“I was twelve, and Ann was just a baby when my stepmom left us all for some guy she met in a bar. Some guy richer than my dad. But that didn’t stop her taking pretty much all the cash from Dad’s hotel business with her when she left. Left us all high and dry.” He cast the twig aside. “Dad was a broken man after that.”
In the silence that followed, they heard the muffled sound of hooves in the mist. Kurt slowed to a halt, lifting his head before turning to face Penny. There was no bitterness in his features, just a sort of weary resignation.
“So you see passion and love stuff isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. It broke us as a family. My sister didn’t have a great childhood after that.”
“Neither did you,” Penny cried. She was beginning to realise how like Kurt’s chivalry it was to think only of his sister and not himself. And how all of this made a lot of other things about him fall into place, too. Seeing the look on her face, Kurt smiled, lifting a gentle finger to touch what could be seen of her cheek between her hat and scarf.
“Guess that makes three of us,” he said. “You remind me a little of my kid sister.”
The sound of horses’ hooves was nearing, and Kurt swivelled round, missing the wince that crumpled Penny’s face at his last words. Kid sister. Is that really how he thought of her? But she hadn’t time to reflect on this sudden and devastating insight. A group of riders was approaching through the mist. On seeing him, one of the riders waved her arm in the air and trotted closer. Penny took a few nervous steps backward.
“Kurt.” The woman’s clear voice reached them above the clomping of hooves. “Hello stranger. Long time no see.”
Penny watched from a safe distance as Kurt stepped up to the horse and rider. From where she was standing, the horse was a black, dangerous giant. Great clouds of steam were blowing from enormous pink nostrils. He—or she—Penny couldn’t tell which—let out a nicker of recognition on seeing Kurt before dropping a huge head to paw the ground. Kurt reached up to give the horse a careless pat on the neck—risking life and limb, as far as Penny could tell from her nervous position several feet away.
“Hey, Cass,” Kurt said. “Good to see you. How you doing?”
The rider lifted the reins, controlling the horse in a swift, elegant movement. Tall, willowy, red hair and—Penny would have bet on it—knew how to throw a lasso. This was probably Kurt’s dream woman come to life. Definitely not someone who reminded him of his kid sister, she told herself bitterly. She watched from her position of safety as the woman leaned nearer Kurt, controlling the horse’s restless stamping with an easy twitch of the reins.
“I’m doing well,” she said, in a voice that carried far, despite her slight build. “And how about you? We haven’t seen you at the stables for ages.”
The woman reached down to pat Kurt’s hand in a teasing way, her gloved fingers lingering just a little longer than necessary. Kurt lifted his hand from the bridle and took a step backward.
“I’ve been kinda busy,” he said. “I just bought a new house over the way, and this is Penny.” He turned and beckoned in Penny’s direction. “Penny’s doing some work on the house. Penny, this is Cass.”
Penny lifted a hand in greeting, keeping her boots firmly planted a safe distance from the horse’s hooves. Cass took in her muffled face and the hems of her jeans, still dusty from Kurt’s cellar, and gave the briefest of nods, raising a neatly gloved hand before turning her attention to Kurt.
“So you’ve finally bought a house in Richmond? Fabulous. We’ll be seeing a lot more of you, then?”
Kurt’s head tilted in that measured way he had when he was considering something. “Yeah,” he said slowly. “Actually, I’m planning on stopping by the stables next Sunday. I’ve an idea I’d like to run by you.”
“Fabulous,” Cass said again, with a lilting laugh. One of the riders called to her, and she lifted a hand to Kurt in a wave, ignoring Penny altogether. “Bye, then. See you next week.”
With what to Penny seemed a terrible stamp of hooves, she whirled the gigantic horse round and trotted off to join the rest of the group. Kurt watched her ride away.
“Great rider,” he said, looking after her.
“Is she?” Penny followed his gaze to where the horses were now beating a path over the tall, wet grass. “I wouldn’t know. She’s got her horse pointing in the right direction, so I suppose she must be.”
