Chapter Four
It took James ten days to complete the pigpen and he proved himself very handy as he did so.
By the time they were approaching the middle of December, he’d dug out and laid a proper foundation and built a small, sturdy hut for Pigglesworth to take shelter in.
It was strategically close enough to the house that the installation of a weatherproof socket on the porch and the running of wires underground to install a heat lamp were relatively easy for an electrician to do.
James organised all of that without the need for her intervention and Maddie was incredibly grateful.
He really took ownership of the entire project, making toys and scratching posts so that Pigglesworth could entertain himself.
He even made a sign, which he pitched on the enclosure gate.
Pigglesworth Snortimer became the pig’s official moniker, much to Benjamin’s amusement.
Maddie, on the other hand, felt like she was wading through treacle.
She was so unfathomably busy she’d managed to put up exactly three Christmas decorations — two Santa-shaped, stained-glass-window ornaments they hung every year from the kitchen windows and a T-Rex wearing a Christmas hat she’d bought Benjamin a few years ago because it made him laugh.
It was dangling from the pantry door handle, doing just enough to convince her she was at least moving in the right direction, even if it was slow progress.
But at least James was drilling through his tasks.
Maddie was aghast to admit he was doing a great job.
He had taken a lot of the pressure off her shoulders because she knew he was capable and a hard worker.
He respected her authority and did what she asked without complaining.
He was a model employee. Still, their relationship had not gotten any better on a personal level.
After her conversation with Autumn, Maddie had apologised profusely to James, even though it was not an easy thing to do.
He had just brushed off her efforts and told her it was ‘fine’, then continued acting cold towards her.
This enraged Maddie. She felt like she had swallowed her pride and tried to make things right.
She had done it expecting him to scratch out the past and start their relationship again, and she knew that was wrong.
His rejection embarrassed her. Sure, this was all her fault — perhaps she owed him more than one apology — but she thought it was rude of him to continue making a point of keeping her at arm’s length.
She’d tried in earnest to make small talk with him for a couple of days before deciding he was petulant and emotionally immature.
She disliked him even more now than she had before.
But he did have a new fan in Benjamin, who had taken to following James around the grounds whenever he was visiting, asking him incessantly what he was doing and why he was doing it.
James was quite obviously not used to being around children — the words he used were too long and spoken too fast for Benjamin’s little-boy brain — but when Autumn and Marley insisted their son leave him alone, James was adamant he liked spending time with him and it was no distraction at all.
“He’s a top bloke, that James,” Autumn said one evening.
She was dropping Benjamin off. He was spending the night.
Autumn and Marley were making the most of Marley’s most recent period of leave and a gap in Autumn’s writing projects and heading out on a date.
It was not something they could do often.
Marley’s role in a musical in London’s West End meant he left the house early in the morning and was rarely home before midnight.
What spare time they had together they preferred to spend with their son, but tonight Marley had insisted they leave him with his family and go out on their own.
“Have you two made up yet?” Autumn added, stepping out of her wellies and into a pair of very high heels.
“We’re all right,” Maddie lied, avoiding Autumn’s gaze by focusing intently on the vegetables she was chopping for dinner atop the marble kitchen island.
For a week and a half now, ever since Maddie had cried in front of her, Autumn had been checking in more frequently.
She called Maddie most evenings ‘just for a chat’ and had been sending her supportive quotes.
Whenever they were alone, she would unsubtly check Maddie was feeling OK by asking her outright.
While Maddie was happy to divulge on a surface level how overwhelmed she was and how those feelings had somehow tied themselves to not having Bowie here to guide her, she definitely did not want to talk about her situation with James, who, in truth, hardly ever spoke to her.
He was by no means impolite — he made her a brew when he was helping himself to one and bid her good morning and good night — but he’d shown no interest in engaging with her beyond that.
She knew it wasn’t because he was quiet — he loved laughing and joking with her parents and brother.
He just didn’t want anything to do with her.
He did, however, let her spend as much time as she wanted with Stevie Licks.
James and his dog had been attached at the hip for the first few days, but Stevie was getting more comfortable with her surroundings and with Maddie and her family.
She now spent most of her time roaming the grounds, begging for affection, which the Whittles were happy to give her.
Her owner, on the other hand, remained aloof, at least when it came to Maddie.
Maddie was a people-pleaser, but this situation with James seemed to be consuming her more than it normally would.
Also, he irritated her. How dare he pretend to be a nice guy to everyone else and treat her so terribly?
She had zero interest in any sort of friendship with someone who would exclude a person because of a simple mistake.
She was sure her flippancy continued to feed his opinion of her — that she was spoiled and entitled — but she didn’t care.
Most of the time, anyway. Sometimes she did, but whenever doubts crept in she reminded herself that James was exactly like so many men she’d known when she was young — arrogant, self-important and emotionally immature.
She was sure he would bring nothing except drama to her life.
She, on the other hand, was fantastic emotional support for people she loved — she was told so all the time.
So who was losing out here, really? James .
Autumn disrupted her rumination. “James said he’d show Benjamin how to feed Pigglesworth and then bring him up to the house,” Autumn said. “But as I walked away, I heard Benjamin asking James if he was sleeping at ‘the big house’, too. So prepare yourself.”
Maddie lit the stove and groaned. James staying would not be a physical imposition.
Maddie had cleared out Pip’s old bedroom several months before and set it aside for any staff she might hire.
This made practical sense, since that bedroom was opposite hers and at the end of a long corridor that she could cordon off to prevent guests from accessing it.
Because they’d split Bluebell’s old room and her parents’ current bedroom into five smaller rooms, they’d gained three extra bedrooms, which meant there’d be bedrooms for her parents and siblings to sleep in whenever they returned to the family home.
With Pip settled in London, Bluebell content travelling the world and her parents set on joining her abroad, it was looking increasingly unlikely that the Whittles would all be home at the same time on a regular basis.
But, if they were, they’d agreed to time it with Maddie’s fortnightly cycle for the retreat, so that they were only home during closed periods and would occupy the guest bedrooms. Pip’s old room would remain a staff bedroom.
For now, her mother had given James permission to use it whenever he wanted to in order to change, nap or stay the night if he had a late finish.
“He has Pip’s old room, but he never actually stays,” Maddie said.
Autumn shrugged and opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a piercing ringtone.
It was the television on the wall in the kitchen, which had paused her most-watched YouTube video — Relaxing Zen Music 24/7 — to alert them to an incoming video call.
It was Bluebell, live from Thailand. She called Maddie most evenings at the same time, so they could chat while Maddie made dinner, then she’d call again in the morning so Maddie could eat breakfast while Bluebell had brunch.
It was very early in the morning in Thailand, which meant Bluebell had most likely been out somewhere, living her best life.
Maddie was envious. She adored her sister and did not begrudge her anything, she just really wished she personally had the same drive to enjoy life.
Bluebell was not worried at all that people would think she was spoiled and entitled.
She didn’t care what anyone thought of anything she did.
She was really taking advantage of their parents’ insistence that their children live at their expense until they found something they wanted to do. Bluebell had been doing it for years.
“Hey!” She beamed, happy to see them both. They heartily returned her greeting, blowing kisses at the screen. Bluebell sat on the floor in semi- darkness. She was wearing pyjamas, her face and hair still made up. “You look fit as fuck, Autumn,” she said. “Where are you going?”
“Marley’s taking me out on a date.”
“We have Benjamin for the night,” Maddie added, her tone laden with suggestion at his parents’ date.
“Gross,” Bluebell quipped. Autumn gave her the middle finger.
“Did you book your flight?” Maddie asked.
Bluebell nodded. “I’ll be on the plane home in ten days.”