‘You’d have coped alone.’ Mabel sounded very definite on the matter. ‘But I’m glad you didn’t have to.’

‘Umm.’ Thea ran her finger over the invisible wound that one of Shaun’s furniture restoring friends had fixed for them. ‘I was amazed by how much damage one trapped bird could do.’

‘Any living thing can act rashly when frightened.’ Mabel paused in her labours. ‘Do you want to talk about it, Thea?’

Thea shook her head. ‘Thanks, Mabel, but there is nothing to say.’

‘I doubt that, my dear, but as you like.’ Going back to the dusting, Mabel suddenly chuckled. ‘Do you remember when you first got here and found me and Diane cleaning things with vinegar? Whatever were we thinking?’

Thea laughed despite herself. ‘It took me a while to discover why Mill Grange smelt like a packet of crisps. We’ve all learnt so much since then. Changed so much.’

‘For the better.’

‘Maybe.’ Thea laid down her polishing cloth.

‘No maybe about it. Sam and Tina are getting married, Mill Grange is in safe hands and fulfilling a life changing purpose, and Bert and I have been given a new lease of life. Not something we take for granted.’

‘How is Bert?’

‘Same old chap, smiling when it hurts to breathe, smiling wider when it doesn’t. He’s loving having Dylan here.’

‘So is Shaun. He’s taken Dylan to Sybil’s for breakfast this morning.’

Mabel asked gently, ‘You didn’t want to go?’

‘I wasn’t asked.’ Picking the buffing cloth back up, Thea put the force of her emotion into polishing the wood. ‘Shaun doing things without me is something I’m going to have to get used to.’

*

Tom stroked a hair from Helen’s face. He could feel the slight shake to her body as she came down from the mutual high they’d shared. ‘I knew all was not lost because you took the stone Dylan gave you. I knew you still loved us.’

‘It was because I love you that I left.’

Tom reached out and picked up the stone from Helen’s bedside table. ‘But you are coming home now, aren’t you?’

‘I’m not sure I can.’

‘Why?’

Seeing Tom’s face fall, Helen gently placed a finger on his lips, ‘Not because I don’t want to, but because I’ve left such a mess behind me. Sam and Tina have been amazing friends, but I left their home and their job offer without a word. Plus, I’ve told my colleagues here I’m back.

‘The Baths are short staffed at the moment. I can’t disappear again straight away. I’ve let too many people down lately. You do understand that, Tom, don’t you?’

Forty-four

Thursday April 9th

‘Not as good as Sybil’s brunch, but edible I hope.’ Helen served two poached eggs onto Tom’s plate as he buttered a mountain of toast. ‘It’s a miracle I remembered to buy eggs, bread and butter. I wasn’t at my best in the supermarket yesterday.’

‘I’m sure it’ll be delicious.’

A new silence hung over them as they tucked in to their breakfast. Tom had admitted to seeing her point about not wanting to be labelled unreliable; that she had to see the new exhibition through now she’d given her word that she would. Helen could feel the effort it was taking Tom not to say, “but you said you’d stay with us, and you left anyway”.

Instead he’d said he understood and they’d been practical, discussing how they’d take turns to drive between Bath and Upwich, work and Dylan allowing. She knew he wasn’t happy about her decision to stay in Bath. Neither was she, but now she’d made the move, she felt her hands were tied. Helen was relieved when Tom’s phone rang, cutting through the awkward atmosphere.

The sound of shouting that leaked from the speaker, which caused Tom to hold his mobile away from his ear, filled the kitchen. Sue was not impressed that her son had been left at Mill Grange without his father.

Leaving Tom to cope with his ex’s wrath in private, Helen headed upstairs to make her bed. As soon as she saw it however, she knew it had been a mistake to go into that particular room. The aroma of them hung in the air. It smelt of happiness, abandon and desire. Mostly desire. The bed linen, crumpled and half hanging off the mattress, was a stark reminder of what she was giving