Country Rivals

by Zara Stoneley

  ‘Oh, only vaguely. Didn’t I mention it, darling?’ Pandora didn’t even glance his way, her attention was fixed on the other woman, like a fox eyeing up a chicken. ‘We were at school together. Briefly.’ He watched as her assessing gaze scoured Lottie from head to toe. ‘Although Lottie is, of course, much older than I am. You’re the same age as Xander, aren’t you?’

  * * *

  Lottie stared at the glamorous woman standing next to Seb Drakelow and wondered if she needed new contact lenses. ‘Crumbs.’ She peered. ‘It is Sarah, isn’t it? It is, oh my God, you look so different. I wouldn’t have recognised you if I hadn’t heard your voice, and if Xander wasn’t here.’ And she wouldn’t.

  The girl Lottie had known as Xander’s sister (the girl she and Rory had dismissed as definitely not having film-star potential, and so not in a million years likely to be Seb Drakelow’s wife) had looked nothing like this. She’d had a brace on her teeth, been unbelievably skinny and the corners of her mouth had been on a permanent downturn, unless she was pouting. All things that the generous-hearted Lottie would never be unkind enough to voice. This new version was so incredibly different, though, it was hard not to be gushy. ‘Oh gosh, you look amazing, Sarah. And you’re working on the set as well? Xander never said.’

  She stopped short. They’d never been friends back then, and from the glare she was receiving things weren’t going to be any different now. Sarah might have changed on the outside, but it looked like the transformation hadn’t altered her view of life, or of Lottie.

  Lottie had spent the last twenty-four hours convincing herself that the whole filming process was going to be much more fun than she anticipated, that nothing was going to go wrong, and that the boost to their finances would more than compensate for any inconvenience. Now, in a few short seconds, under the disapproving scrutiny of an unfriendly Sarah, the feeling of doom returned. She took a deep breath and fought to keep the smile pasted to her face. ‘Sorry, er, are you looking for him? Xander? I’m not sure where—’

  ‘I prefer to be called Pandora now.’ She waved a dismissive hand. ‘Sarah disappeared a long time ago. Nobody calls me by that name.’

  ‘Pandora? You are Pandora?’ Lottie looked at her in shock. So this was the star of the show. ‘Crikey, you’re really the star of this thing? You’re Seb’s wife?’

  ‘Yes.’ Pandora glared and huffed, her joy at shocking Lottie being remarkably short-lived now that she felt wrong-footed by her. ‘Why, is there a problem?’

  ‘But you hated the countryside. You hated Tippermere.’ And me, Lottie could have added.

  Pandora gazed at Lottie’s filthy boots for a moment. ‘I’m an actress now, darling. I’m paid to pretend.’ Then, with barely disguised distaste, she shied away as Harry bounded down the steps.

  The dog didn’t stop though. Veering around her he headed towards the archway that led into the stable yard and they all turned to watch as he bounded straight up to the much more dog-friendly form of Xander.

  Hearing the unmistakeable voice that announced Pandora’s arrival, Xander had reluctantly left the safety of the courtyard, where his ponies were stabled, and went out to greet her, his wire-haired dachshund, Ella, close behind.

  The second that the little dog spotted Harry, Lottie’s spaniel, her whole body started to quiver with excitement. Her strange twittering noise of greeting reached a higher and higher pitch as she squirmed around on the grass in response to Harry’s excited welcome.

  ‘Can’t you shut that animal up? Why on earth does she have to squeak like that? She’s giving me a migraine,’ Pandora’s hand went up to her temple theatrically.

  Tab, who was hot on Xander’s heels, stooped to pick up the little dog, who she had already fallen in love with nearly as much as his master. ‘Leave her alone, she’s sweet, aren’t you my little cutie pie?’ She kissed her on the nose and was rewarded with a sloppy kiss.

  Shooting Tab a withering look, Pandora swept over, being careful to sidestep Harry, and wrapping her arms round Xander she kissed him on the cheek. ‘I am so pleased to see you, darling.’

  ‘Oh, my God, I’m going to puke,’ muttered Tab into Ella’s fur. Xander could not, definitely not, be involved with this creature, whoever she was.

