CHAPTER 13
@starzwatch: Sources on the set of An Irish Inheritance have claimed that on-set tension between director Doug Strathan and his wife, associate producer Mel Winters, has spilled into their personal life, as just weeks after settling into their luxury two-bed cottage in the grounds of Linford Castle, the couple are sleeping in separate beds. #TheLinfordCurse
“Oops, sorry!” Jess collided with a woman around her own age in the doorway of Ted’s store, and crouched down to help her pick up some dropped items.
“No bother.” The woman’s long, blonde hair partly obscured her face as she scooped up her shopping. “Thanks.” She straightened and walked quickly up the street in the direction of Linford Castle.
Idly, Jess wondered if she was one of the ADs on the movie.
When Shauna had sent her all the footage for Jess’s new social-media campaign, she’d jokingly pointed out that the five runners who’d been hired were blonde, twenty-something women, all of whom wore a ‘uniform’ of black T-shirt and jeans on the set.
She took a small basket at the door and paused, resisting the urge to head straight for the chocolate.
Since she’d arrived down, it had been her go-to snack.
In an attempt to be healthy, she threw in a banana and a small net of oranges and brought them up to the counter.
At the last minute, her gaze drifted to the Cadbury display and she added a Crunchie. It was all about small steps.
Jess had a quick look down the aisles, but there was no sign of Ted.
Mentally she ran over the day ahead as she waited for him to appear from the employee area at the back of the shop.
Lisa had mentioned that Doug was shooting all the winter scenes this week at the castle – and there was even a huge, fake Christmas tree going into the Great Hall this morning.
There were days she really loved her job.
Absently, she ran her hand over the well-worn Formica countertop, wondering why Ted had never bothered to put in a modern till with conveyer belt for his customers. Although maybe in such a small village there was no need.
The wall behind the counter was covered with faded, framed photos, a large clock, a pretty tattered calendar and a large noticeboard.
Jess peered closer at it. There were flashcards advertising babysitting services and guitar lessons and flyers for a summer solstice party and enrolment in the GAA club in Ballygobbin.
Her eyes drifted to the nearest photo of two middle-aged women standing either side of a tall, bespeckled boy in a school uniform, who was holding what looked like Leaving Cert results.
“I’ll be with you in just a minute!” somebody called from the back of the shop.
That did not sound like Ted.
A woman with short, salt-and-pepper hair, in faded jeans and a collarless blue blouse appeared. “Morning. Jess, isn’t it?”
Jess nodded, her eyes sliding back to the photo. She looked a bit like an older version of one of the women in it.
“We haven’t met,” the woman continued. “Have you a shopping bag there? I’ll have to charge you for one, otherwise.”
“Right, yes.” She opened her rucksack and pulled out the string bag she carried around, wondering if the woman was going to introduce herself. “It’s, er, lovely to meet you …”
“I’m Sinéad Nolan.” She gave a small sniff. “I’m Ted’s wife.”
He was married?
“Thirty-six years. I’d have got less time if I’d murdered someone.”
Briefly, Jess wondered if she’d blurted her thoughts out loud, and she gave an embarrassed laugh. “I’m still getting to know people in the village.”
“Oh well, I suppose you spend most of your time in that posh hotel.”
“Uh, no, I’ve been in The Tin Whistle, and Sylvia’s café is great.”
“Hmm.” Sinéad looked at her. “I see yourself and Robert around a bit alright. He’s a good man. He’s choosy, too, doesn’t have many girlfriends.”
“Oh, right.” Jess felt her cheeks heat. Was that a compliment? It sounded like one. “Er, Linford’s a lovely place. I’ve noticed there’s a lot of young families around.”
“There are, yeah.” Sinéad finished scanning the items and rang up the total, turning the card machine so that Jess could pay.
“It’s a grand little place when your kids are small, but the secondary school is in Kilshanley and the nearest university is Galway.
And, sure, there’s nothing here for our kids once they grow up. ”
Except for Linford Castle, Jess thought. But her instincts told her it was better not to mention that.
“Have you …?”
“Two of our own.” Sinéad pursed her lips. “Our daughter’s in Dublin and our son is in London.”
The bell over the door rang and Jess glanced around as another customer came in. “I’d better get to work. It was nice to meet you, Sinéad.”
