Chapter Four
Flynn opened the door to his staff cottage with a heavy sigh. He’d left Lara after she’d replaced the chalice in the safe and he still needed to decompress and change, ready for meeting the Penhaligons for welcome drinks in their private rooms in the castle.
After hanging his leather jacket in the vestibule, he decided a strong coffee was required.
His arrival at Ravendale couldn’t have been more disastrous.
He’d hoped Lara would be pleased to see him. He’d hoped she’d been expecting him. He’d hoped his return to Ravendale wouldn’t have turned into a horror show.
He’d brought his own coffee with him, but his hosts – now his employers – had thoughtfully provided a pint of milk, which was waiting in the fridge.
On closer inspection, he decided the one-bedroom Groom’s Cottage must be a holiday let that had had been turned over for his use.
It had that air of comfort yet minimalism and was too well maintained and smart for people to have lived in it full time.
That suited him. He didn’t like a lot of clutter and travelled light, both in life as well as on the bike.
It was pitch black outside at four-thirty. He thought of the modern apartment he’d left behind in Newquay overlooking Fistral Beach. It still wouldn’t be dark there, due to the combination of the southern latitude, ocean and big skies all maximising the winter daylight.
Until a month ago, he’d been technical manager at a family-run Cornish theme park set in the grounds of an old estate.
He’d enjoyed the job, even though he’d probably been in it too long.
Sadly, times had changed, visitor numbers had dwindled, and the family had decided to retire and sell up.
Flynn had taken it as an opportunity, as a signal that he should change his life and travel.
Yet here he was, plunging into the thick of a busy and unfamiliar role and already off on the wrong foot.
Flynn showered while the machine brewed his espresso, looking forward to a small comfort. He thought of messaging Lara, then decided not to put her under more pressure. The decision about the chalice had to be hers alone.
He’d managed to pull up his boxers when he received a message that drinks and nibbles were waiting in the sitting room and would he like to go along ‘when he was ready’.
It was probably the first time a work induction with an employer had been framed in those terms, but he’d already met Henry and Fiona when he was their Halloween guest and liked them a lot.
How could he refuse Henry’s appeal for immediate help when the man, who was in his late seventies, had sounded so desperate and stressed out?
He felt terrible about startling Lara, and seeing her so conflicted about whether to tell the Penhaligons. He wished she’d let him take the blame, although he understood why she wouldn’t. She was professional and honest; she played things straight.
The image of her in that crimson velvet dress at Halloween came back to him.
That evening she’d worn her strawberry blonde hair long, so it had brushed the ‘v’ that had revealed her bare back.
This afternoon, her hair had been restrained in a ponytail.
Even in a Ravendale Castle fleece, eyes glittering with stress, he’d fancied her every bit as much as at Halloween.
No, he was lying. He fancied her more.
There hadn’t been a day – or night – he hadn’t thought about her since he’d left to ride home to Cornwall.
Deep down, he’d known from that moment that he’d take the castle job, despite his rational side telling him all the reasons why he shouldn’t, like giving up his plans to take his first break from working in twenty years to follow his travel dreams.
He finished shaving hastily, nicking himself in the process and swearing again.
Ignoring the sting, he spritzed on the aftershave that he saved for special occasions.
Finally, after hastily downing the now-lukewarm espresso, he decided what to wear.
It wasn’t a difficult decision when his wardrobe was ‘capsule’ at best, yet he hoped his shirt and jeans would be suitable for drinks with the Penhaligons.
Although he’d worked in and outside plenty of stately homes, he had to admit Ravendale topped them all for impact and grandeur.
The castle – really a fortified house – had been built around a five-storey square tower with battlements on the top.
Various wings had been added over the centuries and it was all surrounded by parkland that blended in perfectly with the rugged Lakeland landscape.
He’d been looking forward to taking the Harley out for some rides over the mountain passes, although now that he needed to take immediate control of the Winter Spectacular, that would have to wait until New Year.
That is, if he lasted until New Year … his first day had hardly given him much optimism in that direction.
He’d swept and slicked his hair back as tidily as he could when his phone pinged with a message from Lara, whose number was still in his phone.
Still undecided. See you soon.
Still undecided … which meant he mustn’t say anything about the chalice incident. Not that he would have dreamed of doing so without her permission.
He glanced in the mirror and sighed again. His first meeting with the Penhaligons as his employers – and with Lara as his colleague – was going to be challenging.