Kurt laughed and turned to look at her quizzically. “I guess you don’t ride.”
“No.” Penny was beginning to realise how big the gulf was that lay between their two worlds. Having rarely left London’s streets, she couldn’t imagine what it must be like to get up on a horse. She tried to imagine the thrill of galloping through wide open spaces, but the whole thing was so alien to her experience that her imagination—usually so ready to fill in the gaps—failed her.
“Did you learn in Wyoming?” she asked.
“My mom taught me when I was just a kid. My real mom, that is.” On the spur of the moment, he added, “I could teach you if you wanted.”
* * * *
An astonished silence followed his offer. As soon as the words left his mouth, Kurt himself could hardly believe he’d spoken them. It was one thing to take a walk in the park with Penny after a morning’s work. Offering riding lessons was something totally different. It would throw them together on a far more intimate footing. And yet, Kurt found a large part of him desperately willing Penny to say yes.
He glanced sideways at her, but with her face all covered up like that, her usually expressive features were hidden to him. The little that was visible of her cheeks was unusually pink, but that might have been the effect of the cold.
“I don’t know,” she said. She brought her mittened hands together and twisted them. “I think I’d be a pretty slow learner.”
“I’m a patient man.”
Kurt imagined how it would be, spending more time with Penny, the physical closeness that riding lessons would bring, and was filled with an unexpected longing for her to agree. But he was sensitive enough to know if he pressed her too hard, she would back off and refuse altogether. He slowed his pace, turning to look at her.
“Why don’t you just give it some thought?” He gave her one of his rare smiles. “You never know, it might even be fun.”
Penny nodded, but there was a constraint to her response, and she offered no answering smile. Kurt realised it was the first time since he was an awkward teenager that he’d been turned down by a woman. Maybe he had come to take their acquiescence for granted. He gave a wry, inward laugh at himself as he turned his footsteps back to the path. Being with Penny was proving a novel experience in more ways than one.
* * * *
Penny squeezed herself into a seat on the tube. The doors slid shut, and the walls of the station moved slowly past the window, gathering speed before plunging into blackness. She caught sight of her reflection in the darkened glass and pulled her hat off crossly, stuffing it into her bag. A knitted bobble hat was something a kid sister would wear. Kid sister. She remembered Kurt’s expression when he said that’s how he thought of her and she winced again.
Good job she’d had her head screwed on when he’d offered to teach her to ride. Her first reaction had been to cry Awesome! And even now, the most treacherous excitement coursed through her at the thought. Luckily, her imagination stepped in just in time, painting a picture of reality for once, and she’d had the good sense to turn him down.
She took in the disappointed expression on the face of her reflection in the window. Don’t look like that. She frowned at her reflection. You know what will happen. You’ll be helped into the saddle, and then you’ll have to tag along behind Kurt and Cass, like their annoying kid sister. And that will just be painful torment, not fun at all.
Her reflection looked back at her, dejected. Stop it, she told herself sternly. He’s looking for a wife. He already has a kid sister. And the more time you spend alone with him, the worse it’s going to be
when he finally tells you he’s got engaged.
Her reflection didn’t look any better at this lowering thought, so Penny looked away and studied an advertisement for hair restorer. How silly she’d been when she imagined Kurt was a cowboy. What did she think would happen—that he was some sort of hero, ready to sweep her off her feet and ride off into the sunset? Granddad had often told her not to pin her hopes on dreams, and he was right. Dreams hardly ever came true in real life. Not for most people, anyway.
She stared at the unfeasibly black hair of the man in the advertisement until the train slowed for her station.
* * * *
Kurt lifted the bottle of white wine the waiter had left and made to pour his date another glass. She raised a ring-covered hand to wave him aside.
“No more thanks. One glass is enough. Too many empty calories.”
