Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
Christine was met with a barrage of questions the moment she reached the stairs.
Nigel and Molly and Will were there, and she was able to tell them that Abby was well and that she and Reeve had had a son.
It was only when Will and Nigel had left for the breakfast room—there seemed no point in going back to bed—that Molly gave her a long look.
“Did I see you kissing Zek Nash just now?” she asked, fighting the smile on her lips.
“He was kissing me,” Christine blurted out, then wished she had denied it instead, or at least pretended not to understand the question.
Molly’s eyes lit up. “Well!” Then she added, more thoughtfully, “You and he had always hated each other with such passion. I knew there had to be more to it.”
“Don’t be ridiculous! It was just...” She searched for the right words. “We were overcome with emotion and relief after the baby arrived. That is all. It didn’t mean anything.”
Even to her own ears, it sounded like a feeble excuse.
“Oh, I believe you,” Molly said, smiling again. “A kiss with your childhood enemy. How could that possibly mean anything?”
Christine escaped into the house, refusing to be baited any further. She had planned to go to bed for an hour or two, but now she felt too restless. Her emotions were running rampant. She could still feel Zek’s lips on hers, as if he had branded them.
Was she overthinking this? Perhaps it had just been an overflow of feeling, as she had told Zek and Molly. And, truthfully, was it likely to ever happen again?
That was when she realised that she would be disappointed if it didn’t happen again, and that was even more confusing.
Perhaps now was a good time to finally visit Josh. It would take her mind off Zek, and she could share Abby and Reeve’s news with him. She would take one of the horses. It wasn’t that far, and she was done with walking for a while after that drenching.
She set off, taking the brown mare she’d always favoured for short journeys, and breathing deeply of the fresh air.
The sun was shining, as if celebrating the arrival of Abby and Reeve’s son.
She wondered what they were going to name him.
So far, she had not heard any names mentioned.
Perhaps she would suggest some names from famous plays?
Algernon or Hamlet? Well, perhaps not those, but there must be one that would appeal.
These thoughts kept her occupied until she reached Allingham Farm.
Josh was already up and working. Two big horses were attached to his plough, ready to prepare one of the fields for a winter crop. Christine dismounted and picked her way through the wet grass along the fence. Josh noticed her and looked up, smiling warmly at her.
“There you are! I was wondering when I would see you. I thought you might be too famous now to visit your lowly brother,” he said in his quiet voice. Josh had always been shy, quite the opposite of Will, and there had always been something very restful about spending time with him.
“Never too famous for you! I meant to come yesterday,” she confessed, “but that summer storm kept me away. Then word came the baby was on its way and I ended up at Ansford Keep.”
Josh stopped what he was doing and stared, his breath held, waiting.
“It’s a boy,” Christine announced, her smile stretching.
“And Abbey?”
“She and the child are both well.”
Josh took a deep breath. “Oh, thank God. I admit, I did worry a bit. That’s wonderful news! I will have to drop by and congratulate them. Reeve must be over the moon. I know how much he wanted this.”
“The others will be visiting today.”
“Perhaps I will wait until tomorrow then,” he said with a wry smile. “Don’t want to overwhelm the poor child with Starlings.”
“I held him,” Christina blurted out, then felt silly for doing so.
Josh eyed her curiously. “And what was that like?”
“Strangely emotional,” she admitted. “Zek Nash was there. He felt the same way. For two people who said they never wanted children of our own, we were both uncomfortably moved. Then he drove me home and... he kissed me.”
Josh’s eyes widened in astonishment. Why had she told him that?
“Zek Nash kissed you! Did you slap his face?”
“No,” she said slowly. “I kissed him back.”
Now there was delight in his expression. Clearly it wasn’t just Molly who had believed something significant was happening between her and Zek.
“I know you always said you hated him,” Josh said thoughtfully, “but I always wondered if it might be otherwise. It was as if you both went out of your way to annoy the other. You couldn’t just ignore him, and he couldn’t ignore you.
Sometimes children really want someone’s attention, to the point where they don’t care if it’s the good or bad kind.
The snowballs, for instance. And then there was the water bomb. ”
Christine had forgotten about that. After one of the Christmas luncheons, she had filled a sheep’s bladder with water, then stood in an upstairs window, waiting for Zek to leave.
She knew he would be on his own. He always left first, as if he couldn’t wait to get away from Starling Hall once his stomach was full.
Back then, she had taken this quite differently. She’d told herself that Zek behaved like he was somehow better than her family, and couldn’t wait to be rid of them. It wasn’t until much later that she realised his haste had most likely stemmed from embarrassment.
She’d dropped the bladder and it had exploded right over his head. It had seemed hilarious at the time, but now... How cold he must have been walking home in wet clothes! She certainly knew what that felt like.
Zek’s sister had been there as well. She remembered Izzy’s hateful glare as the young girl looked up at the window a moment later.
She had been following Zek out and must have been caught in the splash.
Given her recent visit to their home, it was clear Izzy still despised her for what she had done, and the Christine of today couldn’t blame her.
Until now, she hadn’t realised her behaviour as a child had been so… childish.
“Christine?”
Startled from her uncomfortable thoughts, Christine looked up and saw Mrs Smith, the owner of Allingham Farm and Josh’s employer. She was coming over from the farmhouse, holding a mug of something hot.
