Chapter 4 #2
After driving along the long, wide road locally referred to as ‘Millionaire’s Row’, she’d expected Xavier’s house to be impressive, but as they swung in through the automatic gates at the end of the driveway, which magically opened for his car, the true magnificence of the place struck her like a blow to the stomach.
Built in the arts and crafts style, it loomed above her like an enormous geometric citadel, its two wings standing like sentries either side of the grand entrance.
‘Home, sweet home,’ he said, turning momentarily to raise both eyebrows at her as he pulled the car up to the front of the house, then turned off the engine. ‘I’ll grab your cases, then I’ll show you around.’
Taking a moment to get another swell of nerves under control, she watched him get out of the car and take her bags out of the boot, then dragged in a deep, steadying breath and got out too, following him to the front door, which he was opening with a swipe card.
It was like walking into another world as Soli took her first step into the house, letting out a gasp of wonder.
‘You weren’t expecting me to carry you over the threshold, were you?’ Xavier asked gruffly, possibly mistaking her stunned awe for upset as she stood there, gazing around the cavernous, marble-floored entrance hall with wide eyes.
‘No, of course not,’ she said, giving him a reassuring smile before returning her gaze to the dark wooden banister staircase, which drew the eye upwards towards an ornate mullioned window, its many panes of glass winking in the late-afternoon sunshine.
Looking at it, she wouldn’t be surprised to find this one room had the same square footage as her entire cafe.
‘Wow. I can see why you wouldn’t want to lose this place. It’s spectacular!’ she said, turning to flash him an impressed look.
He glanced around him as if checking out what she meant, then gave her a taut smile back.
‘It’s been in my family for nearly a hundred and fifty years, but I’ve only had the privilege of living here for the last four – since my great-aunt was taken into hospital after her first stroke.’
‘That must have been hard. Coming to live here on your own when she was so ill.’
He shrugged but didn’t say anything. There was a glimmer of sadness in his eyes though, she was sure of it.
‘Have you done much to it?’ she asked, sensing his intention to keep the subject on a non-emotional level.
‘Hardly a thing, which was great for me because I could just move straight in.’ He gesticulated around the large, elegant entrance hall with its neat marble-topped table and large vase of fresh flowers sitting invitingly in the middle of the space.
The subtly coloured walls were hung with striking pieces of modern art, and there was a huge gilt-framed mirror on the far one which reflected their images back to them.
‘She had really good taste and a love of interior design, so kept up with all the trends. She was always poring over those house and garden magazines,’ he said with a faraway look in his eyes, as if remembering her fondly.
‘I’m sure she would have been an interior designer if she’d had the chance, but my great-uncle didn’t want her to work. He was pretty traditional like that.’
‘Right. Wow.’ She couldn’t imagine a world in which she wouldn’t be allowed to work. She’d be bored to tears.
‘Let me give you the tour,’ he said, already moving towards one of the large mahogany doors that stood open to the right of them.
He guided her around the frankly massive ground floor: through the sitting room with its classy antique furniture, the library with its shelves stuffed with old books, the snug with a huge widescreen TV on the wall and a squashy-looking sofa facing it, and then on to what he called the morning room, which looked as though no one ever used it.
She guessed the William Morris wallpaper in there was original, due to its slightly faded look.
She couldn’t help but watch Xavier closely as he walked through the rooms ahead of her, his broad back straight and his long-legged gait a little tense. He intrigued her. Why was such an attractive, successful man living here alone? Maybe it had something to do with the not-believing-in-love thing.
Best not to think about that, though. She didn’t want to get herself in any kind of emotional tangle. She had enough to deal with right now.
He then led her towards the back of the house, where there was a fully equipped gym, and on through another frosted glass door leading to an indoor swimming pool, which was surrounded by green-leafed plants in pots standing against the beautiful mosaic-tiled walls.
‘You can use this any time you like,’ he said, waving his hand at it as if everyone had one and it wasn’t anything special.
