She clicked over to her browser window. She hadn’t heard of the cider farm before—though she had heard of the village ten or so miles away where it was located—but she wasn’t a cider drinker, so that was no surprise. It’d be easy enough to find out if it was real or not. She pulled up the search engine and typed in spraxton’s cider farm, then hit enter. The first result to appear was the official website for the farm, so she clicked on it. Within minutes she’d ascertained that the business was legit and that Simon Spraxton was indeed the owner. After a further poke around she discovered she’d heard of some of the ciders produced by the farm.
She read the message again, then reached for her mobile phone. Having unlocked the screen, Mia composed a text message to Elias.
Hey you. Hope all’s well with you and that your first day back at work isn’t too horrendous. Mine’s fine, albeit with a ton of emails! Speaking of which, I’ve had a couple of business propositions come in that I’d like to run past you and get your opinion on. Would you give me a call when you’ve finished work, please? Love you xxx
She sent the message then, on a whim, opened another new text. She added Thomas, Alex and Arjun as recipients, wrote I love you xxx then blasted it out into the ether. No doubt they were all as knee-deep in work as she was, but taking a second to read a little pick-me-up note never hurt anyone. Hopefully it would make them all smile, like she was right now as she thought of them.
She glanced at the framed photograph of her and Elias on their wedding day that Betty had thoughtfully arranged and put on Mia’s desk ready for her first day back at work. It was a wonderful photo, and it perfectly captured the joy and mutual adoration in their expressions. But as much as she loved the image, it wasn’t the full story. Of the day, perhaps, but not of Mia’s new life. Spending three weeks in paradise with her men had definitely highlighted that fact. Yes, there had been disagreements—who didn’t have disagreements from time to time?—but their trip had mostly been filled with relaxation, fun, and laughter. They’d truly gelled as a group, and Mia had been bereft the moment they’d all parted ways on leaving Heathrow airport. She and Thomas had jumped into a cab to take them home, with a stop off on the way to pick up Harry—since nobody would be around at the estate, there’d be no one to see them arriving home together. Elias and Alex had done the same, sharing a ride into central London rather than lugging their large cases onto the Tube and through the subsequent city streets. Only Arjun had travelled on alone.
It would be a rare occurrence for all five of them to be together like that again, and Mia was okay with that, but although the photograph was beautiful, she wanted something that symbolised their future as a fivesome, as equals. She might have to hide it on the odd occasion that she had a meeting in her office, but the rest of the time it should have pride of place on her desk, a constant reminder of her unique and amazingly fulfilling romantic setup. She had just the photograph, too, one that had been taken on the beach on their holiday. Alex had set his camera up on a tripod and activated the self-timer function. Then the four men had stood in a row and lifted Mia up horizontally, so she was lying on their arms like they were a bed, or a hammock. Five wide grins and pairs of twinkling eyes said everything that needed to be said, without uttering a single word.
But before she could make a physical version of that photo, then frame it and put it on her desk, she needed to let Betty and James in on the secret—she’d put it off for long enough.
“You know what?” she said to absolutely no one. “Screw this. I might still have loads to do, but some things are more important than work. And once it’s done, it’s done. Over with.”
She pushed her chair back from her desk and got to her feet, her heart already pounding and a sick feeling growing in her stomach at the mere thought of what she was about to do. She just hoped that on her return to the office she wouldn’t have another task to add to her to-do list:
Find new butler and housekeeper.
She hadn’t seen anything of either of them since first thing that morning, when they’d first arrived at the house, ready for their day’s work. But they’d been well aware of how much catching up she had to do, so were no doubt deliberately steering clear in order to let her get on with it in as much peace and quiet as possible. She’d heard the distant hum of the vacuum cleaner from time to time, as well as the unmistakeable click, click, of James’s smart shoes on the wooden floors, but other than that her working day so far had remained undisturbed. Hopefully she’d locate the pair of them without too much trouble.
She clicked off the fan and was about to leave her office when a thought occurred to her. She returned to her desk and picked up her phone. There’d been no response to her message yet, but then she had only just sent it. She composed another text to Thomas.
Just about to find James and Betty and drop the bombshell on them. Would steer well clear of the house for a bit. Will come and find you when they’ve gone home and let you know what happened. Wish me luck xxx
After hitting send, she replaced the device on her desk, then spun on her heel and strode purposefully from the room. She hesitated briefly as her gaze landed on her bedroom door—the temptation to lock herself inside and avoid the issue for a bit longer was incredibly strong—but pushed on, head held high.
Come on, Mia. You’re a grown up, for Christ’s sake. Act like it. You’re the owner, the manager, the big cheese in this place now. The buck stops with you. You’re telling them what’s what, not asking for their permission. If this was a business-related discussion, you’d just lay it on them. It’s only because it’s your personal life that you’re bricking it. If they care about you as much as they’ve always led you to believe, they’ll understand. Or at the very least, try to. I’m sure it’ll be fine, once they’ve got over the shock. You’re happy, so they should be, too.
She ran similar thoughts through her mind over and over, trying to reassure herself, as she wandered through the house searching for them.