Mrs Smith handed the mug to Josh with a smile, and he smiled back.
Christine had not seen the woman for some time, but she looked much the same, perhaps a little better than she remembered.
Her dark hair was shining in the sun, and her eyes were crinkled with her smile.
Mrs Smith had lived a difficult life, and still struggled to maintain her farm, almost losing it at one point.
But since Josh had come to work for her, things seemed to have turned around.
“Abby and Reeve have a son!” Josh said before Christine could speak. Josh and Mrs Smith beamed at each other. She couldn’t be sure, but the smile suggested this was more than an employer and employee moment.
“That is wonderful news,” Mrs Smith said, turning to Christine. “Josh has been wondering what was happening at the Keep.”
“You should go with Josh when he goes to see them,” Christine said. Reeve’s grandfather had a connection with Allingham Farm, and Mrs Smith had kindly shared information about the old man with Reeve when he’d needed answers about him. At least, that was what Christine had been told.
“Oh, I’m not sure I should...” Mrs Smith looked at Josh again.
In the ensuing silence, it seemed as if she was asking him questions, and Josh was answering them.
That was more than a little strange, and Christine couldn’t help but wonder how close these two had become.
But Mrs Smith was Josh’s senior by ten years! Surely she must be imagining it.
Mrs Smith invited her inside the farmhouse for tea.
Christine hesitated, feeling like she was intruding somehow, but Josh said he would join them in a moment and waved the two of them off.
Christine decided it would have been rude to refuse, but she felt quite awkward once seated at the table without her brother.
She did not know Mrs Smith very well, other than that she had laboured for years to run the farm, which had been passed down in her family, and that her husband had died and left her a childless widow.
“I am so glad for Lord and Lady Ravenhill.” Mrs Smith said as she set the kettle to boil.
She opened a cupboard and took out some pretty cups and saucers that Christine suspected she saved for special occasions.
“Did you know they visited here last month? They came to see Josh, of course, but also to talk about the farm. Lord Ravenhill has a great many ideas for helping people in the area who have been struggling. He wants to set up a transportation company, so we can send our crops to bigger towns that are further away.” Her eyes shone as she spoke, and she looked excited by the possibilities.
Christine had not heard any of this before. “That’s wonderful.” She knew nothing of farming, but the news did sound good. Reaching larger towns would no doubt offer them better prices. Mrs Smith clearly thought so.
She poured the hot water over the tea leaves. “He’s working with Zek Nash on the venture. Do you remember him? He lives in London now, I understand. I remember how poor that family was, but it seems their fortunes have turned around.”
Christine wondered why she had not heard any of this.
But then she was rarely home and had discovered she had missed a great deal while she made her dream come true in London.
“I’ve seen him a few times since I arrived, and even stopped by his family’s home.
They were all very kind.” Well, apart from Izzy.
“Then you must know all about it?” Mrs Smith brought the teapot and cups to the table, along with a little milk jug and sugar bowl. She set everything out to her liking before seating herself.
“No, I can’t say the matter ever came up,” Christine admitted with a frown. Of course, she hadn’t asked Zek or Reeve about their business arrangement either.
Did this mean Zek putting down roots in Barton Lacey? Was he not going to stay in London after all? She felt confused and a little uneasy, as if something she had been secretly hoping for had been taken away from her.
Josh arrived just as Mrs Smith was pouring them a second cup.
His face and hands were flushed and wet from working the pump outside.
He dried them on a kitchen towel before he sat down.
Mrs Smith poured his tea and then went to find some cake, cutting him a big slice and placing it before him.
He smiled his thanks to her. Though he had said nothing, that smile had spoken volumes.
Christine pretended not to notice, and instead filled Josh in on what had happened during her visit to Ansford Keep. “Father kept Reeve quite busy,” she said, “while Mother tended to Abby.”
“They’ve both had plenty of practice.” Josh shared a look with Mrs Smith, but this wasn’t the usual subdued affection she’d noticed earlier.
It was more like they were concerned about something.
Before Christine could guess what it was, Mrs Smith asked her about her life in the theatre, and that was something Christine had no trouble talking about.
But soon she felt as if she were monopolising the conversation.
She had never been averse to talking about herself before and wondered why it suddenly felt selfish now.
Or perhaps merely limited. After all, there was more to life than her acting career, wasn’t there?
Perhaps she needed to take a leaf out of Zek’s book.
“Is there anything I can do while I’m here?” she asked, looking about for some way to be useful.
Josh laughed and shared another of those intimate smiles with Mrs Smith. “Come now! We wouldn’t ask our star of the stage to wash up the dishes!”
“Goodness, no!” Mrs Smith agreed. “We are just so glad to see you and hear your news. It’s very quiet at Allingham Farm some days.”
“Just how we like it,” Josh added, then cleared his throat as if he’d somehow spoken out of turn.
Christine smiled, but she was experiencing that strange feeling again, as if she didn’t really belong. Everyone in her family had their own concerns, their own secrets, and none seemed to think they could discuss them with her. Why was that?
She pondered the question as she rode back to the Hall.
Had she made this situation all by herself?
Was it because she had only ever thought of her own ambitions?
Her family was very proud of her, of course they were, but they did not think of her as someone they could confide in about everyday concerns.
They did not think of her as one of them.
She wondered what she could do to change that, because she knew now that she wanted to.