He replaced the bottle on the table, wondering as he did so whether his date could maybe do with a few more calories—empty or otherwise. All through their meal, Jemima had shown an admirable determination to preserve her sticklike figure.
They’d been introduced through the dating agency and met first for coffee, where Kurt had asked Jemima out for dinner. On paper they’d seemed just right for each other. Jemima was down-to-earth, mid-thirties, attractive, and with an interesting career in law. When Kurt told her what he was looking for in a relationship, she’d told him she admired his common-sense attitude.
“So you’ve been to Wyoming?” he asked politely.
“Yes, we visited Wyoming a while back,” she said. “Me and some ex. We went for the skiing. It was fun.”
Fun. Jemima delivered the word as though travelling to Wyoming was like taking a trip to the mall. She managed to make Wyoming sound, well, bland, somehow. As though she’d been to better places. And from what he’d heard from Jemima so far, maybe she had. She seemed to have travelled the world, always in the company of some ex.
He watched her pick at her grilled chicken, and an image of Penny came into his head the first time he’d met her. He remembered her reaction when he’d told her he came from Wyoming. Her whole face had widened, her blue eyes deepening in shade in that cute way they did when she was excited about something—which was pretty often. Kurt smiled softly at the recollection.
“So, how about you?” Jemima asked, spearing another piece of lettuce. “What do you find to do with yourself when you’re not at White River?”
“I think I mentioned I’m moving to Richmond? Last weekend I had a girl over that runs an antique place off the King’s Road. She’s refurbishing the interior.”
“Oh, antique businesses,” Jemima waved her fork in the air dismissively. “All that overpriced tat. Shame I didn’t know you before. One of my exes does interior design in Chelsea. He’d have sorted you out with something really stylish.”
Kurt was beginning to think Jemima was more down-to-earth than he particularly felt comfortable with. He poured himself another glass of wine and started again. “I kinda liked her antiques. I guess they weren’t all shiny and new, but they had a story behind them. Some of it was real interesting.”
“Hmm.” Jemima pushed the remains of her meal to one side. “The only time I ever bought an antique, it turned out to have woodworm. Had to burn it in the garden.”
“Uhuh.” Kurt tried hard to think of something to say to this but failed. Maybe this date wasn’t quite right for him. Jemima seemed to lack something. Some sort of…imagination.
He took another sip of his wine and found his mind wandering again. He wondered what Penny would be talking about if she were sitting opposite him and then suddenly realised he missed her company. He let his mind dwell on this surprising fact for a few minutes and then shrugged inwardly. He missed his kid sister, too. It didn’t mean anything. He turned his attention to his steak.
* * * *
Kurt had found himself thinking of Penny surprisingly often during the course of the week, and when Saturday finally arrived, he gave a sardonic grin as he pushed open her shop door. Looking forward to spending a day going through invoices. If someone had told him that a few weeks ago, he’d have told them to go suck on a lemon. But the strange thing was he was relishing the prospect of spending time with Penny in her shop. She had a way of making everything seem fun—a quality Kurt’s date had singularly lacked.
By the end of their meal that night, it had been obvious to both Kurt and Jemima that their relationship was not going to progress. Kurt tried a few avenues of conversation, but none of them had raised a single spark. During the course of the evening, he had become increasingly taciturn. They parted cordially enough but with relief on both sides.
Although Kurt arrived at the shop bright and early, Penny was already behind her desk, talking on her mobile in a worried way. She lifted her head when she saw him and gave such a wide smile he blinked. Then she dropped her eyes quickly and finished off her conversation with a few rapid words before jumping up to greet him.
“Hi, you really came,” she said.
“Well, of course. We had a bargain, right?”
“Yes, well…” She waved her hands uncertainly. “I thought something more important might come up.”
“This is important.”
“Well, I’m really glad you’re here.” She was smiling up at him with eyes that positively glowed. Her delight spread a delicious warmth through Kurt. Was she really so pleased to see him? He felt a ridiculous surge of happiness at the thought.
