Chapter 9
9
When Dylan opened his eyes the next morning, it felt as though it had been only moments since he’d finally managed to close them. While it would’ve been nice to pretend it was only the jet lag that had messed up his sleep, he was through with lying to himself. It had taken ages for Avery to calm down over the excitement at meeting, not only her aunts, but one of her cousins, and she’d sat in bed chattering away to Theo, who had sprawled across the end of his sister’s bed as she’d speculated on what the rest of the family might be like. She seemed to be taking it in her stride, but, always quieter, Theo was proving harder to read. Guilt had wracked Dylan as he’d lain in bed on the other side of the suite. Their voices had carried across the sitting room and through the door they’d left open because Avery had wanted a night light in case she had to get up and Dylan had wanted to make sure he heard her if she did.
The book he’d held had remained unread as he’d silently berated himself for keeping the children apart from his family all these years. They’d never behaved as though they felt like something was missing from their lives, and Jen’s parents, Frank and Nancy, had been the most attentive of grandparents any children could have wished for. Throw in a gaggle of cousins and second cousins who all lived within an hour’s drive and they’d not been short of familial ties and affection. Still, it was clear they’d wondered about his family and it pained him now that they’d clearly felt unable to ask him about it. How much courage had it taken for them to ask him for what he should have done for them years before?
Too much.
Well, there was no point in lying there worrying about it, all he could do was try and smooth the way and make the rest of the introductions as easy as possible. Which meant getting his arse in gear and facing Zap and then Ziggy. Climbing out of bed, he gathered the clean T-shirt and underwear from where he’d left them out the previous night and headed towards his bathroom. Showered and dressed, he entered the sitting room to find he was the first one up. He poked his head around Avery’s door, and was surprised to find Theo propped up against the headboard next to his sister, the soft blue glow from his phone illuminating his pale face. He looked knackered, poor kid, though he gave Dylan a thumbs up when he noticed his presence. Avery, on the other hand, was out like a light, her hands tucked under one cheek just the way she used to sleep when she was tiny. His heart felt too big for his chest as he watched her for a few moments before she rent the air with an enormous snore that made him grin and Theo roll his eyes. Dylan tilted his head, indicating for Theo to join him, and stepped back into the sitting room.
‘She’s been like that all night,’ Theo grumbled as he padded in. ‘She didn’t want to sleep on her own so I agreed to stay with her.’
‘Sorry, pal, you should’ve come and got me.’ Perhaps he’d slept better than he’d thought.
‘You were flat out too, snoring even louder.’
Oops. ‘Look, it’s still early so why don’t you go to bed and see if you can grab a couple of hours’ sleep? That art thing you guys want to do doesn’t start until ten, so there’s no rush.’
Theo nodded, then frowned. ‘What about breakfast?’
With a smile, Dylan put an arm around his shoulders and steered his son towards his bedroom. ‘Don’t worry about it. I’ll sort something out when you’re ready. I’ve got connections with the staff, you know?’
Theo managed a sleepy chuckle. ‘Good point.’ He let Dylan pull back the pristine covers then settle them around his shoulders, and didn’t even flinch in that too-grown-up-to-be-fussed-with way when Dylan stroked the messy fringe from his forehead. ‘You don’t mind being back here?’ he murmured, already sounding more than half asleep.
‘No, pal. I don’t mind. I just wish we’d done it sooner.’ Chancing his luck, Dylan leaned over and pressed a kiss to Theo’s cheek. There was no response, the boy’s breathing already slow and steady. Moving as silently as possible, Dylan tiptoed across the room and pulled the door closed behind him.
Showered and dressed, Dylan nipped back into his daughter’s room to leave her a note letting her know that Theo was not to be disturbed and he was going for a walk. Downstairs, it was still pretty quiet. There was a sign on Reception with a number to call for assistance and a helpful arrow pointing towards a coffee machine in the lounge where they’d had drinks the day before. The chugging and hissing as it prepared his cappuccino seemed loud in the empty room. Dylan retrieved his takeaway cup, resisted the temptation of a basket of single-serve biscuits as he helped himself to a lid to secure his drink before heading back into Reception and out of the front door.
It was barely dawn. That strange grey haze that was neither dark nor light and he was grateful for the low-level security lights marking out a footpath. He followed it around the side of the hall, admiring the clean lines of the stone fa?ade where once he remembered a thick layer of ivy and flower beds choked with weeds. He could still remember his grandmother’s tears at having to let the gardener go. She’d done her best to keep things going, but it had been an impossible task on her own. They’d have been able to help out more if their grandfather hadn’t packed them all off to boarding school. How much had the fees cost, even back then? And for what – to make four children miserable and rack up more debt just to meet some kind of standard only the old man had cared about. Dylan had loved going to the village infant school, would have happily piled onto the diesel-belching double decker that took the local children to the middle school in town once he’d outgrown it, but he hadn’t been given the option.
