The True Love Travels Series Box Set

by Poppy Pennington-Smith

  Feeling a little better, Rose nodded to herself; that had to be it. This whole thing was just a harmless bit of fun. A schoolgirl flutter that was lovely to feel and would be left behind the second she got on the plane home.

  Why not let Thomas make her feel special? Why not allow him to smile at her and be nice to her? As long as she knew it wouldn’t lead anywhere, what was the harm in it?

  Harmless fun. That’s what it was – harmless fun.

  16

  Later that night, after squirrelling away a giant takeaway box of salad to eat in her room, Rose was texting Katie to tell her about her poker triumph when, for the first time in at least six hours, she saw Thomas in the distance.

  Usually, he walked towards her with a great big grin on his face but this evening she couldn’t see his smile; he walked slowly, as if he was preoccupied, and by the time he got to her Rose was certain that something was the matter.

  Putting down her phone, she climbed over the wall and walked to meet him.

  “Are you all right? Is it Delilah again?”

  Thomas narrowed his eyes for a second, then shook his head. “No, no, she’s fine.” He sighed and took up his usual stance on the wall. “It’s not Delilah.”

  Rose perched beside him. She wanted to reach out and touch his hand; he looked worried and it was an expression she wasn’t used to seeing on his face. Pretty much every time they’d talked since she’d arrived at the ranch, Thomas had been full of light and energy – a trait he shared with Katie.

  “What is it?” Rose ducked her head to meet his eyes. “This morning you were full of the joys of spring.”

  Thomas took a deep breath and then let it all out in a great big whoosh of air. “It’s the volunteers.”

  “Volunteers?” Rose looped back through her memory, trying to recall what he’d told her about them.

  “We’re supposed to have a group of ten arriving at the end of the week, to help out over the summer.”

  Usually, Thomas was completely at ease with making conversation but suddenly Rose felt as if she was having to drag it out of him. “So, there’s a problem with their arrival?”

  Thomas brushed his fingers through his thick dark hair. “We arrange it all through a company in the U.K. They book the volunteers’ flights, ensure they’re good candidates and that we keep up our end of the deal – you wouldn’t believe the amount of places that promise good food and accommodation and then try to get away with putting their volunteers in nothing better than a shed for the summer.”

  Rose nodded; she definitely would believe it.

  “Well, I was informed this afternoon that the company has gone into administration. All the trips they organised have been grounded. No one seems to know what’s going on but I’m pretty sure no one will be arriving on Friday. The agency said that they would pass on my details to everyone who booked, to see if they want to try and make it here under their own steam, but I can’t imagine they will. I mean, they don't even know if they’ll get their money back.”

  “That’s awful, Thomas. I’m so sorry.”

  Thomas shrugged and offered her a resigned smile. “So, it looks like we’re going to be short staffed over our busiest time of year. I spoke to Fleur, she can stick around. She was supposed to be heading off fruit picking or something but she’s pretty flexible, comes and goes as she pleases really.”

  Rose tried to ignore the softening of his smile and the ever-so-slight widening of his eyes as he said Fleur’s name. “Can any of the others stay?”

  “Not really. Most have other jobs to move on to.”

  “Gosh, Thomas, I’m sorry. I don’t know what to suggest.”

  Thomas laughed. “Me neither! We’ve got enough instructors. That’s not a problem. But we rely on volunteers over the summer to get all the grunt work done. I could reach out to the local villages, but they’re not really interested. That’s why we started the scheme in the first place.”

  Rose opened her mouth to speak, but stopped herself. What she was about to say was crazy. A few hours ago, she’d sat in this very spot and come to terms with the fact that it was okay for her to have a giant crush on Thomas because she’d be leaving in a couple of days’ time. But then, despite the voice in her head that was screaming, Don’t say it! she said it anyway. “If I stuck around, could I help?

  She winced slightly as she waited for Thomas’ reply; surely, he would say, Don't be so ridiculous Rose. What help could you possibly be? But he was silent. For a moment, he didn't look at her, just looked straight ahead and drummed his fingers on his thigh. Then he turned to her. “Really? You’d do that?”

  Rose shrugged, as if it was no big deal. As if her stomach wasn’t twisting into somersault shapes at the idea of staying a bit longer, and having a few more conversations with him, and seeing him striding towards her with coffee as the sun came up over the horizon each morning.

  “What about work?”

  Rose swallowed hard but tried to sound confident as she replied, “I’m owed a lot of vacation time. And I can help them out by email. I’m sure it would be fine.”

  In reality, she had absolutely no idea if it would be fine. It was true that she hadn’t taken much vacation time last year, or the year before. But, still, it was very, very unusual to ring and ask for another three weeks off in the middle of a vacation. Her boss liked her, but she was pretty sure he didn’t like her that much.

  “Rose, I don’t really know what to say. You hated horses two weeks ago.”

  Rose looked towards the fields in the distance and tried to make her tense shoulders relax. She definitely felt more comfortable with them now. But was she really up to diving in and helping take care of them? “I guess you helped me change my mind about them,” she said, looking down at her hands. “I'm not saying that I would be very much help but if you want me to stay, and if my boss says yes...”

