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

‘He did what?’ Thea got back to her feet, her hands suddenly shaky. ‘I said no such thing. Julian knew damn well I was coming back to finish up opening the mosaic and help with the voiceover work. He made it an order rather than a request!’

‘Woah!’ Andy put a hand out and gently pulled Thea back to her seat.

‘Where is Shaun anyway?’

‘In a meeting with Julian.’ Andy looked worried, as he gestured towards the function room. ‘They’ve been ages.’

Thea went cold. ‘Do you know what they’re talking about?’

‘No.’ Andy’s frown deepened. ‘Don’t you?’

Thea didn’t answer. ‘Has any of the extra filming happened with the mosaic yet?’

‘Not yet.’ Andy glanced up at Ajay as he placed a coffee cup before Thea. ‘The cameraman only arrived this morning. Hilda isn’t due until after lunch.’

Torn between relief that Shaun hadn’t started without her, and guilt that she thought he might have, Thea asked, ‘When did Julian tell you I wasn’t coming back?’ And why has Shaun been here all this time? What’s he been doing?

‘This morning, when we got here.’ Ajay shifted in his seat. ‘He told us that you’d been offered the chance to stay but had turned it down in favour of your work at Mill Grange.’

‘What did Shaun say?’

‘Not a lot.’ The AA exchanged puzzled glances. ‘Mumbled something about it not being like you to be so unprofessional, but Julian either didn’t hear him, or didn’t want to hear him.’

‘The latter more likely.’ Ajay’s eyebrows knotted together. ‘We’ll know more when Shaun comes back. We’d only just arrived when Julian spirited him away.’

They don’t know about Shaun and me.

Sipping her coffee, Thea embraced the cup, its heat helping to ease the shake to her fingers. ‘And you’ve no idea what Julian is up to?’

‘Nothing beyond a suspicion that this is about Treasure Hunters going up in the world.’

Thea took another sip of coffee while she considered if she should tell them about the overheard phone call and Julian asking her to work for him in the future. She’d just decided she should, when the door to the function room opened, and a grave-faced Shaun appeared.

Fifty

Monday April 13th

Dylan stuck his tongue out of the corner of his mouth as he concentrated. Tom watched as his son worked hard, trying not to colour over the lines of the picture of St George fighting the dragon, from a colouring book Helen had bought in Glastonbury.

‘That’s good.’ Tom sat down at the kitchen table. ‘You’ll have to show your mum when you get back.’

‘I’ll show Harriet too. She likes dragons.’

‘Does she?’ Tom wondered if Harriet knew about Dylan’s forthcoming change in circumstance. ‘You’re fond of Harriet, aren’t you?’

‘She’s fun. Like Helen.’

‘I’m glad your mum found her. You’re lucky to have a childminder you like. I remember my babysitter. She was scary.’

Without looking up, Dylan selected a dark green pencil. ‘Did Nan and Grandad really leave you with someone scary?’

Hearing the surprise in his son’s voice, Tom was taken aback. He hadn’t thought about it before. His parents were always going to the pub, frequently leaving him with the sharp-tongued old lady next door. ‘Things were different back then. Harriet’s a daughter of your mum’s friend though, isn’t she? So she’s bound to be nice.’

‘Mum’s special friend.’ Dylan swapped the dark green crayon for a bright red one to colour the plume sprouting from St George’s helmet.

Tom’s pulse thudded as he leaned closer to Dylan. ‘Special friend? Like a best friend you mean?’

‘Sort of.’ Dylan added an extra stroke to the page and turned to look at his dad. ‘Can boys and girls be best friends? My friend Davy says not, but he’s a bit silly sometimes.’

‘Of course they can. I’m very good friends with Thea and Tina, aren’t I?’

‘And Helen. I think Helen is your best friend.’

Tom ruffled his son’s hair, wishing Helen was with him now that Dylan had given him the perfect opening to share their news. But she isn’t going to be here that often. They’ll be lots of things I have to tell Dylan alone. Until he’s gone.

‘Yes. Helen is my best friend. You like her too, don’t you?’

‘She got me this.’ Dylan smoothed a hand over his work of art before choosing a grey pencil and addressing his concentration to St George’s armour.

‘Can you stop colouring for a minute while I tell you something?’

Dylan paused, his pencil ready to return to work the moment his dad stopped talking. ‘You know that sometimes we have special friends. Like girlfriends and boyfriends?’

‘Yeahhhh.’ Dylan pulled a face. ‘They do kissing and huggy stuff.’

Tom laughed. ‘Sometimes, but mostly they just care for each other a lot. Even more than best friends. Love each other. Like Sam and Tina.’

‘They’re getting married.’

‘Yes. Are you looking forward to it?’

Dylan wrinkled his nose. ‘I think so.’

Knowing it would be easy to drop the subject, Tom knew that would be the coward’s way out, so he said, ‘Well Helen is my girlfriend. Is that okay with you?’

‘Are you getting married then?’ Dylan asked. ‘I like Helen. I could wear my new suit again.’

Tom scooped Dylan up and hugged him until he squirmed.

‘Dad!’

‘Sorry.’

Dylan picked his pencil back up. ‘Can I colour in now?’

‘Sure.’ Tom watched. ‘So, are you okay with it, Helen being my girlfriend? She wanted to be here when we asked you, really.’

‘Helen has to work in Bath now. You should know that if she’s your girlfriend, Dad!’

‘So I should.’ Tom smiled. ‘I’m going to phone her in a minute. I’ll tell her you don’t mind.’

Dylan kept his eyes on the pencil tracing around the outside of the armour. ‘Harriet said she’s lucky that mum and her dad are special friends, cos she gets me as a brother.’

‘Harriet is Nathan’s daughter?’ The words had come out of Tom’s mouth before he’d considered if Dylan knew Sue’s partner’s name.

‘Yes.’ Dylan’s forehead creased into two puzzled lines. ‘Didn’t Mum say?’

‘No. No she didn’t. How old is Harriet?’

‘Eighteen.’

Tom