“I’m glad you’re here,” she said again, moving a hand in the direction of her desk. “There’s a lot to do. I’m so grateful.”
* * * *
Penny found herself gabbling out her words. She was madly happy to see Kurt again and trying not to show it. She turned to her desk and began systematically pulling out the relevant files, trying to hide her over-the-top response to his appearance behind a façade of cool professionalism. Her attempt at creating a distance between them obviously succeeded, because when she turned her head to glance at Kurt, she found the smile that lit up his eyes on seeing her had disappeared. He looked over to her desk and gave a cool nod.
“You’d better tell me where to start.”
Penny had filed every relevant document she could find in chronological order, going back the previous twelve months. She’d also opened up the business software on her laptop, all ready for Kurt’s inspection. Now she lined everything up for him and went through it all as efficiently as she could.
Kurt sat in her usual chair whilst she stood behind, pointing things out on the laptop. She looked down at his dark blonde head as he examined the files. After the initial warmth of his welcome, Kurt appeared to have retreated behind a professional exterior. In fact, as soon as he was in front of the accounts, he took on so much of his persona of head of White River that Penny felt almost intimidated. She could hardly believe that the man clicking rapidly through her computer files with such a forbidding expression on his face was the same man who had walked with her so companionably through the park the previous weekend, chatting and teasing her.
She stood behind him for a little while, feeling suddenly shy. After handing him all the documents, there really wasn’t much else she could tell him, apart from the one thing that was worrying her. She cleared her throat.
“Kurt?”
He twisted round, lifting his head to look at her. “Uhuh?”
She put one hand on the back of his chair. “It was David on the phone just now, just when you came in. He’s been phoning pretty often. Says he wants to come in and talk.” Her fingers gripped the chair. “I just thought I’d better let you know. Just in case he turns up suddenly.” She took a deep breath. “Sometimes he loses his temper.”
The expression on Kurt’s face hardened. Penny couldn’t blame him. She thought it was only fair to tell him her ex-business partner was still on the scene. It would give Kurt the opportunity to walk away if he wanted. After all, it was one thing accepting Kurt’s help with the accounts. Letting him get
involved with a potentially aggressive ex-business partner was a different matter altogether. She scanned his face anxiously.
“No need to worry on my account,” he said.
Penny gave him a wide, relieved smile. It was strange how she felt she could trust Kurt after only this short time. His grey eyes were looking back at her steadily. Nothing she’d said appeared to have fazed him.
Penny tried to imagine what would happen if it actually did come to a confrontation. David was smaller than Kurt and a few years older, but he had a wiry strength and a pent-up aggression which he’d had difficulty in controlling in recent months. Despite his age, he retained a boyish charm which he put to effective use when talking to customers. There was no denying he’d been an asset to the shop in the past, but in recent weeks, he’d undone all that by his outbursts of aggression. Penny no longer trusted him. Kurt, on the other hand, had a reassuring solidity. If David did appear, Kurt would know exactly how to handle the situation.
Penny removed her hand from the back of his chair and gave a grateful smile. “Thanks,” she said. “I’ve been worrying about this so much. I keep trying to put David off, but I’m not sure how much longer I can keep it up.”
Kurt tilted his head. “Yeah, I’ve been thinking about that. Maybe it’s best if you don’t let David anywhere near the shop. At least, not until I’ve gone through all of this.” He indicated the spread of files on the desk. “Think you can hold him off for a bit longer?”
“I’ll try.”
The shop’s bell jangled, letting in her first customer of the day. Penny was about to head for her position behind the counter, but Kurt caught her hand, halting her for a moment.
“Any trouble, you let me know. You don’t have to handle this alone. Understand?”
She nodded, looking down at their joined hands. His fingers were warm and comforting on hers, and it was tempting to return the pressure of his clasp. The shop bell rang again. For a few seconds, she let her fingers lie where they were, and then she slipped them loose and turned away.
The Antique Love Page 6