Chapter Twenty-Three
E leanor woke up slowly, stretching beneath the sheets, feeling the glorious ache in her muscles as soft morning light streamed in through the curtains.
The bed was warm, the scent of Danni still lingering on the pillows.
And for a brief moment, Eleanor allowed herself the indulgence of simple feeling.
And then she reached out, her hand landing on empty sheets.
She blinked, propping herself up on one elbow. Danni was gone.
Her stomach twisted into something suspiciously like disappointment, the emptiness of an empty bed, of someone leaving before she’d even awoken.
But she took a breath and pushed it aside.
Of course, Danni was already up and about.
She was a farmer, early mornings were practically in her DNA, they were a necessity.
It didn’t mean anything, Eleanor told herself.
It wasn’t like Danni had run away or anything.
She collapsed back onto the bed, staring at the ceiling, and another realization crashed over her. She was disappointed that Danni wasn’t there. And there was only one reason that she would be so disappointed.
She was falling for Danni.
She was falling for her and… and she was damned if she cared .
The thought should have terrified her. It should have sent her scrambling for the walls she had so carefully constructed around her heart. She should be telling herself right now about all the reasons this couldn’t, shouldn’t, wouldn’t work.
But instead, it just felt… right.
Right and natural and, Eleanor thought, very nice indeed.
Danni was fearless and kind and strong and funny, confident and ambitious and infuriating in ways Eleanor had never known before.
She was also, Eleanor now realized, everything she had ever needed.
And last night, for the first time in a long time, Eleanor had simply allowed herself to be with someone.
No expectations. No responsibilities. Just feelings.
And damn it, she wanted more.
She’d been trying to stop herself feeling anything for so long that it felt odd to let the feelings out now. But now that they were there, she was wondering just what she’d been so afraid of.
She was no fool. She could see the pop psychology of the situation. A woman who had lost her parents at a young age learned not to get too attached to anyone. But this was different. This was good. She could feel it in her soul.
She closed her eyes then opened them again. Alright, there were only so many feelings she could deal with at once. She wasn’t going to spend the whole day wallowing in bed when Danni was already up and working. She was going to do something.
She grinned and pulled a sweater on.
She was going to do something domestic. Something wifely.
She was far from a helpless aristocrat, whatever others might assume.
She knew her way around the house, and her grandmother had insisted that she learned not just to cook, but also to clean her own bedroom and bathroom and generally look after herself.
“A woman that can take care of herself never need depend on anyone else,” Isabella had always said.
Something that Eleanor had had more than one occasion to be grateful for.
What her grandmother hadn’t said, was that a woman who could take care of herself could also take care of someone else.
In the kitchen, Eleanor rolled up her sleeves and got to work. The scent of fresh tea and sizzling bacon soon filled the air, as she moved around with practiced ease, cracking eggs into a pan, flipping slices of golden toast, arranging mushrooms and tomatoes with precision.
By the time she heard the back door opening, she was just finishing plating up two full breakfasts. She placed them on the table as Danni walked in, kicking off her boots on the mat. She stopped still when she saw the table.
“What’s all this in aid of?”
“Why do you look so shocked?” Eleanor asked.
Danni rubbed the back of her neck, stepping closer. “Dunno. I suppose I didn’t picture Lady Brewster slaving over a hot stove to make me a full English?”
“Doubting me already, are you?” asked Eleanor lightly.
Danni eyed her. “But then, I suppose I didn’t picture Lady Brewster naked in a pile of straw either, did I? So maybe I’m just not that good at picturing things.”
“I’m sure you’ll improve,” Eleanor said.
But Danni was already coming closer, already tilting her head, coming in, brushing her lips against Eleanor’s in a way that made Eleanor’s blood run hot in her veins. “I’ll improve at loads of things,” Danni said. “Just you wait and see.”
Eleanor groaned. “If you’re not careful, you won’t be going back out to that farm anytime soon.”
Danni laughed as she broke away. “Afraid work has to take priority, Princess,” she said, as she took a seat. “But I do appreciate the breakfast.”
Eleanor sat down and poured them both tea as Danni dug in, moaning in appreciation at her first bite. “Good?”
“You can seriously cook,” Danni said through a mouthful.
Eleanor hid her pleased smile behind the rim of her teacup. And she thought that she could really get used to this.
