Chapter Twenty-Three
Dagmar
D agmar parked her car outside the Cosy Bean Café, her mind swirling over everything that had happened that weekend. James was in a meeting that morning to talk to his colleagues about the café. No doubt his father would be there too, and Dagmar had a funny feeling things wouldn’t go smoothly there. The idea of driving to Duchan Fayre clawed at her mind. She could crash the meeting and say her piece. Though she wasn’t sure that would help.
She pushed open the door to the café, the familiar scent of coffee and pastries welcoming her in. A couple of people were seated near the window. That was the first time Dagmar had seen anyone in here for ages. Her mother was behind the counter, lifting a pastry from the glass cabinet with a pair of tongs, her brow knitted. She glanced up and saw Dagmar, and her expression softened, but the worry lines didn’t disappear.
‘Hi, Mum.’ Dagmar forced a smile and made her way in behind the counter. ‘How’s it going?’
Dotty sighed. ‘Let me get these to the customers, love, then I’ll chat.’ She took a tray to the table at the window, placed the cakes and drinks before the customers, then headed back to Dagmar. ‘Things are not going well,’ she said.
Dagmar’s heart sank. Dotty looked tired, more so than usual, and her eyes were a little red.
‘What’s wrong?’
‘It’s the landlord.’ Dotty checked the customers couldn’t hear her. ‘He’s just been on the phone, and he’s given me an ultimatum. Either I pay up the back rent by the end of the week, or I’m out.’
Dagmar’s stomach churned. ‘The end of the week?’
Dotty nodded. ‘I think he’s looking for any excuse to get rid of me.’
Dagmar reached out and squeezed her mother’s hand. ‘Oh god. I’ll have to tell James. He’s in a meeting talking about things right now.’
‘I don’t know what he can do.’ Dotty placed her hands on her cheeks.
‘I’m sure he’ll do what he can.’ Dagmar pulled out her phone and typed a message.
‘I’m not sure what he can do. Not unless he moves very fast.’
‘Let’s see what he says.’
Dotty’s shoulders slumped. ‘This ultimatum has hit me so hard. I might be better just giving up. Maybe my café owning days are done.’
Dagmar shook her head. ‘No, Mum. We’ll sort this out. This is you. It’s not your fault the landlord has made the rent so extortionate.’
‘But maybe the rest of it is. This place has got away from me. I should have made more of an effort to update it. I sat back and rested when I should have been working.’
‘If it’s really too much, then of course I don’t want you to do it, but if you still enjoy it, then we’ll find a way. I’m seeing James later; I’ll talk to him then.’ Her heart squeezed at the thought. What might happen at the meeting? Would his father pull the plug on things? James’s mother had made a comment like that. The rush of love Dagmar had felt over the last few days was replaced with a gnawing dread. Everything was imploding around her, and she didn’t know how to fix it.
Later, she returned to the stables. James hadn’t replied to her message yet, and it didn’t look like he’d even seen it. He was due about six, so she only had a short while to wait – assuming he wasn’t held up again. Caitlin was being so helpful, coming around every day even after exams, perhaps still hoping to get the job, and Dagmar hoped she would. She should speak to Ophelia about it. But it was a fine line she wasn’t sure how to navigate. She wanted to help Caitlin, but with so many big personalities involved in Caitlin’s life, Dagmar didn’t want to take sides or cause problems.
Once she’d parked her truck, she headed for the stables. Despite being here in body, she was still engrossed in thoughts about the café and James. This was when mistakes happened, and she had to focus. What if she left gates open or something equally as stupid? She passed a very posh car in the car park that she didn’t immediately recognise. A Ferrari? She’d surely have spotted one of them before, but the owners who used this livery were all minted, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if one of them owned a Ferrari. Dagmar wasn’t into cars, so it was possible she’d just never noticed.
As she entered the stable yard, she spotted a woman hanging about near the entrance. No way. It was Lady Victoria Bruce. What the hell was she doing here? One thing was certain, she wouldn’t be here to see Dagmar. Most likely it would be Ophelia she wanted to see or James, but did she even know he came here? That was a secret, wasn’t it? Had someone blabbed?
Jacinta probably.
Oh god.
After what she’d overheard James’s mum say, that seemed so much more likely and if that was the case, then Dagmar really didn’t want to be here. She looked around. She could get back in her truck, drive around the estate, and park down at her cottage. Victoria wouldn’t know she’d ever been here. But before she could execute her plan, Victoria looked her way. A flicker of recognition registered on her face.
‘Dagmar. Oh god, I forgot you worked here. That’s a stroke of luck.’ Victoria strolled over, flicking her dark hair over her shoulder.
‘Is it?’ Dagmar stood very still. If she moved, something might give her away, though she wasn’t sure what.
‘Yes, indeed. I’m looking for a bit of intel, and you might be just the person to fill me in.’
‘Me?’
‘Sure. So, my mother had the strangest call from Jacinta.’ Victoria held out her hands with dramatic flair. ‘She said she didn’t want to gossip, but she wanted to give us a bit of a heads up.’
‘About what?’
