Chapter Five
‘Ah, here he is! The man of the hour!’
Henry strode forward to meet Flynn, who wore a smile that looked as forced as hers.
In their brief exchange of messages, she and Flynn had agreed not to even mention their encounter in the treasury during the Penhaligons’ welcome drinks.
While the subterfuge kept Lara’s options open, it also added another layer of deception.
There would be many more, if she decided to go along with the plan of secretly having the chalice repaired.
Tonight should have been a chance to be introduced to Flynn as a new colleague. Instead, she felt as if her co-conspirator had walked in and the guilt was weighing on her like the granite the castle was made of.
Her butterflies weren’t helped by the fact he looked like a Byronic hero, with his dark hair slicked back, black jeans, and a chunky jumper the colour of fir trees.
‘Of course, there’s no need to introduce you to each other.’ Fiona’s eyes twinkled.
Flynn put on a winning smile. ‘No, we got to know each other pretty well at Halloween.’ He looked directly into Lara’s eyes, as if daring her to glance away, sending her temperature soaring.
Fiona invited them to sit down. Since Henry had chosen his wing-backed armchair and Fiona took a club chair, Lara and Flynn were forced to share the Chesterfield. She was close enough to inhale a subtle trace of his spicy aftershave, and tried not to fidget in her seat.
‘Now, isn’t this cosy?’ Fiona asked, with a beam directed at Lara and Flynn as if they were her two favourite children.
Lara answered with a weak smile. ‘Cosy’ was not a word she would use to describe her sexy new colleague – and, she reminded herself, that was what he was.
They would be working together in close proximity from now on and it would not be a good idea to get involved with him beyond a professional connection.
She was still bruised and battered from her last workplace relationship, and she and Flynn needed no distractions from the important task in hand.
Henry huffed. ‘It was blindingly obvious we should have taken on a temporary maintenance manager as soon as Gerald went off sick, but we kept bumbling on and letting other stuff get in the way of appointing a temp, until finally Gerald hinted he actually wanted to retire. All that time, poor Lara was shouldering the burden. Apologies, my dear.’
‘Please don’t worry, Henry. I was managing,’ Lara replied. ‘But some professional help will be very welcome …’
‘Experienced maintenance staff are like gold dust in our remote little corner of the Lakes.’ Fiona directed the comment at Flynn. ‘And we didn’t want to disappoint Lara – or the team – if you couldn’t take the job.’
‘And it was a long shot that he could hare all the way up here and start tout de suite. What time did you set out from Cornwall, my boy?’ Henry asked.
‘Actually, I set off yesterday and stayed overnight with a friend who lives up here,’ Flynn said. ‘But I’m fine. I like a good long ride.’
Lara felt a flush creep up the back of her neck. With her hair piled on top of her head, she was acutely aware her heightened colour would be visible against her fair skin.
‘I’m sure. I did back in my day as well. I still haven’t shown you my vintage Norton. Plenty of opportunity now, though, eh? I’ll get us a sherry.’
Fiona rolled her eyes while her husband filled glasses from a decanter on the sideboard. ‘I’m sure Flynn will be far too busy with his new role and the Winter Spectacular to tinker with motorbikes.’
‘I’m sure he’ll find the time. So, how are you settling in, old chap? How’s the Groom’s Cottage?’ Henry Penhaligon was all rosy-cheeked affability as he handed a glass of sherry to Flynn.
Sitting in front of the crackling fire, Lara felt anything but affable. Her whole body was as taut as a wire.
‘It’s a great little place, thanks,’ Flynn said, accepting the glass and sipping it. Lara would have bet her beloved old Land Rover that he’d never tasted sherry in his life.
‘You’re not far from Lara,’ Henry continued. ‘She’s in Stable Cottage opposite if you need her.’
‘How convenient,’ Flynn said, exchanging an amused glance with Lara.
‘Isn’t it?’ she ground out, wondering how he could joke at a time like this.
Fiona collected a platter of canapés from the sideboard. ‘Our catering manager, Jazz, had these sent up. She’s a gem.’ She offered the platter to Flynn. ‘You’ll meet her soon enough. Won’t he, Lara?’
‘She’s great,’ Lara agreed. Having started working at Ravendale at a similar time, she and Jazz had hit it off very quickly and were now firm friends.
‘These look delicious,’ Flynn said, accepting a smoked salmon blini from a platter that also included Jazz’s sticky mini Cumberland sausages and some mushroom tartlets. ‘You needn’t have gone to all this trouble for me, though.’
‘Nonsense. I thought you’d need a bite to eat after that journey. If it makes you feel better, we have a candlelit drinks party in the banqueting hall tonight. Local businesses will be there. Jazz and the team were on duty anyway.’
‘In that case, thank you,’ Flynn said.
‘These mini sausages are good,’ Henry declared, helping himself to a second one. ‘Grab one quick, my boy, before they’re all gone.’
‘You mean before you wolf the lot,’ Fiona said, with an exasperated glance at her husband. She offered the platter to Lara. ‘My dear? You must be famished after such a busy day and you know we won’t get fed while we’re mingling at the party.’
‘Thanks,’ said Lara, although her appetite was non-existent, even for the delicious sausages cooked in the chef’s sticky, spicy marinade.
They were speared on tiny sword-shaped cocktail sticks and she nibbled a small piece.
Flynn, she noted, popped the whole sausage in his mouth.
Clearly his conscience wasn’t troubling him as much as hers was.