?? ?
Tommy was watching Danni with deep suspicion. “You’re happy this morning.”
Danni tossed a handful of feed to the sheep, whistling between her teeth. “Am I?”
“Yeah.” Tommy folded his arms, eyeing her. “What’s got you in such a good mood, then?”
“Dunno,” shrugged Danni, emptying out a pail of dirty water. “Life’s good, I suppose.”
Tommy narrowed his eyes. “Nothing to do with her ladyship, then?”
For a second, Danni didn’t say anything. Then she couldn’t stop the grin from spreading across her face. She was just so damn happy, hiding it was going to be impossible. “Maybe.”
“Seriously?” asked Tommy, leaning up against the fence.
“Yes, Tommy, seriously. There’s this thing that grown ups do, it’s called ‘having a relationship.’ You’ll understand when you’re all big and grown.”
Tommy snorted. “You two are from different planets. What do you even talk about?”
Danni shot him a glare. “She’s smart, she listens, she’s funny, you don’t have to like the same bands to have something to talk about, you know?” She exhaled. “She makes me happy, alright?”
Tommy’s expression softened, but he still shook his head. “Just don’t get your hopes up too high. She’s still a lady, and a rich one, she might not stick around forever. You’re not really married, remember?”
She knew that Tommy was being protective, was caring in his own way. So, as much as his words bristled, she forced herself to let them go. Tommy didn’t know Eleanor the way that she did. Eleanor was going nowhere, and Tommy would just have to accept that he was wrong.
???
Eleanor wandered through the house, trailing Samson as he updated her on all the works that had been done, the problems they were encountering, the solutions he’d come up with. She could see the vision coming together beneath the lingering dust. But her mind was elsewhere.
They walked into the dining room, the Victorian wallpaper carefully preserved under large sheets of plastic. And she could imagine a life here, could see Danni sitting at the long table, could see her drinking tea and pulling a face at fancy breakfast foods.
And it was the same with every room. Everywhere they went, Eleanor could see Danni sitting or standing or playing her part.
For a long time, Eleanor had seen the house empty, or seen the ghosts of the people who no longer lived there. Now, for the first time in what felt like forever, she could see the house with life in it, with Danni in it. And suddenly, everything felt possible.
???
Meanwhile, Danni was behind the wheel of the Land Rover, the radio babbling in the background, on her way to the feed store and thinking about breakfast, which was an admittedly strange thing to think about at three in the afternoon.
But there it was, her and Eleanor over the breakfast table, a different future from the one she’d ever imagined, but a future all the same.
A future where Eleanor chose the farm, where she was there every morning, not because she had to be but because she wanted to be.
Where she made breakfast every morning, where she teased Danni about her terrible paperwork.
Where she was there, her skin pale and perfect against the sheets every night.
A future where this marriage wasn’t just for convenience, where it was for real.
And Danni felt the stirrings of something that she was pretty sure was hope.
?? ?
That evening, Eleanor made a simple supper and laid it out on the table when Danni came in from the farm, and they sat and ate together.
The table was small, far smaller than the one at the house, Eleanor thought.
But this felt oddly like home. That was a word she’d never applied to anywhere but the manor before.
She sipped at some wine, glancing over at Danni, who looked tired. “So, how was your day?”
Danni snorted. “Tommy’s convinced that you’re going to break my heart.”
Eleanor raised an eyebrow. “Is he indeed? And what do you think?”
Danni leaned back in her chair and looked at Eleanor through heavy lidded eyes that made Eleanor’s heart beat harder. “I think that I don’t particularly care what Tommy thinks.”
Eleanor smiled softly. “I see. He might have a point though, you should be careful. We should always be careful.”
“So should you be,” Danni said. She looked down at her plate. “But I think we’re doing alright, don’t you?”
For a moment, Eleanor took in the warmth and comfort of all this. Sitting down to dinner with someone she had feelings for. The memories of the night before. The promise of what would come later this evening.
“I think we make a rather good team,” she said finally, putting her fork down.
Danni looked up again and grinned. “Yeah. We do, don’t we?”
And as they sat there, sharing a quiet look that said so much, neither of them were pretending anymore.
Because this wasn’t just a business arrangement, not now.
It was becoming something so much more.
And neither Danni nor Eleanor wanted to stop it.