  ‘Oh wow!’ They all turned at the squeal of excitement to see Sam, in even higher heels than Pandora’s, her blonde extension-enhanced hair cascading over her shoulders and her wonderful body encased in the type of designer outfit you normally only saw on the catwalk, emerge from Tipping House. ‘You’re here, babe. It is you, isn’t it?’ She clapped her hands together and then wrapped a confused Lottie in a hug. ‘She’s here. How awesome is that?’

  Pandora smirked, her ego restored now that at least one person in the back of beyond obviously knew who she was. Ella wriggled and Tab shot an anguished look at Lottie and Sam, silently pleading with them to tell her this couldn’t be true.

  She could accept the newly arrived sex god gazing after Lottie with a thinly disguised look of unrequited love (because, after all, it was unrequited and quite a few other men seemed to be in the same boat), but to even imagine him with this brittle, dog-hating mannequin was a step too far. And the normally wonderful Sam looked pleased to see the two of them reunited, which was even more horrifying.

  Sam winked, then chuckled, an unrestrained sound that stopped them all in their tracks. If anybody had hijacked centre stage it was Sam, not Pandora. ‘Oh my God, you look just how I imagined. You’re Xander’s sister, aren’t you, babe? Wow, I love the Louboutins by the way, much better than this season’s shades, aren’t they?’

  ‘You’ve got to be kidding.’ Tab suddenly felt better.

  ‘Oh no, I never joke about shoes, Tab. Davey bought me a pair of the new ones as soon as they came out.’ She smiled warmly at Pandora. ‘But that colour is much nicer, babe.’

  Pandora scowled, and Tab was pretty sure that Seb was fighting a smile.

  ‘Not the shoes.’ Tab groaned. ‘I meant the other bit. She’s his sister?’ Which was a million miles better than being his girlfriend, but pretty unlikely, looking at the two of them.

  Sam grinned and waved a copy of Hello in the air. ‘I was sure I’d seen gorgeous Xander somewhere before. I never forget a hunky man,’ she giggled, ‘so I dug out my mags last night, and they’re both in here. I was just having a gander when you arrived.’ She started to make her way down the steps towards Tab, who was looking more than a little relieved. ‘Here you are, hun, have a look. Pandora is looking really glam, aren’t you babe? Shall we call you Pand? You’ll have to tell me who does your brows. They look so kind of natural. I’m Sam, by the way, Sam Simcock.’

  She held out the picture for Tab, who stared at it, then looked from Xander to Pandora with suspicion. ‘You don’t look like you’re related.’

  Pandora rolled her eyes. ‘I’m his half-sister, actually, and it’s an old picture.’ She stared coldly at Sam, her tone to match. ‘And no, you shall not call me Pand.’

  ‘She is.’ Lottie confirmed, displaying rather less enthusiasm than Sam. ‘She’s his sister. She went to the same school as us for a few months.’

  Seb, who by now was getting exceedingly bored with the conversation, and the presence of so many excited animals (and females), decided it was time to move on and get some answers of his own.

  ‘So sorry to break up the reunion.’ He gave Pandora a pointed look. ‘But we have work to do. Come along, darling, we need to talk about the script. Our trailer is over there.’

  * * *

  Pandora knew that the moment he got her in the trailer, the inquisition would begin, which was frustrating but inevitable. Seb didn’t say a word as they made their way across the lawns to where the crew had set up, but the moment they got there it started, before the door was even shut.

  ‘You’ve been to this place before, then?’ He’d put his reading glasses on and was peering over the top of them, no doubt thinking she would take his authority more seriously. It was something h
e did with crew members and actors just before giving them a bollocking. Along with the steepled-fingers thing, which gave him an intimidating stillness. Pandora was sure he studied body language and method acting online when she wasn’t about.

  ‘No.’ She sank down onto the nearest seat and kicked her shoes off. She would never, ever, wear them out again in public. How could that cow do that to her? Last season, my arse. ‘No I have not been here before, and who on earth was that hysterical blond?’

  Lottie and her horse-faced friends she could handle, but Sam was an unexpected addition. Hadn’t she got better things to do, like get a boob reduction? Those tits were so unfashionable. Nobody looked like that today unless they were married to a footballer or wanted to be on I’m a Celebrity. Who the hell did the woman think she was? The name sounded very vaguely familiar, but if she’d been in the business Pandora would have remembered.