  Thomas’ lips spread into a huge grin that made his cheeks dimple beneath his beard. “Rose!” He reached forward, pulling her into an embrace and planting a succession of light butterfly kisses on her cheek. “You’re amazing. Thank you.”

  Rose’s heart fluttered and she tried to calm it down. Thomas had caught her eyes with his and wasn’t letting go. His hands were on her upper arms and he was smiling at her. But it was a softer smile. A smile that said he might brush her hair from her face and lean in towards her. A dangerous smile.

  She swallowed hard and swung her legs over the wall to land back on her side of it. Then she clapped her hands. “Right, well, I’ll email them now then. Work... I’ll email work.”

  Thomas stood up too, on the other side. “Sure. Great. Thank you, Rose. And while you do that, I’ll go see if I can persuade Mike and Chris to stick around. With you guys and Fleur we might just be able to manage.”

  Rose waved goodbye and ducked back into her cabin. Sitting down on the bed, she pulled her laptop from her suitcase and fired it up.

  Although a huge part of her wanted to stay, a bigger part was suddenly hoping that her boss would say no; if he said no, she could go home and forget all about Thomas. She could get on with her life and never, ever have to face the fact that she was developing an absolutely enormous crush on him. A crush he would never reciprocate and which, even if he did, couldn’t possibly lead anywhere because he was her best friend’s brother.

  Briefly, she wondered whether she should simply tell Thomas that her boss had said no. But if Thomas asked to see his reply, and discovered she’d never emailed in the first place, he’d think she was awful.

  So, quickly, because then she wouldn’t have the chance to change her mind, she wrote:

  Dear Craig,

  I hope all is going well back at the office.

  Italy is lovely, but I’m emailing with a slightly unusual request.

  As you know, I’m staying with a family friend and he’s run into some difficulty. It would help immensely if I could stay on for a few weeks.

  I believe I carried over ten days’ vacation time l
ast year, and the same the year before. So, I was hoping I might be able to use them now and return to work at the end of August.

  I have my laptop with me, so I could address anything urgent via email and I’d be happy to video call regularly too if it would help.

  I completely understand if this isn’t possible.

  Thank you and best wishes,

  Rose.

  Pressing send, Rose held her breath. She and Craig had quite a casual boss-employee relationship. He was a bit of a maverick in terms of his management style, always preferring to trust that his workers had done their allotted hours rather than keep track of their movements.

  If an employee wanted to arrive at ten and work until six thirty, he just assumed they would keep their word and let them get on with it. He had even once given the entire department permission to go and see a movie in the middle of the day because they couldn’t get tickets for the evening showing.

  But an extra twenty days off was a big deal.

  Rose closed her laptop and sighed. Then she buried herself under the covers and tried to thinking of something – anything – that wasn’t Thomas Goodwin.

  17

  Craig replied to Rose’s email at three a.m. The ping from her phone woke her up and, as soon as she saw his name, her heart almost leapt into her throat.

  She had absolutely no idea whether she was hoping he’d said yes or no to her request and staring at the bright light of her phone screen was making her eyes blurry.

  Squinting at it, she tried to decipher the words in the email.

  Dear Rose,

  I’m glad you’re having a great time on vacation. Usually, we wouldn’t approve such a request. HOWEVER, you have been an exceptional employee for many years. I looked at your personnel file and can see that you’ve never used up all of your annual leave and have had only two sick days in the entire time you’ve worked here.

  So, I think you deserve some good will from us in return.

  I can’t stretch to three weeks, as this is reserved for our honeymooners, but if you can agree to two hour-long video chats each week and to be available on email for urgent enquiries, then I will grant permission for you to remain for another fourteen days.

  Let me know your decision,

  Craig

  Rose read the email at least ten times before replying to say thank you and yes and thank you again. Then she turned her phone off and lay staring at the ceiling, trying to decide how to tell Katie that she wouldn’t be returning home in two days’ time.

  Surely, Katie would know the reason. Surely, she’d guess that Rose was staying to help Thomas because she was becoming ever so slightly infatuated with him.

  At five a.m., Rose gave up trying to get back to sleep and got up.

  She was sitting on the patio, huddled beneath a blanket and watching the sun begin to rise, when she finally took out her phone and texted Thomas.

  My boss said yes, he gave me another two weeks. So, it looks like you’ve got a new stable hand.

  Then, she took a deep breath, and texted Katie.

  Weird news – Thomas’ volunteers aren’t coming. The agency he used is in trouble so all trips have been cancelled. I said I’d stay and help out for another fortnight. Not sure what help I’ll be but it seems like it’s all hands on deck.

  As she pressed ‘send’ a heavy, anxious, twitching sensation settled in her chest. She wasn’t lying to Katie. But by omitting to tell her about her feelings for Thomas, she was – for the first time since they were teenagers – allowing an imaginary wedge to form between them. She didn’t like it. But, at the same time, she didn’t know how to stop it.

  She couldn’t seem to prevent her feelings for Thomas. Like a rolling stone gathering moss, they simply grew and grew and grew every time she saw him or spoke to him.