He shook his head as he took a sip of his coffee. Churning over that old ground wasn’t going to get him in the right frame of mind for the day ahead. The past was the past and he needed to stop drawing comparisons and make the most of the opportunity to see what his siblings had done with the place in his absence.
The path followed the perimeter of the hall, eventually bringing him around to the back where the low walls and hedges of the formal gardens were dark shadows in the mist rising from the damp grass. Dylan’s breath added another white cloud to the air and he nestled down into the collar of his jacket. It wasn’t exactly freezing, but it also wasn’t Florida. Resisting the urge to pull out his phone and check the temperature back home, he took another mouthful of coffee and continued his circuit around the hall.
The blinds were open in the orangery, a low light burning in one of the corners. Intrigued, Dylan cupped a hand to his eyes as he peered through the window. A figure was curled up in one of the wide armchairs, a blanket tucked around their knees as they read by the dim light of a lamp. Recognising Sadie from the previous day, Dylan rapped on the glass with a knuckle and raised a hand when she glanced up with a start. He was about to continue on his walk when she shifted, setting the blanket aside as she stood up and walked towards the patio-style doors. Dylan moved to stand opposite them, pointing upwards to show her where the bolts were as she tried the handle. She stretched up on tiptoe, the soft material of her cream jumper riding up to the waistband of her jeans as she reached to loosen the bolt. Dylan stepped aside as she pushed open the door. ‘Good morning. I didn’t mean to disturb you. I was just waving hello.’
‘Oh, I thought you wanted to come in.’ She glanced at the cup in his hand. ‘Is that coffee? There’s a kettle in my room but I can’t be bothered to go back upstairs.’
‘There’s a machine in the lounge.’ Dylan gestured with his now empty cup towards the other end of the room where a door led back to the main part of the building. ‘I’m going to get myself a refill so I can get you something if you like?’
‘If you don’t mind? I’ll take anything that’s got caffeine in it.’
She had a gorgeous smile, he realised, one that lit her whole face. ‘I can vouch for the cappuccino.’
‘That would be lovely.’
His feet led him unerringly from the orangery, through the length of the picture gallery that ran like a spine through the centre of the hall. Generations of his ancestors bedecked the walls; marble statues of Greek gods and goddesses gathered in small groups here and there; replica Chinese vases decorated large plinths. Dylan knew they were replicas because his grandfather had flogged the originals at Christie’s to pay down some of the crippling mortgages he’d taken out on the estate. Dylan didn’t need to look up, he knew the faces staring down at him as well as he knew his own because this had been his playground once upon a time. Countless rainy hours he and his brothers and sister had spent playing hide and seek behind curtains and in shadowy alcoves.
He counted off the rooms in his head as he passed them. Ballroom on the right, his grandmother’s private sitting room, the library, with his grandfather’s study beyond that and the blue drawing room, which they’d been allowed to enter only on Sunday afternoon for high tea, on the left. Dylan found himself tugging at the neck of his jacket, an echo of the little boy he’d once been fiddling with an over-starched uncomfortable collar as he waited outside the door to be summoned. He quickened his pace and was soon back in the reception area. A young man was behind the desk and he smiled as he spotted Dylan. ‘Good morning, Mr Travers. You’re up and about early this morning. Is there anything I can get for you?’
‘Morning. No, I’m fine, thanks. I’m just going to grab a couple of coffees from the lounge.’
‘Of course. Breakfast starts in about half an hour and they’re just setting up now. Continental and light bites in the lounge or there’s a full hot service in the blue drawing room.’
‘Thanks again.’
A couple of teenage girls dressed in black trousers and T-shirts looked up as he entered the lounge. ‘Good morning, sir,’ the girl nearest to the door said. ‘Breakfast won’t be long.’
‘I’m just after a couple of coffees.’ Dylan pointed towards the machine.
‘Oh, I can do that for you,’ she replied, setting aside a handful of cutlery. ‘What would you like?’
‘I can help myself,’ he assured her, but she had already beat him to the machine and arguing would only make it awkward. It was clear Stevie wanted the staff to be attentive towards the guests so best to go with the flow. ‘Two cappuccinos, then, please.’
As she turned to the machine, Dylan noticed the logo on the back of her T-shirt. It was a simple roundel design with two sprigs of greenery covered in dark purple berries framing the words Juniper Meadows. He’d seen the same branding on a few things, including the complimentary toiletries in the bathroom. The look might be a bit more casual than other hotels he’d stayed in, but Dylan liked it and he bet the staff did too, especially youngsters like the girl in front of him who was probably earning a bit extra for herself in the school holidays. She’d just finished putting lids on the drinks when her colleague arrived bearing a small basket filled with a selection of breakfast pastries and a couple of napkins. ‘Something to tide you over until service starts,’ she said with a grin.