‘James.’ Victoria glanced around as if checking for him. ‘You know he and I have a little thing going? Only he’s been rather reticent lately, which could be my fault. He maybe thinks I’ve led him a bit of a merry dance. I had this other man in London… But that’s by the by. I’ve had it with him. James is so much nicer. Anyway, I’ve completely digressed. Jacinta seemed to think James has been riding here quite a bit. I wondered if maybe his interest had strayed back to Ophelia.’
‘Ophelia is happy with Brann. I don’t think either she or James ever—’
‘Oh, I know they were never that close.’ Victoria waved an airy hand as she cut in. ‘But he doesn’t actually keep a horse here, does he?’
‘Well, no, he doesn’t own one. He uses the horses here to ride.’
‘Interesting.’ Victoria’s gaze swept over the stable yard. ‘That sounds like he’s still quite chummy with Ophelia.’
‘She’s nice, so I don’t see why they shouldn’t be friends.’
Victoria made a little snort laugh, which was rather unkind as Ophelia had always had a humane side, in spite of her status and her implacable facade. If she gave as good as she got from Victoria and the countess, then who was Dagmar to complain?
‘Jacinta also mentioned that James had an admirer.’
Heat rose in Dagmar’s cheeks and her heart missed a beat. Was all Victoria’s preamble a ruse? Was this her getting ready to strike? ‘Oh really?’
‘Some stable girl, apparently.’
She forced a smile. ‘Oh?’
‘I mean, it sounds terribly clichéd to me. But Jacinta implied he was having a romp in the hay with her. Which naturally I don’t believe for a second.’
Dagmar tried to agree with a nod that was more like a nervous tic.
‘But out of curiosity, are there any young stable girls here? I saw someone in there mucking out. Does she work here, or is she an owner?’
‘Caitlin?’ Dagmar’s throat tightened. ‘I, um, don’t think she would be interested in James. She’s very young.’
Victoria’s gaze lingered on the stable door before she turned back to Dagmar. ‘I hope that’s true. I’m not giving him up for some stable girl.’
Dagmar managed a tight smile, but she’d quite like to slap Victoria. How dare she? Some stable girl!
Victoria narrowed her eyes a little then added, ‘It would be quite ridiculous for him to get involved with someone that unsuitable, don’t you think? I mean, with his EP, he can do much better.’
Dagmar barely held back her eye roll. All the pony club girls had talked about EP as teens – earning potential. Some had even extended it to EPNL. Earning potential, not looks. None of it had ever seemed to have a point to Dagmar, so she’d kept away from conversations like that, but this brought it all back. ‘No doubt.’
‘Well, I shouldn’t hang about too long. I’ve got so much to do. Tell James I was here, won’t you?’
‘Sure.’ Dagmar took a deep breath, willing Victoria to go – and quickly. But she didn’t move. Her gaze was fixed on something over Dagmar’s shoulder. Before Dagmar could check what she was looking at, a smile crept onto Victoria’s face.
‘No need. He’s here. I can talk to him myself.’
Dagmar turned to see James approaching. His eyes widened when he clocked who she was talking to. He froze, but he hadn’t managed to say a word when Victoria marched up to him, took hold of him and kissed both his cheeks, one after the other.
‘James, hello! I was just talking about you.’
‘Oh, really?’
‘Indeed. How was work?’
He stepped back a little. ‘Busy as always.’ He glanced at Dagmar. ‘So, ready for the ride?’
Dagmar nodded, almost surprised he was even giving her the time of day when Victoria was around. ‘Yeah, sure.’
Victoria narrowed her eyes. ‘No need to interrupt Dagmar’s work. I’ll go with you. I’m sure Ophelia will lend me a horse.’
A rush of heat surged up Dagmar’s neck. ‘I’m not sure our insurance covers you riding one of the horses unless you’re a paying customer. I’ll have to check the terms.’
‘Pardon?’ Victoria gaped at her.
James stepped towards Dagmar. ‘I can’t ride with you,’ he said to Victoria. ‘I’m going with Dagmar.’ He gave Victoria a winning smile.
Her own smile faltered for a moment. ‘Why don’t we all ride together? If Dagmar really feels the need to come along, then I suppose it’ll be fine.’
‘We already had this planned,’ James said.
‘And it doesn’t change the insurance issue,’ Dagmar added.
‘I’m sure that can’t be right. Where can I find Ophelia?’ She glanced around, perhaps expecting her to appear like a servant she’d summoned to attend to her needs.
‘She’s probably at the boathouse.’ Dagmar exchanged a look with James, who was fiddling with the neckline of his sweater.
‘Can you call her?’
Dagmar let out a little sigh. ‘I can, but she’ll say the same as me.’
‘Victoria, this isn’t the right time.’ James appeared to be trying to flash her a smile again, but this time it looked more like a grimace. ‘I’m not sure why you want to ride with me anyway.’
‘Because we need to talk. I just wish I’d had someone bring my own horse. I had no idea the staff here were so obstinate.’ She turned away from Dagmar and added to James. ‘And rude.’
Her cold shoulder didn’t hide the words, which Dagmar heard quite clearly.
James shook his head. ‘That’s unfair and uncalled for.’
Victoria patted James’s arm and chuckled like she thought he was joking.
‘If you’re unwilling to abide by the yard’s rules, you’ll have to leave,’ Dagmar said. ‘I need to call Ophelia.’ She gave James a little shrug, then turned on her heel and stalked off. She didn’t need to listen to anymore, not after the day she’d had.