A little bubble of nervous excitement, that had begun to form in the pit of her stomach as soon as she’d entered the house, rose up to her throat and tickled her tongue.
This incredible place was going to be her home for the next year.
They ended the tour of the main house in a huge kitchen diner, which was the most well-worn looking place in the house. Even so, she guessed the oak kitchen cabinets and marble-topped work surfaces would have cost a pretty penny.
This room was clearly the heart of the home and Soli immediately felt much more relaxed in here. The rest of the house was beautiful, but it had been a bit like being shown around a stately home where you weren’t allowed to touch anything.
She could imagine spending lots of time in this room though, making meals for them both and perhaps baking her locally famous cakes and biscuits for Xavier to sample.
She’d welcome the chance to impress him with her cooking skills.
It would make her feel less insignificant in the face of his overwhelming prowess.
He’d leant back against a scrubbed oak table in the middle of the tiled floor as she looked around, and she glanced over at him, wondering how many times he’d sat there to eat in his lifetime.
She could imagine him as a bright-eyed, but serious, little boy with a wicked grin, when he chose to deploy it.
Not that she’d seen any evidence of it so far.
Any smiles he’d given her had seemed perfunctory and lacking in any real emotion.
What must he have gone through to not have any warmth in his smile? The thought of it made her inordinately sad, especially when it occurred to her that he might well have lost his spirit when he was a little boy.
But perhaps that wasn’t the case. He seemed to have genuine love and affection for his great-aunt and clearly adored living here judging by the reverent tone he’d used when showing the rooms to her.
‘Did your great-aunt have any children?’ she asked, thinking what a wonderful house this would be for games of hide and seek. You could probably go for hours without being discovered with all the nooks and crannies available.
‘No. I think she wanted them, but it never happened. My great-uncle died before I was born so I never met him, but I used to spend a lot of time with Aunt Faith and I think she considered me the child she never had. She always invited me here during my holidays from boarding school.’
‘And your parents were okay with that? Didn’t they want you at home with them?’
He let out a low snort. ‘They didn’t mind at all. They’re not exactly “kid people”.’
‘Oh.’ The sharp edge of tension in his voice disturbed her. Was he telling her that his parents didn’t want anything to do with him? How heartbreaking.
‘Anyway,’ Xavier said loudly, making her jump, ‘let me show you the room you’ll be staying in. Part of the ground floor was converted into a bedroom for my great-aunt to live in, but wasn’t used because she had the second stroke before she could move into it.’
She followed him out of the kitchen and back to the entrance hall, suspecting there would probably be a lot of Xavier suddenly changing the subject when things started to get too personal for his liking – which would be frustrating, considering she needed to get to know this enigmatic man a lot better in a very short space of time if they were going to come across as a convincing couple.
‘It’s down here,’ he said, guiding her along a hallway towards the back of the house, then through a door with its own mortice lock and into a large, airy bedroom.
So, her bedroom was to be downstairs? As far away from Xavier’s as possible, perhaps. Not that she had any right to question this. It was his home after all and she was, to all intents and purposes, his guest.
Like the kitchen in the main house, the bedroom was decorated in a warm, homey style, which immediately made her feel comfortable.
There was a queen-sized bed against the wall on the far side and the rest of the room was kitted out in tasteful modern furniture, which, she suspected from its pristine gleam, had never been used before.
Her heart fluttered as she realised there was a walk-in wardrobe.
She’d only ever had half a small wardrobe at home, where she’d shared a room with Domino.
‘You’ll need to put some of your things, like toiletries and clothes, in my room too, just in case one of the solicitor’s people drops round without giving us any notice and goes snooping.
We don’t want to give ourselves away by overlooking details like that,’ Xavier said, crossing his arms, making him seem even more intimidating than usual.
The thought of being caught out like that only increased Soli’s anxiety about them not knowing each other well enough yet.
What if she had to answer questions about him that she didn’t know the answers to?
He could potentially lose his inheritance if the solicitor didn’t believe they were a real couple, which would mean their deal would fall through and that could signal the end of the cafe.