Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
Jade made a disbelieving laugh down the line.
I’d just got back to The Ramblings and had parked up.
The trees spiralled around me, and the crenelations could be seen in my rear-view mirror, dusted in golden sunlight. ‘So, you’re telling me that you’re staying there? At Downton Abbey? With Mr Mean and Moody?’
‘Yes. I mean, yes, I’m staying at The Ramblings for the time being to help get this tour off the ground.’
I didn’t address Jade’s mention of Evan. Whenever I thought about him, my whole body rippled like the sea on a windy day, which made me furious with myself, and then I got caught in this spiral of emotion.
‘And Handsome Harry will be there?’
I didn’t rise to the bait. I didn’t answer.
‘That’s what I thought. Don’t kid a kidder, Daisy chain.’ I could hear her smile down the line into my ear.
‘So, enough about me,’ I jumped in. ‘It’s my turn to grill you now. How are things going in Somerset?’
She let out a dreamy sigh. ‘It’s been wonderful. Over all too quickly, if I’m being honest.’ She paused for effect. ‘But Jasper is keen to see me again, and we’ve arranged to meet up when he’s next in London in two weeks’ time.’
I grinned, delighted for her, and shuffled in my driver’s seat. ‘Hey. That’s brilliant! You really like him, don’t you?’
‘Yes,’ she whispered back, as though it were a state secret. ‘I do. A lot. He’s funny and charismatic and very well read. My parents would disapprove of course, which makes him even sexier. His elegies have to be read to be believed.’
I snorted. ‘Nothing like an impressive elegy.’
‘You may mock.’
I grinned out of the car windscreen as I sat there. ‘I am. No may about it.’
‘Yeah, I know!’ Jade rounded off the call. ‘I’d better go. There’s a workshop in half an hour on acrostic poetry.’
‘Ok. Have fun, and I’ll see you soon, ok? I’ll keep you posted, and safe journey back to London.’
‘Thanks, Daisy. Oh, any more luck on the acting front?’
I wound my dress ring around on my right hand. ‘No, nothing on the horizon at the moment. I’m going to take a break; get my head together.’
‘I think that’s a good idea,’ responded Jade with a positive rise in her voice. ‘But you’re so talented. You’ll get there. Wait and see.’
I promised to keep her informed on what was happening, blew a kiss down the line and hung up.
I reached across to the passenger side and fetched my bag.
I got out, locked up Marlene and studied The Ramblings again. Its windows twinkled like stars in the bright light, and the shadows playing off its balconied turrets and twists added to its majestic appearance.
Now to go and tell Alison and Bennett the good news; at least we had our Florence for the tour.
* * *
‘Oh, that’s wonderful, Daisy! Thank you so much!’ Alison pulled me into her arms.
‘That’s alright,’ I blushed. ‘But it’s not me you should be thanking. It was Cayla who agreed to take on the role.’
It was then Bennett’s turn to give me a grateful hug. ‘Please invite her and her parents over for dinner. We’d like to meet her before this tour gets underway.’
‘Of course we should,’ agreed Alison. ‘That’s a given.’
‘What’s going on here?’
Evan came striding into the study. His gaze flickered over me.
I hoped I looked nonplussed at his arrival. ‘I spoke to Cayla, and she’s agreed to play Florence for The Ramblings tour.’
‘Isn’t that great?’ glowed Alison, clapping her hands together.
‘Daisy tells us she wasn’t overly keen, but she persuaded her.’
‘Oh, I’m sure Daisy can be very persuasive.’ His glittery, brown eyes teased me.
Was he flirting again? Or was he simply just being a smart arse and trying to make me feel awkward? Yes, that was more like it.
I pinned all my attention back on his parents. ’Just let me know how else I can help.’
‘You’re doing so much already,’ said Alison with emotion. ‘Now, if you’ll excuse us, Bennett and I are going to speak to a couple of friends of ours who are involved in the Forrest Bank Theatrical Society. We have a few ideas about who could play his great-grandparents.’
‘Yes,’ mumbled Bennet with a hint of amusement. ‘How about Eva Braun and Stalin?’
Alison laughed. ‘Come on.’
And off they vanished.
Evan and I were left alone. The air prickled.
At that moment, there was a faint knock on the study door, and Grandpa popped his silver head around it. ‘Hello, you two. Daisy, do you fancy a wander around the gardens? It’s turning into a gorgeous day out there.’
Thank goodness. Bursting with gratitude, I reached for Grandpa’s arm and linked it through mine. ‘Good idea. Come on then.’
Evan and Grandpa exchanged smiles and nods.
I headed past Evan and got the distinct cloud of his bergamot aftershave. It was heavenly – drat him.
Evan dropped his voice as Grandpa was waxing lyrical about the explosions of heather and cherry blossom in the garden. ‘We need to make sure we have publicity and marketing in place. I’ll come looking for you around two o’clock this afternoon.’
A shiver of something raced down my back, but I just fired a terse look at him and hurried away to join Grandpa.
* * *
After we took in the kaleidoscope of colours, shapes and textures of the stunning gardens, together with the fountain of a small boy clutching a bucket, Louise made lunch for me, Evan and Grandpa.
Alison and Bennett were still out, and there was no sign of Dane, who Louise said was probably still in bed after another wild night of carousing.
