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

‘Possibly. She may have run out.’

Thea frowned. ‘Moira had some lined up anyway.’ She could see the promised cartons on the room’s dining table.

‘There was a genuine possibility Sybil would run out. Mabel knocks it back, according to Bert.’

‘That, at least, is true.’ Thea marched to the table and picked up two cartons. ‘And if I don’t get back, the mother of the bride could be nine sheets to the wind by ten.’

‘Stay. Please.’ Shaun pointed to the sofa.

‘We’re in the middle of our best friends’ hen and stag night!’ Thea’s forehead creased as she said, ‘Sam does know you’re here, doesn’t he? Tom was beginning to think he’d be stepping in for you.’

‘Of course he does. I’d never let him or Tina down.’

Thea clutched the juice to her chest. ‘I’ll go and tell Tina. Unless she knows as well.’

‘I doubt it. I haven’t been here long.’ Shaun tried again, ‘Please Thea, we need to talk. Will you sit down?’

‘Give me one good reason why I should.’

‘Actually, I can give you three.’

Fifty-five

Friday May 22nd

‘Three reasons? I’m honoured.’ Thea leaned against the side of the table, the juice still in her hands.

Shaun ran a hand through his hair, his eyes on the boxes of juice. ‘I listened to the recording.’

‘I know. I was there.’

‘I mean, I heard it again. All of it. Several times, especially the conversation in the hotel bar. The part you didn’t stay to rehear.’

‘Can you blame me?’

‘Not really. Although I wished you’d stayed.’

‘Then you should have said.’

‘Would you have, if I’d asked you to?’

‘Yes.’

‘Oh.’ Shaun stared at the untouched pint of beer on the table next to the sofa. ‘I assumed you’d tell me to piss off. I wouldn’t have blamed you.’

‘Yes, you would.’ Thea sighed. ‘At the time, you would.’

Grimacing, Shaun reluctantly admitted, ‘Maybe. I wasn’t thinking straight.’

‘You don’t say.’ Thea waved a carton of juice at him. ‘I really have to go.’

‘Sybil never runs out of anything.’

‘What?’

‘She knows I’m here. I texted.’

Thea put the cartons back on the table and took some steadying breaths. ‘Sybil?’

‘I didn’t want to ask any of the others to conspire with me in case you got the hump with them. There is a wedding tomorrow after all.’

‘So you admit to conspiring then?’ Thea shook her head. ‘And what if I fell out with Sybil?’

‘No chance of that. Your cheese scone source would be cut off.’

Thea saw a smile hit his eyes. Don’t smile back. He doesn’t deserve it. ‘You said there were three reasons why I should stay.’

‘Yes.’ He patted the sofa again. ‘Won’t you sit down?’

‘Depends on the three reasons.’

‘Okay.’ Shaun took a swift gulp of beer and twisted around so he was looking straight at Thea. ‘The first is obvious. I love you.’

‘Obvious? I would say that’s some way off the mark.’ Thea pushed her hands into her pockets.

‘Fair enough, but I do.’

Resisting the urge to tell him she loved him too, Thea asked, ‘Second reason?’

‘Because I am sure you’d like to hear what happened when I caught up with Julian after hearing the recording.’

Thea’s eyebrows rose. ‘You met Julian again? Ajay said you’d gone straight to the television studios. I assumed it was to play the board the recording.’

‘I did. But not to play the recording. I didn’t want to come across as a blackmailer.’

‘So, what did you plan to do?’

‘Tell them that a rumour had reached me about Treasure Hunters changing presenter, see if they were aware of that, and ask if it had implications for us as a series moving forward.’

‘Sounds reasonable.’

‘Unfortunately, I wasn’t feeling reasonable. It’s probably a good thing I didn’t get to see the board. Not then anyway.’

Suddenly very tired, Thea sank onto the sofa, leaving a gap between her and Shaun. ‘So you went to the television studios, but you didn’t speak to the board?’

‘I was in reception, queuing to see if the head guy had time to see me, when Julian came in looking flustered.’ Shaun scowled. ‘You should have seen his expression when he saw me.’

‘I can imagine.’ Thea gave a sad shake of her head. ‘Did he know he’d been recorded? I didn’t tell him.’

‘No, but he was looking spooked. I guessed he was there to talk to the board too. In his case, for damage limitation purposes. After all, you’d just accused him of sexual harassment.’

‘No I didn’t. I could have, but he didn’t do anything beyond making some presumptions about his own attractiveness and its power to help him get what he wants.’

‘You accused him of acting as if he was in the 60s or 70s. That amounts to the same thing these days.’

‘I suppose it does.’ She fidgeted with her fingers. ‘It was rather creepy. Julian in a bathrobe was not on my list of things to see before I die.’

‘Shame you didn’t video him as well as record him. More proof!’

‘Proof? Hardly. I don’t want to be thought of as someone who’d stoop to blackmail either. That’s Julian’s level, not ours.’

‘You said ours.’ Shaun looked hopeful.

‘Figure of speech.’ Thea kept her eyes focused on her hands. ‘Talk to me, Shaun. Just tell me everything that has been going on. Then we’ll see if there is any “ours” or not.’

 ‘You remember when I was in Cornwall and you were jealous of Sophie?’ Shaun sounded resigned as he rested back against the sofa.

Taken by surprise by his opening, Thea sat up straighter. ‘I wasn’t jealous. I was suspicious of her and baffled that you could be so naive as to not notice she fancied you.’

‘Okay,’ Shaun’s shoulders sagged as he cradled his pint between his palms, ‘well, you might not have been jealous of Sophie, but I was jealous of Julian. I didn’t like him from the second I saw him, and all my instincts told me not to trust him.’

‘But why be jealous of him? I told you repeatedly that I didn’t like him.’

‘That’s where the being stupid bit came in.’

‘Go on.’

‘You remember the meal we had