She left, walking out of the village and up to the castle.
At the front gate, she slipped through a group of regular reporters and flashed her security pass to the guard on the other side.
“Hiya, Jess!” He grinned at her. “Welcome to Christmas in June.”
Jess worked in her office all morning, before stopping for lunch.
She took a few moments to admire the foyer again, which sparkled with hundreds of fairy lights, huge, realistic-looking wreaths and Christmas garlands, draped along the mantels of the four fireplaces.
This was probably what Christmas in Australia felt like, she thought.
After collecting a roll and a coffee from the hotel’s basement kitchen, she headed up to the orangery to eat, relieved to see a few skylights open and some blinds drawn on the windows to cool it down a bit.
As she rounded a grouping of tall plants, she noticed Spencer Torres at a table by himself, a small plate of salad and a green smoothie in front of him. He looked up from his phone and flashed her a grin. “Hey, there.”
“Oh, hey.” Jess returned his smile. “I won’t disturb you.”
“You’re not.” He gestured to the seat opposite. “Join me.”
What did you do today, Jess? Well, Spencer Torres begged me to join him for lunch so I thought it would be rude to turn him down.
She sat down and took a sip of her coffee, wishing she’d picked up a salad instead of a roll. “So, how’s it going?”
“We talking about me or the movie?” Spencer’s brown eyes glinted.
Jess took a small bite of her roll and chewed slowly. “You don’t have to talk about either if you don’t want to. We could talk about something else.”
“Yeah, I guess we could have a twenty-minute conversation about the weather,” Spencer said.
“Twenty minutes is nothing,” Jess assured him. “You need to meet more Irish people.”
He picked up his smoothie and settled back in the armchair. “Someone’s leaking stuff to the press.”
Jess nodded. “I know, I’m sorry about that. For what it’s worth, I genuinely don’t believe it’s any of the staff. They’re all carefully picked and highly trained. Plus, they’ve signed NDAs.”
“Yeah.” He pushed some salad around his plate. “I’m gonna bet that the leak is someone working on set. And they’ve obviously been in Mel and Doug’s place.”
Maybe it was one of the ADs, Jess thought. Mel or Doug could have asked them to get something from the cottage. But if that were the case, and they’d leaked something as personal as their new sleeping arrangements online, they were taking a huge risk of getting caught.
They sat in silence for a few moments.
“It seems like a really fun movie to make,” Jess said finally. “And, um, I liked your last one a lot.”
He studied her for a moment. “Well, that makes one of us.”
“Why didn’t you like it?”
He shrugged. “Probably because I’ve been playing the romantic lead for the past ten years.”
“So go do other kinds of movies,” Jess said.
A flicker of frustration crossed his face. “I have. They’ve flopped.” He shot her a sharp look. “You should be a reporter. I can’t believe I just admitted that. Not that it’s a secret.”
She thought for a moment. “I don’t know anything about the industry, but maybe those other movies didn’t suit you?”
“You sound like my agent.” He sighed. “I suppose you see me as the perfect romantic lead?”
Was he fishing for compliments, she wondered – or did he genuinely not care about his looks?
Maybe he simply wanted meatier roles. And looks weren’t everything.
In fact, sometimes they were a curse. If she hadn’t been so instantly attracted to Adam, if she’d taken longer to get to know him …
what was she thinking? Obviously, nothing would have happened.
She and Adam had only happened because of a drunken one-night stand.
“Darling, there you are!”
Jess looked up as Mel approached, carrying a thermos coffee cup. She flashed Jess a quick smile. “We good here?”
Spencer glanced at Jess. “Great.”
There was an awkward pause.
“Actually, I was just leaving.” Jess got to her feet. “Lovely chatting to you, Spencer. Have a great day.” She picked up what was left of her roll and coffee.
As she moved away, she glanced back to see Mel place a slim, manicured hand on Spencer’s neck.
“Talk to me, babes – how are you feeling?” she said.
Jess wondered if it was part of Mel’s job to mind the actors. But there was something else – a warmth she hadn’t seen in her until now.
But Spencer had seemed different too. She’d seen a sort of quiet desperation that he kept well hidden from the public. That aside, he was also a nicer person in real life than she’d ever have guessed.