Chapter Forty-One
Ari snuggled down under the duvet and placed her feet against Seb’s nice warm calves. With a yelp, he jumped out of the bed.
‘Oh, you’re up,’ said Ari with a devilish grin. ‘Put the kettle on, will you?’
‘Minx!’ Padding over to the window, Seb threw open the curtains and looked out over the estate. ‘What the hell?’
‘What is it?’
She watched as he shook his head and then turned back to look at her in astonishment. ‘I think you’d better look for yourself.’
Reluctantly getting out of bed, she joined her husband and gave a double take.
‘Oh dear. That does not look good.’
Walking down the long drive towards Hiverton was Aster. She was walking slowly, her head was hanging down and her shoes were in her hand.
‘Okay,’ said Seb. ‘I’ll sort the children out and you sort out your sister. What the hell do you think has happened?’
Ari continued to stare. ‘I’ve seen her do this before. When she was small, she really got into the concept of penitence. A way of physically atoning for having done something wrong. Once, she made Mum cry and she spent a whole week barefoot as a way to apologise.’
‘I’ve said it before, but I’ll never understand Aster.’
Ari watched as her little sister trudged towards the house. Even from this distance, she looked wretched and Ari felt her heart break.
‘She’s the easiest of all of us to understand. There is only black or white in her world. And she never thinks she’s wrong. Except very occasionally.’
‘And you think this is one of those occasions?’
‘Evidently.’
‘Shall I go and drive down to meet her?’
‘God, no. You won’t stop her from walking.’
Ari headed over to the wardrobe and got dressed. ‘Can you keep the children well away? I’ll take her through to my study.’
Seb came over and wrapped Ari up into his arms. ‘It will be okay, darling. Whatever this is.’
Ari leant against him and sighed. ‘I hope so. But this,’ she looked out the window again. ‘This is not good news.’
As Aster approached the front door, it swung open before she knocked and Ari stood on the doorstep staring at her, her arms crossed.
‘Where did you leave the car?’
‘At the top gatehouse.’
‘Right you are. Well, let’s go inside. Tell me what’s happened.’
Aster trailed in after her sister and followed her through to Ari’s study. Her feet were sore and muddy and she looked behind her as she left a trail of dirt. After she’d said her bit, she’d clean that up. That is, if Ari didn’t send her away.
Walking into her sister’s office, she looked around at the space. To the left was a large table with plans laid out across it. No doubt they were the road plans down at Tregiskey or one of a thousand other projects that the Hiverton Estate was overseeing. The wall was lined with files and document boxes and Aster thought Ari would soon need to move into a larger workspace. Her mind was already thinking about how to solve that problem when Ari cleared her throat and sat down, waving at Aster to take a seat.
‘Sit down, then, and explain your feet.’
Aster remained on her feet and swayed slightly. The thought of what she had to stay steadied her back. ‘I’ll stand.’
Ari sighed and got to her feet. ‘Well, so will I, then. Out with it and trust me. Nothing you say will make me think any less of you. I love you. You are my little sister and if you are in trouble, I will bring down the walls of Jericho to protect you.’
Aster swayed again and Ari dashed around the table and hugged her sister.
‘Sit down, right now.’
As she scolded her sister, the door opened and Seb came in with a pot of coffee. Smiling at Aster, he closed the door again and left.
‘Right, out with it. I’m not having my first coffee of the day on my feet. Now sit!’
Ari’s hands pushed down on Aster’s shoulders and she slumped into her seat. She hadn’t slept a wink and then had driven the whole way, her mind turning over the same dilemma, and now here was the moment that she had come to say what needed saying and she was mute. Her feet were stabbing, her head ached, she felt sick, but that was nothing compared to how terrified she felt.
‘I can’t do it.’
She watched as Ari sipped her coffee, her expression puzzled.
‘Do what?’
‘Dig up dirt on Edward.’ As soon as she said it, there was a rush of words. ‘I can’t. Well, I can. But I won’t. Well, in fact I already have done. Here.’ She opened her palm and in it lay a USB stick. ‘On here there’s so much dirt on Edward that it could completely undo him. But you can’t have it.’ She closed her palm and hitched back a sob. ‘I’m-’ She sobbed again. ‘I can’t.’
When she looked up, Ari was staring at her in confusion.
‘Why would I want you to dish the dirt on Edward?’