Louise had made a delicious prawn salad. There were fat, glistening tomatoes, cucumber and slices of seeded bread.
Evan finished his and rose from the table. ‘You can catch me in my room when you’re finished,’ he said as he edged past.
Colour flooded my neck.
I faffed around with my cutlery while Grandpa pointed his knife towards the dining room windows. ‘It’s just like Glasgow Botanic Gardens out there. Your grandma would’ve loved this.’
Once we’d finished our lunch, I helped Louise clear the table while Grandpa shuffled off back to the drawing room for a post-lunch snooze. He was living his best life here and loving it!
Then I slipped upstairs and into my room. I found myself reapplying fresh lipstick and giving my hair a tousle.
I stopped. Why the hell was I doing this? Who was I trying to impress?
I decided not to dwell on the answers to those particular questions and fluffed the hem of my sundress. I headed out into the hall and closed my bedroom door behind me. My stomach swam.
I was playing with fire here. I knew it.
But I could resist Evan if I had to. I could, couldn’t I?
Of course I could. I would just have to remind myself what a low-life Leon had been and that I needed more heartbreak like I needed a toothache.
Not to mention the Sacha-sized elephant in the room.
Setting my back straight, I hooked my hair back behind my ears and knocked on his closed bedroom door.
‘Come in,’ rumbled his voice from the other side.
I opened the door.
Evan was seated at his writing desk, with his laptop open and glowing. The light from it was highlighting the planes of his face. He was wearing his spectacles again, and there was a faint dusting of dark stubble across his jawline. It suited him. It gave him a bit of a softer edge somehow.
My heart did a twisting motion in my chest, which made me grip the door handle tighter.
I closed the door behind me.
Evan removed his glasses and set them down by his laptop. ‘Please sit down.’
He tugged over a spare chair, and I settled myself in it. I turned my attention to his laptop. ‘What are you working on? Or aren’t I allowed to know?’
‘No, I can tell you. It’s a piece about dating apps and whether they unintentionally kill the art of romance.’
‘That’s a bit of a diversion for you.’
‘What is? Romance?’
I pushed out my chin, willing my cheeks not to light up. ‘No, I was talking about the tone. More…’
‘Light and fluffy?’
‘Yes. I suppose so. I just get the impression you’d prefer to write the grittier stories.’
Evan stretched out his legs. ‘Commission for a weekend newspaper supplement. Pays well.’ The silence between us was stirring almost as much as his bedroom curtains in the May breeze.
I hoped I sounded and looked business-like. ‘Right. So we need to ensure we spread the word about the tour; try to attract all ages, from locals to day trippers, tourists and everyone in between.’
He looked at me from under his dark, thoughtful brows.
I shifted, focusing my attention on everything from Evan’s laptop to his black and silver bedding rather than him.
Evan sat back in his chair. His words caught me off guard. ‘You don’t have a very high opinion of me, do you Daisy?’
I flapped one hand around. ‘Don’t be ridiculous.’
‘The other night at Dane’s gig.’
I blinked at him ‘What about it?’
He dropped his eyes for a moment before fixing his attention back on me again. ‘He kept stealing all your attention.’ He exhaled. He didn’t speak for the longest time. ‘Dane. I was jealous.’
His words rocked me. ‘Jealous?!’
Our attention remained trained on one another like heat-seeking missiles.
No. This was risky. I couldn’t. I had to cling onto common sense.
I wouldn’t go through a rerun of what I’d had with Leon.
I’d just put my heart back together again, and now I was contemplating putting it out there once more to be shattered by Evan?
What was I? Some sort of emotional masochist?
Yes, I thought he was gorgeous, but that didn’t mean I should do anything about it.
And where did Sacha feature in all of this?
I had to gather myself together first, before I said something I regretted.
I pinned on a cool smile. ‘Well, no need to be jealous. Right, let’s make a start on this publicity drive, shall we?’
Evan looked blindsided. Deflated, even. An odd look settled on his face. ‘Yes. Ok. Sure. Good idea.’
I had to put some space between us. I had no choice. He was driving me to distraction. I didn’t want to, but I had to. For my own sake.
The last thing I needed was losing my heart to him, which would be very, very easy.
‘Are you ok?’ asked Evan, catching me moving my chair away from him.
I hoped I could disguise the tremble in my voice. ‘Yes. Why?’
‘Is it my aftershave?’
‘Don’t be daft.’ I forced out a laugh. ‘So, I pulled together a scribbled list of newspapers and radio stations we could send press releases to. It’s down on the desk in the study. ‘
I shot out of Evan’s room and hurried towards the top of the staircase and started to make my way down, with Evan catching up behind me.
We’d reached halfway down the stairs when Louise emerged at the bottom, clutching some clean dish towels.
She frowned up at us. ‘I don’t suppose either of you have seen my white spectacles case? I had it in my apron pocket when I was giving the bannisters a dust earlier.’
I continued down the next couple of steps with Evan following behind. ‘No. Sorry. I haven’t seen it.’
I put my right foot down on the next step. It didn’t connect. Instead, it caught on an object. I tried to keep upright, but it was no good. I could feel myself hurtling into the air.
I let out a stunned scream, preparing to land with an almighty bang. I was going to do myself some serious damage.
Oh bugger! These steps were beautiful, but steep…