She located James first. He was in the library, checking on the condition of the antique books in Mia’s collection.
He turned as soon as he heard her approach, then smiled. “Hello, Mia.” His smile dimmed as he took in her expression. “Everything all right? You look… stressed.”
No, I’m bloody terrified, James. I’ve got something to tell you and I’m worried about how you’ll react.
She forced a smile of her own. “Everything’s fine, thanks. Just a lot to catch up on, that’s all.” She shrugged, wishing her racing heart would slow the hell down. It wasn’t helping the sick feeling in her stomach one little bit. “I’ll get there in the end.”
“Of course you will.” He paused, and one of his eyebrows flickered briefly upwards. “So, what can I do for you? Do you need my help with something?”
“I need a word with you and Betty, that’s all. Nothing to worry about,” she said in a breezy tone that totally belied what was going on inside her head. “Do you happen to know where she might be?”
James’s eyes glazed over for a moment as he thought. Then, “I think she said something about the back parlour needing a sort out.” The corners of his lips twitched, but the professional in him stopped it becoming a full smile. “There might have been some mutterings about the piles of wedding gifts getting in the way.”
Mia groaned and slapped a hand to her forehead. “Oh God, I forgot about those. It probably sounds incredibly ungrateful of me, but I haven’t given them a second thought. I collapsed into bed when I got back last night,” James didn’t need to know it had been Thomas’s bed, “then got stuck straight into work this morning. I hadn’t considered anything else. Haven’t even checked my post yet. How awful of me. I’ll have to make a start on writing thank you letters in the evenings.”
“Will, er, Elias be joining you here at any point?” he said delicately. “Maybe he could help? Certainly I can help, if you wish, by putting a list of recipients together and printing off address labels and sticking them on to enve
lopes, along with stamps. That would mean you’d only have to write, or type, the letters themselves. Having said that, if you were typing them, no one would know if I did that, too…”
“No, no,” she said hurriedly, putting a hand on his arm. “To the last bit, I mean. That would be truly horrible of me. I’ll take care of the letters themselves, but it would be an enormous help if you did the other bits, if you’re sure you’re okay with it. Maybe you could write me a list of who bought what so I can personalise the letters, too?”
“Consider it done. And Elias…?”
Mia hadn’t deliberately omitted to reply to that part of James’s question, but she was nonetheless surprised he’d pressed the matter. That wasn’t like him at all—though he did have a right to know what was going on since it would affect him. But it’d look weird if she didn’t give some kind of answer. “Elias has some… rearranging and organising to do in London, so we’re still figuring things out in that regard.”
Way to go, Mia. That’s the greatest non-answer you could possibly have given.
It was apparently enough to satisfy James. He nodded. “Shall we go and find Betty then?”
Knowing perfectly well that Betty would be the most vocal of the two of them, if not the most shocked, Mia nodded on the outside, while on the inside she was frantically shaking her head and screaming “Nooooo!”
Chapter Thirteen
James had been right: Betty was in the back parlour and was midway through shifting a pile of wedding gifts to the edge of the room when they entered—probably so she could clean the table they’d been sitting on for over three weeks. Going that long without being able to dust the table had probably driven her crazy. She frowned when she spotted Mia and James, then put the stack down carefully and walked over to them. “Everything all right? You look very solemn.” Her eyes widened and she raised her hand to her mouth. “Lord, has something happened?”
Mia shook her head and placed her hand on the older woman’s arm. “No, everything’s fine, I promise. I need to talk to you and James about something, that’s all. I found him first, and he guessed correctly you’d be in here. I’m going to make a start on tidying those away this week, by the way.” She indicated the gifts. “Sorting out the thank you letters and whatnot.”
“Well,” her face brightened, “it’ll make it easier for you if they’re not all stacked on the table, won’t it? You’ll be able to use the table to sit at to write the letters. It’ll be nice and clean soon enough.”
Mia bit back a smile at Betty trying to justify her impatience at not being able to do her usual tasks because of things lying around. She was quite the neat freak. Mia was surprised it had taken her this long to start moving the presents out of her way. “Great, thank you. I’ll have the things put away as soon as I possibly can. Just as well I live in a big house, isn’t it? Everything will be found a home. Elias and I have been terribly spoilt. People have been so generous.” She took in a deep breath, then pasted a smile on her face that she knew damn well didn’t reach her eyes. Extreme nerves saw to that. “Now, could we sit down, please, so we can talk?”
Betty’s gaze slid to the door. “Shall I make some tea?”
“No,” Mia replied, making Betty’s eyebrows jump up in surprise. Now the moment was finally here, she didn’t want to delay it further. It increased the chances of her chickening out. “Thank you, Betty, but this won’t take long. Please, sit.”
They perched on the seats by the fireplace—Mia on the wing backed chair that had been a favourite of her father’s, and the butler and housekeeper side-by-side on the matching sofa which sat at ninety degrees to it.
