Chapter 22
‘Afternoon, Edward!’
‘Oh! Ah, yes. Gerald, how are you?’
‘Terribly well, thanks. Lovely to be able to get out in the fine weather for a decent walk, isn’t it?’
‘It is. Absolutely. I,’ Edward cleared his throat and started again. ‘I didn’t realise you were venturing out today.’
‘I hadn’t planned to but it was such a lovely day, I couldn’t resist.’
Meanwhile, I was intensely studying the field beyond the man’s shoulder.
There was a pause.
‘Oh! Oh, I see! I’m terribly sorry. I see what you mean.’
I heard a rustling and some movement and a few moments later, Edward spoke again.
‘Emmeline, this is Gerald Speke. Gerald, this is… Emmeline Buchanan.’
I tore my gaze reluctantly from the distance, hesitant about what it might land on and kept my eyes determinedly above shoulder level.
However, it appeared that Gerald had now produced a pair of shorts from the backpack he carried.
They were the smallest shorts I’d ever seen but it was better than the alternative.
‘How lovely to meet you! So sorry to startle you. I usually check with the family that no one’s around and I rarely encounter anyone over this part of the estate. I totally forgot this morning.’
‘Emmeline and I were exploring the grounds.’
‘Of course, of course! Good to learn the land. After all, you’ll be living here too soon.’
‘I already do,’ I replied, a little confused. ‘In Rose Cottage.’ I thumbed over my shoulder although in truth, I had absolutely no idea which direction the cottage was in.
‘Gerald means… when we’re married.’
‘Oh! Oh right, yes. I’d forgotten about that.’
Gerald’s eyebrows scooted up his forehead so far, I feared they might slide off.
‘Not forgotten as such, of course. But…’
Bugger.
‘It’s been a busy week and we thought we’d take a break in nature to get away from all the busyness of the wedding planning.’
‘Of course. Good plan! Well, I’ll leave you to it. Lovely to meet you, Emmeline. Sorry again for the faux pas. I’ll make sure I check the coast is clear next time.’
Edward nodded in goodbye and I did the same. Gerald took two steps, whipped off his shorts and marched off, his skinny, lunar-white bum reflecting the afternoon sun’s rays.
‘God, I hope he put some sun cream on.’
Edward winced.
* * *
As spring fully sprung and summer waited impatiently in the wings, it was time to load up the buggy with supports to begin staking those plants that would grow taller as the season progressed and need a bit of help against the winds and their own weight.
Isaac had said that they had begun modifying the planting so that other plants would help do this job in order to reduce workload and also make the planting more naturalistic but some would still need support.
As I loaded up the trailer, I smiled at the thought that these same items, crafted so many years ago, had been used over and over, by gardeners that had come and gone.
I wasn’t one for flights of fancy but as I stacked them, it felt as though I was now joining the number of people, admittedly, mostly men, who had handled them.
They’d taken care of the estate gardens too and I wondered what had happened to them all.
‘Emmeline?’
I jumped out of my dreaming and turned.
Isaac was approaching with a couple of men. The difference in age but similarity in features made me suspect they might be related.
‘Sorry, miles away.’
‘This is Krish and Shankar Sharma. They’re going to be helping us recreate the bones of the original kitchen garden.’
‘Pleasure.’ Krish held out his hand and I wiped mine on my trousers before shaking it, following suit with Shankar.
‘This is a beautiful place,’ Shankar, the older gentleman spoke, his voice gently melodic.
‘We’re excited to get going on it,’ Krish said. ‘Although I don’t remember seeing you when we came to survey it?’
‘I’m fairly new. Isaac’s only just started letting me in on the interesting stuff.’
Isaac rolled his eyes.
‘Ah, that would explain it.’ He smiled, wide and uninhibited, with beautifully even white teeth. I took a guess there may have been some bleaching involved but not so much as to be hypnotic. A cap shaded his smiling, soft brown eyes from the sun. ‘Are you local?’
‘I am now, yes. I live in one of the estate cottages.’
‘Great. We’re only half an hour away if you need a guide for anything.’
Was he flirting with me?
Beside them, Isaac grinned at me.
‘That’s… um… really kind. Thanks.’
‘I’m sure I’ll see you around here a fair bit in the meantime.’
Oh crikey. He was flirting.
‘Good morning.’
‘Argh!’ I jumped as Edward’s deep voice spoke close to my ear. ‘Where did you creep up from?’