‘Nick said you did. But I’m sorry, I just can’t and I know that’s wrong, but I can’t. He’s like me. Does wrong things for good reasons. He would never be a threat to us. I just know he wouldn’t. He’s not like that. He’s not.’
Ari held up her hand.
‘Aster. Calm down.’
Drawing a deep breath, she stared at her big sister as she scrubbed her face with the heel of her palm and waited for Ari’s judgement.
‘I don’t want you to snoop on Edward. We’ve discussed this before. I will confess to asking Nick what her feelings were about him and she said—oh…’ Ari broke off and groaned. ‘Oh, she must have thought I was concerned he was a threat, when that wasn’t what I meant at all.’
Ari slammed her hand on the table in a rare display of annoyance.
‘Damn it.’
Confused, Aster sniffed then glared at her display of emotion.
‘So, you didn’t want me to do this?’
‘No, of course not. Especially when you are so clearly in love with him.’
The silence was total. All Aster could hear was the roar of blood in her ears as she stared at her sister.
‘I am not.’
Ari rolled her eyes.
‘Okay, let’s break it down. You feel wretched because you have decided to say no to me, correct?’
Aster nodded.
‘And why do you feel wretched?’
‘Because family comes first.’
‘Why?’
Aster shrugged and raised her eyebrows. It was obvious. It didn’t need saying, family always came first. That was the beginning and end of everything.
‘Family comes first because we love each other,’ said Ari, spelling it out. ‘Like I love Seb, Will, Leo and Hector. Yes?’
Aster nodded.
‘So a family can grow based on love. Yes?’
Aster nodded again. This made sense, but had nothing to do with Edward. As her sisters had brought new people into the family, Aster had taken to them slowly. Some more clearly than others. Seb and Hal were completely in. As was Otto. Mary was as well, she supposed, but she wasn’t convinced about Gabe. Aster had her own private grading system that she wasn’t prepared to share or explain, but so long as one of her sisters loved them, they were part of the circle.
Ari studied her sister as she took another cup of coffee, apparently waiting for her to speak. Aster remained silent, so she carried on.
‘Okay. Why did you say no?’
‘Because he isn’t a threat.’
‘How do you know? Nick is concerned.’
‘Because he isn’t.’
‘But you thought I’d asked for you to do this.’
‘I know.’
‘And you still said no. Why?’
‘Because it’s wrong.’
‘Why? Lots of what you do is “wrong”. Why is this any different?’
Aster shrugged again. In all honesty, she had no idea why she felt this so strongly. Why on earth was she taking the side of a stranger over her own sisters?
‘Oh Aster,’ said Ari with a soft smile. ‘This is different because you’ve fallen in love with him. And why wouldn’t you?’ She began to tick off her fingers. ‘He saved you at the nightclub. He stepped in and helped the family business and then he included you in his plans to bring down Anthony Jones and make a load of money for the nuns.’ As she tapped her third finger, she stared hard at her sister. ‘He’s just like you.’
Aster snorted. ‘Hardly. He’s the life and soul of everywhere he goes. He’s always talking to people. Laughing, chatting. Ugh, he even goes out of his way to talk to strangers. We are nothing alike.’
‘Rubbish. You are both brilliant. You are both driven by a burning sense of right and wrong and you both agree on what those rights and wrongs are. And, of course, he is also madly in love with you.’
The silence returned and Aster wondered if she was going to faint or throw up. The pounding in her ears was a roar that wouldn’t be hushed.
‘He is not.’
‘And what would you know? You don’t even know that you love him! I had lunch with him the other day.’
‘What? Why?’
‘Because I wanted to know him better. I had a hunch he had feelings for you ever since he tore a strip off me and Nick. He was furious.’
Aster glared. ‘He had no right.’
‘We’ve gone over this,’ said Ari, waving her hand dismissively. ‘We screwed up. End of. But I was intrigued by his reaction and all his subsequent behaviour, so I thought I would invite him out to lunch, see how the land lay and I was impressed. He strikes me as a good person, an interesting one certainly, but most important was how he spoke about you.’
‘This is ridiculous.’ Aster pushed back her chair and got to her feet. ‘I came here to apologise to you and now you’re trying to tell me that I am betraying you because I’m in love. It’s a joke.’
Ari stood up wearily. ‘You’re acting like Clem. Think about it. This is nothing like you. What new variable could cause you to act in unexpected ways?’
‘Well, it’s certainly not that I’m in love and I’m going to prove it.’