‘That’s really kind of you.’ Before Dylan could wonder how he was going to juggle two cups and the basket, the first girl had retrieved a small tray from a stack he hadn’t previously noticed on the table. ‘You two really are the dream team,’ he said, earning a pair of bright smiles. ‘Thank you.’
‘Our pleasure. Are you sure I can’t carry the tray for you?’
Dylan shook his head. ‘You’ve done more than enough. Please don’t let me keep you from setting up any longer.’ With another pair of cheery smiles, the girls returned to their tasks and he beat a retreat back to the orangery.
He found Sadie back in her corner, legs once more tucked up under the blanket. ‘I come bearing gifts,’ he said with a grin as he set the tray down on the table in front of her. ‘Courtesy of two very efficient young ladies in the lounge.’
‘Oh, what an unexpected treat!’ Sadie gestured to the chair that was set at right-angles to where she was seated. ‘Are you going to join me, or carry on with your walk?’
Dylan glanced towards the windows. It was definitely lighter outside, but the mist rising from the ground had formed a chilly-looking blanket that made it impossible to see more than a couple of feet beyond the glass. ‘I think I’ll save my walk until later.’ He tugged off his jacket and tossed it over a free seat before taking the one she’d offered him. ‘We got interrupted last night,’ he said as he reached for the two coffees and handed one to Sadie.
‘You looked a bit busy.’ Sadie glanced down at her cup and then back up to meet his eyes. ‘I’m sorry if I was prying yesterday, about your family, I mean.’
Ah. He smiled. ‘I think I was the one who raised the subject of families in general. How did you make the connection?’
‘When Avery brought Hope over, I couldn’t help but notice the resemblance. Again, I didn’t mean to pry so I won’t say anything.’ She laughed. ‘Not that I’ve anyone to say anything to.’
It was his turn to look away as he sought out the right words. ‘I’ve been away a long time, but it’s important to the kids to get to know my side of the family. They’ve a stack of relations on their mother’s side, but they asked and so here we are.’
Sadie nodded. ‘It’s natural for them to be curious. You mentioned their mother is on her honeymoon. That can’t be an easy thing to deal with.’
Dylan laughed. ‘You’d be surprised how easy it’s been, actually.’
Sadie’s eyes widened. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to imply anything.’
Dylan held up his hand to forestall any further apology. ‘A poor attempt at a joke on my part. Jen and I have been divorced for over a decade now. I’m very happy she’s found someone and Eric is a good guy. I even gave Jen away at the wedding last week because her dad’s not been so well.’ He found his eyes straying to where her left hand clutched her coffee cup. There were no rings, but the pale indent at the base of her fourth finger said that hadn’t always been the case. ‘What about you? You mentioned your children and grandchildren…’
Sadie’s mouth twisted in a not-quite smile. ‘My ex-husband is in Spain shacked up with his much younger girlfriend.’
Unlike his situation, he got the impression this was a much more recent state of affairs. ‘I’m sorry.’
She shrugged. ‘There’s really no need to be. I’m feeling less sorry about it with every day that passes.’
Dylan took the time to really look at her. She was an incredibly attractive woman and the few lines she had on her face suited her because they spoke of her ready smile. There was a quiet calmness about her, and she was such easy company he felt as if he’d known her for ages already. ‘His loss, I reckon.’
She flicked startled eyes up at him, a faint hint of a blush colouring her cheek as an impish smile stretched wide. ‘I reckon so too.’
Something warm and lazy stretched inside him. It had been a long time since a woman had smiled at him like that. Whoever her husband was, he really was an idiot. He was just reaching for the basket of pastries to offer her one when his phone beeped. ‘Excuse me.’ He pulled it out of his pocket and barely suppressed a grimace when he read the message from Avery. He put his phone away then stood. ‘Our timing doesn’t seem to be very good, does it? Avery’s awake and I need to go and check on her.’
‘No, of course, you must go.’ Sadie smiled and raised her cup. ‘Thank you again for the coffee… and the company.’
‘Thank you for letting me disturb your peace and quiet. I hope we can catch up later?’
‘I’d like that. Are you coming to the art class?’
Dylan shook his head, more than a little regretful. ‘The kids will be there, but I need to go and catch up with my brothers. There’s a reunion dinner planned for a bit later in the week but I don’t want to wait until then to see them. Maybe we can have a drink before dinner, though?’
‘That would be nice. I’ll be in the lounge from around six-thirty.’
He bent to gather his coat, then pinched a pain au chocolat from the basket with a grin. ‘I’ll come and find you later.’