‘I walked up there.’ He pointed to the path.
‘Well, you were very quiet!’ I wasn’t sure why but I suddenly felt defensive.
‘My apologies. I’ll wear a bell next time.’
The other three laughed and I turned away, feeling slightly idiotic, and put the last load of supports in the cargo area of the cart.
‘Morning, Edward,’ Isaac said. ‘This is Krish and Shankar. They’re here to work on the kitchen garden. This is Edward Ashington.’
The men shook hands. ‘As in Ashington Manor?’ Krish asked.
‘The lord of the manor himself!’ Isaac did a low curtsey. The other two men looked between them and Edward told Isaac he was fired.
I pulled the cart keys from my pocket. ‘I am going to leave you lot to your mature conversation and get on with my job.’
Edward caught my arm. ‘Actually, Emmeline, could I have a word?’
From the corner of my eye, I saw the flicker of interest on Krish’s face.
‘You can’t fire me. I wasn’t any part of it.’
Isaac shook his head. ‘No loyalty these days. Come on, lads, let’s load up and get you started.’
‘Nice to meet you, Emmeline.’ The wide smile was back.
‘And you, Krish. See you in a bit.’
I turned back to Edward, who was watching the retreating backs of the three men.
‘Edward?’
‘Hmm?’
‘You said you wanted to speak to me. I need to get going if not.’
‘I do. I thought Isaac was using Bill and Ben Griffley for the foundation work.’
‘He was.’ I’d actually snorted when Isaac had first mentioned the names and accused him of winding me up but it turned out to be true.
They were twins in their sixties but strong as oxen.
I supposed they’d had to be to survive being christened with the same names as two flowerpot puppets.
‘Ben’s twisted his knee so he’s off work at the moment and Bill can’t do it on his own.
They recommended Krish and his dad and Isaac followed up on some references which were excellent. Why? Is there a problem?’
‘Not at all. Perhaps if we’d actually been engaged, I might have had a small objection to you working with a tall, muscular bloke who looked like he just stepped off a film set. Other than that, everything’s fine.’
That fact most definitely hadn’t gone unnoticed by me either. Krish was gorgeous.
‘FYI, if I was your fiancée, I wouldn’t be impressed at you being jealous and bearing in mind we’re not actually engaged, you definitely need to rethink those ideas.’
‘I’m not jealous.’ Edward’s tone was mildly defensive.
I tilted my head the smallest amount.
‘Fine, but it’s only natural.’
‘Not if you trust a person.’
‘It’s got nothing to do with that. He’s younger and fitter and better looking. That’s what bothers me.’
I shook my head. ‘Maybe a bit younger.’
‘Definitely a bit younger.’
‘As for the other parts.’ I gave a shrug. ‘You’re all right.’
He looked down at me. ‘I may need to sit to absorb that compliment.’
‘Feel free but I need to get on.’
‘Wait. I did actually come to talk to you about something. Have you spoken to Freddy yet?’
‘No. She was at a silent meditation retreat thing in the Canaries and had a wedding back home this weekend. From one extreme to the other. I was going to call her this evening to tell her about your offer but believe me, I’ve known her long enough to give her a day or two to recover from the festivities. Ever been to an Irish wedding?’
‘Yes. And my admiration for your friend is notable. It took me a lot longer than a day or two to recover from it. Let me know when you’ve spoken to her.
I made the mistake of mentioning it over dinner last night and my mother is now beside herself with excitement at the thought of another female to fuss over.
Honestly, Barney and I are becoming more and more sure she’d have preferred girls, specifically you and likely Freddy, instead of us two. ’
‘Hard to blame her.’
‘Thank you.’
‘You’re welcome. Besides, anyone can see a mile away how much she adores you so stop whingeing. What’s up with you today? If it’s not handsome landscapers, it’s me and Freddy.’
‘Ahh, interesting. You do think he’s handsome.’
‘Anyone with eyes could tell you that.’
He glanced at the buggy. ‘Where are you heading?’
‘The formal garden. Want a ride?’
‘If you don’t mind.’
‘Hop in.’
* * *
Isaac messaged me at lunchtime to head back to the head gardener’s office.
I stretched my back and admired the work I’d done after dropping Edward back at the house.
Not long after I’d left him at the door, I saw him stride out again, suited and booted and looking illegally handsome before jumping in the Range Rover and heading off down the drive.