Mia gripped the armrests in an attempt to summon up some courage. Or maybe it was to stop herself from bolting. “Right, before I say anything, I must stress to the both of you that what you’re about to hear is something that must stay completely confidential—no matter what your opinion of it is. No mention of what you’re about to learn must be made outside of these walls, to anyone. As you know, for the most part I’m a relaxed employer with very few rules, but this is one you absolutely must stick to. If you don’t,” she gulped, then tried to make her voice as stern as her words, “there will be consequences.” She hadn’t a clue what those consequences would be, but she suspected she’d never have to follow through with it anyway.
James nodded immediately. “Of course, Mia. You can rely on me. I’ve been dealing with your family’s personal business for years, and I’m not in the habit of discussing it with others, nor do I ever intend to do so.”
“Nor do I!” Betty put in, her nose clearly having been shoved out of joint by James’s quick and very smooth response. At Mia’s raised-eyebrow look, the older woman shrunk in her seat a little and said, “I mean, I don’t discuss things that I hear or that happen in this house with anyone. Never have, never will. And whatever you’re about to say is no exception.”
Relief seeped through Mia’s veins. “Good. I’m glad to hear it.” She wasn’t surprised, either. James wasn’t the gossiping type, and while Betty might pass on the odd piece of idle, meaningless gossip—both in and out of the house—she would never speak out of turn about something truly important, whether she’d been warned about it or not. The fact that the incident with Thomas in her office all those months ago, when Betty had walked in on them, had never been mentioned again, nor brought up by anyone else, was proof of that. She hadn’t even had so much as a sly sideways glance from anyone, and in a small village such as theirs, that spoke volumes.
No, both James and Betty were as loyal and reliable as they came. But now it was time to find out if they were unflappable, too. “So, now that’s out of the way, here goes…” She paused, suddenly dry-mouthed and wishing she’d taken Betty up on the offer of tea. Though right now, she could really do with something much stronger. Swallowing hard, she determined to push on. “As you both well know, the last few months have been… hectic, to say the least. What with Dad dying, running this place, meeting Elias, planning the wedding—there’s been a hell of a lot going on. And you two don’t know the half of it. But there was a very good reason for that, and now that reason has passed, it’s time for me to lay it out there. You’re very important to me, both of you, and I don’t want to keep you in the dark any longer. It’s not right.”
She paused and pulled in a lungful of air, wondering whether she should tell them about her father’s will, or if she should stick to the multiple men part. After a second or two, she realised that since the contents of her father’s will had been a catalyst for all of this, a vital part of the story, she needed to include it.
And so she did.
She started from the moment Mr Lenton had divulged the contents of the will, caveat and all, and told James and Betty everything. How she’d gone from a single woman on the verge of inheriting huge sums of money and a large estate to a married woman complete with inheritance and three boyfriends as well as her husband. All of whom knew about each other—and what’s more, approved.
“So, you see,” Mia said, experiencing a weird mixture of intense relief and wild panic—the former at having got it off her chest, the latter in anticipation of their reaction, “I couldn’t tell you at first, because I simply couldn’t risk anything disrupting the wedding. I wanted to, because I hate keeping secrets, especially from you two, but it wasn’t an option. Making sure I kept this place out of Quinn’s grasp had to be my top priority. I simply couldn’t allow him to squander away what my father, and his father worked so hard for. I’m sorry. Truly I am. But I’m also glad it’s out in the open now.” She sagged into the chair, but anxiety refused to allow her to release her death grip on the armrests. She stared expectantly at the pair, her mind starting to fill up with possibilities of what they might say or do next. None of them were very favourable.
James seemed to be taking his time digesting it all. Which was understandable, given all the information she’d just dumped on him. He’d laced his fingers together in his lap and gazed int
ently at them while bobbing one leg up and down.
Betty, on the other hand, appeared to be so full of things to say that she couldn’t make her mind up where to start. Her face flitted through a multitude of expressions, and she opened and closed her mouth so many times that she began to resemble a fish.
Unable to take the silence any longer, Mia said, “Come on, Betty, out with it. I can see you’re bursting to say something, so please do get on with it. I have rather a lot of work to do, you know.” She cringed at her own snappy tone, then realised it was defensiveness making her that way. The sooner this was over with, the better.
The older woman looked squarely at her, more or less forcing eye contact. Mia galvanised herself as she gave in, nauseous at what she might find in the older woman’s gaze. Would it be disgust? Horror? Judgement?
To her surprise, it was none of those things. It was… Appraisal? “I’m sorry, Mia. I’m trying to get it all straight in my mind, make sure I understand it properly. I’m getting old—the grey matter isn’t quite what it used to be, you know. Having said that, some of this now makes perfect sense of things that have gone before.” A gleam of triumph now appeared in her eyes. “For example, I flipping well knew there was something going on between you and Tom! And not just because of that day in your office all those months ago, either. There have been other instances since your dear old dad’s passing that have made me wonder. And as for Alex giving you googly eyes, well I get that now, too.” She let out a hoot and slapped her leg, making Mia jump. “Young lady,” Betty shook her head, “I can’t decide whether to be jealous or impressed. Four handsome young men running around after you, indeed. However do you keep up? Actually,” she lifted a hand, palm facing Mia, “I don’t want to know. I don’t want to know about any of that sort of thing, thank you very much. My poor heart can’t take it.”
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