  ‘No? So how come—’

  She pushed Sam out of her mind and concentrated on her husband, the one person she was bothered about. ‘I have never been to Tipping House before, darling,’ she gave an exaggerated sigh, ‘but we did live in the area for a while, though, if that’s what you’re getting at. We met that Lottie girl at school, but she didn’t live here then, she lived at some horse place with her father. If you don’t believe me, ask Xander.’

  Xander, who had followed them in and was sprawled on the uncomfortable bench seat with his arms folded nodded, knowing that Pandora had dragged him along to back up her story. Which, for once, was true. ‘We were only here for a few months.’

  ‘You both lived here, in the same place? Together?’ Seb looked from one to the other with a raised eyebrow.

  ‘Oh don’t be ridiculous, darling.’ Pandora pursed her lips. ‘Xander lived with Father at one end of the village.’ She wasn’t even going to mention that woman, his pathetic mother. ‘Mother and I lived in our own home because she wanted,’ she glared at Xander, who didn’t react, ‘me to grow up close to my father. To get to know him better. Not that he was ever here.’

  ‘So you all lived in Tippermere. How cosy.’

  ‘Oh honestly, Seb, you’ve got no idea what it was like.’ Pandora retreated, folding her arms protectively and letting the hurt feelings chase across her features, knowing that it made her husband uncomfortable. He didn’t deal in emotions, just facts.

  ‘We weren’t exactly in the middle of Tippermere. We were on the outskirts, actually, practically in the next village.’ Xander glanced from Pandora to Seb and she knew he hated to be piggy in the middle of their relationship. He didn’t understand the way it worked. ‘But all the local kids went to the same school we did, which is how we knew Charlie, I mean Lottie. Her dad’s a well-known show-jumping hero, so you couldn’t not know her if you lived round here. They lived in the equestrian centre up the road, and I have to admit I was pretty surprised to find her at Tipping House. I never even realised she was related to Lady Stanthorpe. She was pretty down to earth at school.’ He shrugged. ‘They’re related on her mum’s side, apparently, and her mum died when she was a baby. Look, do you really need me? I do have things to do.’

  They both ignored him.

  ‘Quite a coincidence, then?’ Seb’s eyebrow still hadn’t dropped to its normal position.

  ‘It is, isn’t it, darling?’ Pandora tapped the script with a long nail. ‘I thought we didn’t have time for small talk. Anyway I can’t see that it matters that we know the woman, it’s hardly relevant. Honestly you make such a fuss over such trivial things.’

  ‘So how come she lives here now?’

  ‘She moved in when she found out she’s due to inherit it when her grandmother dies.’ Xander tried to deflect Seb with common sense, not because he felt any desire to protect Pandora, but just to stop the pointless discussion. Then he could get the hell out and talk to his far more sensible horses. ‘Apparently she wasn’t told until a few years ago.’

  ‘And you know this because?’

  ‘Because, Seb,’ Xander listened to Ella, who was whining on the other side of the door and knew exactly how she felt, ‘I asked her when we came to set up the temporary stables. Like I said, she used to live with her father up the road. But this place seems to be her responsibility now. It was her business that went up in flames, the wedding business. And she’s Lottie Steel now, not Brinkley.’

  ‘Steel?’ The skin tightened, almost imperceptibly, along Pandora’s brow – which, despite Seb’s ban on Botox, was still plumped up and tightened to a degree that made movement practically impossible.

  ‘She’s married to Rory Steel.’ Xander raised an eyebrow. ‘I’d have thought you’d remember him.’

  ‘Rory Steel? Oh, that terrible horsey boy.’ Her green eyes narrowed to slits. She remembered Rory well. In fact she’d had an embarrassing crush on the clown until he had inadvertently made a fool of her when a prank had gone horribly wrong. A balloon full of water intended for the headmaster’s secretary (who everybody hated, as she had such an inflated sense of self-importance, which any self-respecting teenager had an instant urge to pop) had hit her fair and square on the head.

  The village idiots had all thought it hilarious, and so she had felt forced to join in with the laughter. At least Rory had noticed her then, but it was too late for Pandora to use it to her advantage; she’d just discovered her family were on the move again. ‘Shouldn’t you be shovelling shit or something, Xander?’