‘I don’t mind admitting I’m incredibly relieved that Flynn could start the job at such short notice.’
‘You needed help and I was available. It was a no-brainer.’
‘What will you do with your flat in Cornwall?’ Lara asked, still not totally understanding the logistics.
‘I’m going to rent it out. There are plenty of people who need a place to live in Cornwall, that’s for sure.’
‘Not left any broken hearts down there, have you?’ Henry teased.
Fiona gasped. ‘Henry!’ She turned to Flynn, who sipped his sherry delicately. ‘I’m so sorry. My husband has no filter these days.’
Henry looked perplexed. ‘I’ve no idea what you mean,’ he said, and Lara knew he absolutely didn’t.
However, Henry’s question made her wonder if Flynn was in a relationship or not.
‘All my focus will be on Ravendale,’ he said, answering Henry politely. ‘And, on that note, can you tell me more about the Winter Spectacular?’
Lara was glad that he’d moved the conversation smoothly on to their jobs. They arranged a walkthrough of the site the following afternoon in order to do a trial run and spot any snags as dusk fell.
‘We’ll introduce you to the rest of the team properly in the morning, and then I’m sure you’ll want to get stuck in,’ Fiona said.
Lara set her half-full glass of sherry aside. ‘I’m afraid I have to pop back to the cottage to collect my radio. The drinks reception starts in half an hour.’
Fiona glanced at the elaborate clock on the mantlepiece. ‘Gosh, yes! Time’s flown by today! There aren’t enough hours in the day at this time of year.’
Henry groaned and settled back deeper into his armchair. ‘I could stay here with a whisky and a book. I’m too old for partying.’
‘A, you’re not old, and B, our guests will be expecting you, so I will surgically remove you if I have to,’ said Fiona, with an arch of her eyebrows. ‘It’s only for a couple of hours, then you can slob around as much as you like.’
‘I’ve never slobbed around in my life,’ Henry protested.
‘Then up you get,’ said Fiona, with a wink for Lara.
The stratagem drew amused glances between her and Flynn too. He’d finished his sherry and stood up at the same time as she did, while Henry eased himself out of the armchair, muttering.
‘I’ll just touch up my warpaint in the bathroom,’ Fiona said, ‘while Henry gets his old bones moving.’
‘See you at the reception,’ Lara said.
Flynn insisted on her walking out of the drawing room, with a chivalry that would have amused her had she not been so troubled.
‘I’d like to settle in and get an early night to be ready for tomorrow,’ he said, as they walked down the stairs.
Once in the main hall, he made as if to head for the front entrance, but Lara stopped him. ‘Not that way. There’s a quicker route. Follow me.’
‘You know all the secrets of this place by now, I guess,’ he said, as they went through a small door behind the grand oak staircase.
‘I know my way around,’ she said. ‘I’m sure you will too in no time.’
She had a feeling that he’d fit in anywhere he wanted to.
Her chest tightened momentarily as the cold night air hit her lungs. Flynn kept pace with her across the courtyard. A side archway marked ‘Staff Only’ led to another smaller courtyard, with offices and workshops and a gap cut into a yew hedge.
Her cottage came into view, a single lamp lit in the sitting-room window. Flynn’s new quarters, almost opposite, were in darkness.
He stopped a few yards outside his front door. The winter moon shone down on his face and her heart did all kinds of things she didn’t want it to do.
‘Lara, I’m genuinely sorry to have landed on you so unexpectedly and caused such trouble.’
‘The chalice was an accident,’ she said. ‘As for you coming to work here, Henry and Fiona are absolutely right. We – the castle needs someone to help. It’s important for everyone that these illuminations are a success. It’s a major investment and we can’t afford for it to make a loss.’
‘It won’t make a loss with you at the helm. Fiona told me it was your idea to have the grounds illuminated. She said you’ve worked wonders since you first came here.’
‘I wouldn’t say wonders,’ Lara said, keen not to hog all the credit and a little taken aback that her employers had spoken of her to Flynn. ‘I’ve just tried to put a decent programme of events in place that we can build on.’
‘And I’m here to support you. We can liaise on what you need at every step. You can call on me any time, night or day.’ His serious expression told her he meant it.
‘Thanks,’ Lara muttered, wanting to look away from that handsome face.
It was a face that could so easily melt a heart – yet he was a colleague and, now, a neighbour.
She couldn’t afford for him to become anything more.
She’d learned the hard and very painful way what happened when you mixed business with pleasure.
She shivered, surprised that the memory was still so raw over a year later.
‘I need to get off to the drinks reception,’ she said.
‘OK. Have you decided about the chalice yet?’
Even the mention of the C word sent unpleasant shivers through her, yet the situation had to be faced.
Henry had looked very tired at drinks, and Fiona seemed frazzled.
She couldn’t load any more worries onto them at this crucial time of year, especially when they thought some of their problems had been solved by the arrival of Flynn.
‘I – still haven’t decided 100 per cent. I’ll sleep on it and then decide whether to contact my friend to ask if she could do the repair quickly and discreetly.’
He let out a breath of approval. ‘I think that’s a very good idea and, as I said, my offer to go halves still stands.’
‘Well, I don’t feel comfortable at all with deceiving the Penhaligons.
I really need more time to consider all the ramifications.
And if I do have it restored, my decision to pay for it myself stands too.
But thank you. Now, I really have to go.
I hope you get a good night’s sleep in your new home. ’
He smiled. ‘Thanks, and I hope I do too. I’ve a feeling I’m going to need it.’