He’d placed a small case in the boot so I assumed he was going away for a day or two or perhaps staying at his apartment in London.
Funny that he hadn’t mentioned it. But then, as we weren’t actually engaged, I had no right to know his movements any more than he had to know mine.
I’d gone back to work and concentrated on the job until my phone had pinged with Isaac’s message.
Hopping back into the buggy, I tootled down the pathway towards the office. When I got there, Krish and his dad were sitting on one side of the picnic bench on the grass outside the office, with Isaac on the other. A steaming cup of tea was set in the spare place.
‘Tea’s up,’ Isaac called as I parked.
‘Lovely. Just what I need.’ Pulling my cap off, I gave my head, hot and sticky from working in the warmth, a bit of a scratch and then plopped it back on, threading my ponytail back through the gap and giving it a tighten up as I did so. ‘How have you been getting on?’
‘Happy to show you after lunch, if you’d like?’ Krish offered.
‘Oh… right.’ I looked at Isaac for guidance. He was grinning into his sandwiches. Big help.
Two could play at that game.
‘I’d love to but Isaac’s a bit of a git. If I even take time to sneeze, he docks it off my pay.’
Shankar’s eyes danced with amusement as Krish shook his head at Isaac.
‘Ah, mate. You need to loosen up a bit. Happy workers, happy life, right?’ He grinned at me. ‘Something like that anyway.’
Isaac nosed over at my lunchbox. ‘Are those like the biscuits you made last week?’
‘Yes.’ I slapped his hand away. ‘And no, you can’t have any.’
He turned to the others. ‘And you wonder why I have to keep an eye on her?’
‘Rubbish. And if you’d bothered to look on your desk, there’s already a box of them there for you. These are mine.’
Isaac was up and heading to his desk. Moments later, he returned, a big grin on his face as he tucked into the new batch of parmesan thins I’d knocked up last night.
I made no claims to be a star baker but I dabbled and found it relaxing.
Freddy was more often than not watching her weight but with a willing taster in my boss, and me now doing a lot more physical work and burning calories at a faster rate, I’d been able to experiment a bit more.
‘Really good,’ he said through a mouthful of crumbs.
Taking a neat parcel of greaseproof paper from my lunchbox, I unwrapped it and offered them to our new colleagues.
‘Delicious!’ Shankar declared.
‘Excellent!’ Krish agreed.
‘Thanks.’
‘You like cooking then?’ Krish asked.
‘Baking more so than cooking but I manage.’
‘I love cooking. Baking, not so much.’ He flashed a smile. ‘We’d make a great team.’
His dad shook his head. ‘My son has many good qualities. Subtlety is not one of them.’
‘Subtlety can sometimes be overrated,’ I said.
Krish’s smile widened.
‘Come on, Romeo,’ his dad chivvied him along. ‘Back to work.’
‘Want to come and see the site?’ Isaac asked.
‘Love to.’
We jumped into the battered Land Rover he’d picked up his gran and me in what felt like so long ago now and followed the others in their van back to the site of the kitchen garden.
Beds had been marked out, in accordance with plans dug out from the archives, radiating out from the beautiful glasshouse that had, according to Isaac, been restored about ten years ago.
Now it held a mature grapevine, various palms, two espaliered peach trees and a stunning collection of scented leaf pelargoniums. Several citrus trees in pots stood along one edge like lollipop-shaped soldiers and I was looking forward to seeing the fruits mature as the year progressed.
Now that the beds were staked out and the baby digger we’d hired had begun making its way along like a tiny dinosaur, munching out turf and dropping it into a pile where we’d soon start taking it off to be stacked face to face to rot down into perfect top soil, the shape of the renovation was really coming to life.
The two men got to work and Isaac and I walked the length of the garden-to-be and sat on a stone bench at the end. A new wooden one would be put there in time, with the stone one cleaned up and moved but in the meantime, it was a handy place to perch. We sat watching things taking shape.
‘Isn’t it amazing that two hundred years ago, people were here, working the very same ground, doing the very same thing.’ I paused. ‘Give or take. Obviously not driving excavators.’
‘I get your point,’ Isaac noted.
‘And, in the grand scheme of things, in gardening at least, not a lot has changed. We still order or collect seeds, place them in the soil and nurture them along, pricking them out, potting them on, planting them out, doing the best we can with a great big dollop of hope alongside for good luck.’
Isaac remained silent, looking out over the garden.
‘Isaac?’
‘There’s something I want to show you.’