  Xander, realising he had served his purpose, gratefully took the hint and opened the trailer door to a chorus of twitters from Ella, who was so delighted to see him her tail wagged wildly until her whole body squirmed and her yelps turned hoarse.

  Pandora grimaced and looked pointedly at the open door, until Seb took the cue and slammed it shut.

  Her tone softened. ‘Honestly, darling, you do make mountains out of molehills at times.’

  ‘I just had no idea you used to live here. Why the subterfuge?’

  ‘It’s not a secret, but you never asked, did you? And it was only for a few months. We were always on the move. There are lots of things you don’t know about me, but a bit of mystery is good for a relationship, isn’t that what they say?’ Taking hold of his belt she pulled him closer and ran one talon like fingernail up his thigh, stopping just short of his crotch.

  ‘Sex is not the answer to everything, Pandora.’

  ‘Oh really?’ She pouted and leaned back. ‘Anyway, I hardly remember the place. Most of the people were ghastly. Come here, darling.’ She patted the seat next to her. ‘Let’s talk about the script, eh? Forgive me?’

  * * *

  Seb sighed, flicked some imaginary dirt off the seat, and sat down. At least he now held a trump card when it came to deciding which way the script would go. The balance of power swung from one to the other of them with the regularity of a pendulum, and it was now on the upswing in his favour.

  ‘You won’t need to be here much, darling. A few key shots and then it can all be pulled together at the studio.’ He was, in fact, hoping the whole thing could be done and dusted in as quick a time as possible. Provided the weather held, the sodding dogs behaved, and nobody fell off a horse. He hated the variables as well as the dirt.

  ‘I’ll be here as long as you need me, Seb. I know you hate the countryside, so I’ll support you.’ Which seemed unusually generous for his wife, but then she was keen to ensure that this venture succeeded. ‘And I can ride, you know. I thought it would be much more authentic if I did some of the shots on horseback, galloping after the ball with one of those sticks. I was quite good at hockey, darling. I’m sure it can’t be that difficult to get some good action shots.’

  ‘I thought we agreed to a stunt double.’ He saw the start of a defiant gleam in her eye. ‘For your safety, of course. We can’t risk you getting hurt,’ the look softened slightly. ‘I’d never forgive myself if anything happened. Those animals are dangerous things.’

  The thought of Pandora having a theatrical moment atop an unruly horse whilst w
aving a mallet between its ears made Seb break out in a cold sweat. The camera loved his wife and there were moments of pure magic, but they were interspersed with temper tantrums and demands for other actors to be removed, lines to be changed, and camera angles refined. He could cope with her outbursts on the ground, but he wasn’t sure what the outcome would be if he was left chasing even the most docile beast.

  ‘Oh you’re so sweet, Seb, but you do need at least one or two shots of me in the saddle. All the close-ups will need doing and I’m sure I’ll be fine. Xander will be at hand.’

  ‘You don’t need to be on an actual horse. We can do that later.’

  ‘While we’re here we might as well go for as much realism as we can,’ she stroked his hand, ‘but the main thing is for me to feel part of the place, live the part. Isn’t it?’

  ‘I agree. So it’s just for close-ups, any mounted parts are when the animal is stationary?’

  ‘If you insist, Seb, but don’t say I didn’t offer.’

  Seb suspected that Pandora had never actually had any intention of galloping across the park on a horse. She’d backed down far too quickly. It still worried him how adamant she was about ‘living the part’, and he had a horrible feeling that if she marched into Tipping House declaring a need to be lady of the house for a day, Lady Stanthorpe and her Amazonian granddaughter might throw them off the estate. Contract or no contract.

  ‘I won’t. Now all we have to hope is that these aristocratic twits stay out of our way and let us get on with the job.’

  ‘I’m sure if they don’t,’ Pandora smiled sweetly, ‘they’ll get everything that’s coming to them. They should be extremely grateful that you’ve offered them this opportunity. Some people just never know when they should admit defeat. Honestly they’ve let this place go to rack and ruin, and it’s no wonder with their disgraceful high-handed attitude. But you’re going to insist everything is done your way, aren’t you?’