Chapter 22 Sitting Down
Sitting Down
Ingrid
“What was your first impression of her?” Kaley Addams, a reporter from the BBC, asked.
We sat opposite—TV lights beating down—in a sitting room at Sandringham. We took our engagement photos and the sit-down interview near our cottage in Norfolk. I had little time for either as I was soon due at Burghley for my final event of the season.
Keir blushed. “I am not sure I can say it in words. My cousin warned me to leave her alone. And yet, here we are.”
“Cecilia?” I asked.
“No. Leah,” he chuckled. “She knows me all too well. Leah is quite protective of Ingrid.”
“Leah Roughy?” Kaley asked.
“Yes,” I answered. “She’s a doll. She’s only ever been lovely to me—as have Cecilia and his sister, Betty.”
“Everyone adores Ingrid,” Keir squeezed my hand. “How could they not?”
I’d accuse him of pouring on the charm, but that wasn’t it. Keir hadn’t left me alone in days. He had been obsessed with me in an addictive way—as he usually was when we finally got alone time. This was next level, however. He lived for telling people he loved me.
I smiled back sweetly. “I didn’t think much about it. I was overwhelmed. His family is… a lot.”
“We can be quite boisterous,” Keir said. “Well, the Lyons side anyhow. Ingrid’s family is different—apart from the children.”
I smiled. “My nieces and nephew are wonderful but very active children, as you can imagine.”
“They are adorable,” Keir confirmed. “And remind me a lot of the herd of us cousins running about as young ones. But they prefer Ingrid and her sister Odette to literally everyone else. I can only do so much.”
I smiled. “He’s wonderful with them.”
“So, you two are ready for children then?”
“Not until we are wed. Also, it will depend on my competition schedule. There is much that goes into such things for families.”
I expected Keir to chime in. Instead, he stared at me, eyes glazed over at my straightforward response. I wanted to say, “Well, if you ask stupid questions, you get stupid answers.” I did not do that. I knew better. I knew I thumbed my nose at every bit of my Catholic upbringing by mentioning this.
“We will have children,” Keir came out of his stupor.
Kaley looked on, still confused, but continued. She transformed again into a pleasant talking head.
“So, then wedding plans are set for after the Olympics. How does that feel? And what will it do with your competition schedule, Ingrid?”
I loathed that she was referring to us as Ingrid and Keir as if we were simply friends of hers.
I had no issue letting people I had a personal relationship with call me by my first name.
My coach shouted “Ingrid!” in that tone all the time.
I was no more special than his other riders.
However, I did not know this woman. We were not friends.
“The Olympics is a massive commitment,” Keir said. “And I am so proud of her—as is her sister. So, we will move heaven and earth to make it happen.”
He’d redeemed himself.
I squeezed his hand. “Keir loves and supports me. His family has been so amazing, too. My goal is to make my country so proud in the Olympics. I am deeply honoured to be so young and competing as the first woman in equestrian. I feel a lot of pressure, but for me, I need that pressure.”
“My aunt was quick to work around Ingrid’s schedule. Horses are too important to her. It was an easy sell. But I will be back and forth as I support Ingrid. She has much to do.”
“Does it concern you? You two have not spent a lot of uninterrupted time together. Is that correct?”
Oh, trouble in paradise! No matter how we answered here, it was going to end poorly.
If we admitted we’d spent most of our downtime together shagging and couldn’t keep our hands off one another, it’d reflect poorly on me.
If we played it too chaste, we’d risk people thinking we barely knew one another.
We’d been together for more than three years.
This was the man I loved. There was no doubt that we were right for one another.
“Indeed, our schedules haven’t always meshed,” Keir agreed. “But we learned to be patient, make the most of our time together, and show up for one another. Above all else, we are there for each other in times of need. I cannot imagine having that with anyone else.”
God, I only wanted to kiss him more!
“We’ve indeed had to work for it, but isn’t marriage work?” I asked.
“You make valid points,” Kaley moved on. “Now, I’d love to chat about what it was like falling for one another. There is an age difference.”
I wanted to roll my eyes, but resisted pulling a face or dropping a snarky comment. I wasn’t about to tell her the truth of our very passionate, naughty origin story.
“Ingrid is younger,” Keir said. “She’s also incredibly clever, talented, and never takes anything from me that she cannot dish back. For me, I was instantly in her spell and could not shake her from day one.”
“He fell first,” I laughed.
It was true.
“And then…” Kaley wanted more.
“I fell for him,” I said. “It took more time. Men are hard to read, and I’d never met anyone so willing to try and sweep me off my feet. It was suss, honestly.”
“She wasn’t sure about my vintage aircraft. I thought I’d impress her. She called it a bucket of bolts and asked if it was safe.”
I smiled. “I still find it dubious, but I know it’s important to you.”
“She doesn’t have to love it. She needs to understand it. I think she’s mad for riding horses a million miles an hour around a course, but it’s what makes Ingrid… well, Ingrid.”
“You’re both thrill seekers?”
“Correct,” I answered. “I think it makes us more compatible. But he’s a lovely human. He makes me happy and is never afraid to apply hoof black or dust boots. He’s such a sweetheart. People think he’s all macho and gruff, but it’s just one side of him.”
“The hero pilot is a teddy bear?” Kaley asked.
Keir blushed.
“To me, yes,” I said. “As well as Betty. He’d do anything for her as well.”
“The two of them together can crack my resolve so fast,” Keir chuckled. “It is so difficult to have Betty, Cecilia, and Ingrid on the same team, essentially. I cannot escape those women. They are always about.”
“We have the same coach,” I offered. “And it’s so much fun. Like a slumber party every night we’re on the road.”
“It takes up all the oxygen,” Keir said sweetly. “But I couldn’t ask for someone they love more.”
“You two are so sweet to sit down with me,” Kaley said. “And just adorable. Best wishes to you all in your next chapter. I cannot wait to see the wedding.”
“Thank you,” we said in unison.
Kaley barely said two more words as we packed. The whole thing was so put on and disingenuous. I couldn’t be bothered to feel much. We left to debrief.
“Did I say something wrong?” I asked.
“You were surprisingly forthcoming on the baby question.”
“Would you rather have me say that my fiancé is still a bit phobic of the idea of children?”
He stared, flabbergasted. I couldn’t read what he was thinking beyond his general amazement that I would point this out.
Then, he pulled me into the nearest room—a reception room I’d been in only for a tea hosted by Her Majesty.
I could just feel the argument incoming over my callout.
I was ready to hash this awkward conversation out once more.
I was willing to wait—a bit—for babies, but I wasn’t going to let him get away with saying he was “fully on board” in public while wringing his hands in private. I would stand firm.