  Reeling back through her memory, she tried to figure out whether there was a time when she could have stopped it happening. But right from the second she saw him, she’d been captivated.

  Maybe if Katie hadn’t gone home. Or if Rose had gone back with her, it would have all just fizzled away and come to nothing.

  But spending time together, alone, as if they were just two people who’d met and hit it off, had added infinite fuel to the fire. And now Rose had no idea how to put it out.

  The only thing she could think of was to tell Thomas how she felt. Because she was pretty sure that if she did that – if she told him she was thinking about him all day every day, and that he turned her legs to jelly, and that all she wanted was to be close to him – he’d almost definitely tell her, very politely, that he just didn’t see her that way.

  He’d tell her that he liked her as a friend, and that they’d had a great time together, and that he would hate to hurt her feelings but that all he could offer her was friendship.

  And, yes, she’d be embarrassed and want the ground to swallow her up. But at least maybe then they really could be friends; she could spend the next fourteen days simply enjoying her newfound confidence and helping out her friend without thinking about how tantalising his lips were every time he smiled at her.

  By the time Thomas arrived with her coffee, at six thirty on the dot, Rose had made up her mind. Just as she’d done when she conquered her fear of riding and climbed up into the saddle, she would bite back her nerves and tell Thomas that she liked him.

  And then all the guilt and the anxious anticipation would disappear.

  “Got your text. Amazing news.” Thomas hopped over the wall in one swift movement and planted himself firmly in the chair beside her. “Rose, you’ve got no idea how grateful I am.”

  “Well,” she said, already finding it hard to speak. “I’m not sure how much help I’ll be.”

  Thomas rolled his eyes. “Come on, you’ll be great. You know you will.”

  Rose breathed in slowly, sucking air past her front teeth and tapping her fingers on her flask of coffee.

  “You okay? Did your boss give you a hard time? Because if he did–”

  “No, no, Craig was great. Very accommodating.”

  “Okaay...” Thomas ducked his head to try and scrutinise her face. “Then...”

  Rose looked up at him, then swiftly returned her gaze to her coffee. Closing her eyes and biting her lower lip, she braced herself for what she was about to say. “Thomas, there’s something I think I need to say to you...”

  She daren’t look up, and Thomas didn’t say anything.

  “I like you.” She said it quickly, too quickly, sputtering it out in the most ineloquent way imaginable.

  “I like you too,” Thomas replied, cheerfully.

  Rose sighed, then forced herself to look at him. “No, I mean, I like you. A lot. A distracting amount, actually. And I’m telling you because I feel awful about it. Katie would hate it. She told me explicitly to stay away from you but I’ve done the exact opposite. And I know you don’t feel the same. I know that. Because, well, why would you? So, I guess that’s why I’m telling you. Because if I hear you say it – say that we’re just friends – then maybe I’ll be able to forget about it and go back to being normal and–”

  Thomas had been watching her carefully but suddenly waved his hands at her. “Woah. Rose. Stop.”

  Almost out of breath from talking so fast, she swallowed hard and felt herself wince.

  “I’m so sorry,” he said softly.

  Rose gripped the side of her chair with one hand and her coffee cup with the other.

  Thomas leaned in, lowering his voice to a whisper. “I’m sorry because I think I’m going to upset my sister.”

  Rose frowned at him. He was smiling.

  He shook his head, laughing as he reached out for her hand. “I like you too.”

  Rose’s mouth almost fell open.

  “I mean, I like you. A lot.”

  Inside, a voice in Rose’s head was screaming, No, no, no, no! This isn’t how it was supposed to go! He’s supposed to say you’re just friends! But her heart was dancing a jig. “You li
ke me?”

  Thomas laughed, louder this time, then slowly took the flask from her and set it on the floor. Leaning in, he put both hands on her thighs. His touch was light and warm and sent a wave of butterflies from her stomach all the way up to her cheeks. She was grinning, but she couldn’t help it.

  “I like you,” he said, softly. And then he kissed her.

  Thomas Goodwin kissed her.

  His beard bristled against her chin as his lips touched hers. She moved her hands up to his shoulders and wrapped her arms around his neck. And then suddenly he was picking her up and twirling her round. And when he set her down again, everything was different.

  18

  ELEVEN DAYS LATER

  “Rose? Is Massimo ready?” Chris was carrying two saddles at once and dashing across the stable yard. Two treks were due to leave the ranch that morning and they were struggling to get the horses out and lined up.

  “He certainly is.” Rose patted Massimo’s nose as she led him towards the gate.

  “Great, thank you.”

  “I can do Stella’s saddle if you like?” Rose tethered Massimo to his post then took the second saddle from Chris.

  “Really?” Chris narrowed his eyes at her; Stella was huge. One of the biggest horses on the ranch, she had big heavy hooves, thick legs and a large behind which always made Rose smile.

  “Yeah, it’s okay. I’m okay.” Rose walked slowly towards Stella. After agreeing to stay on, there had been very little time for her to remain nervous. Instantaneously, she’d immersed herself in the workings of the ranch and, to her utter disbelief, she’d enjoyed every second of it.

  Largely, she’d stuck with the smaller, gentler horses. Thomas had allocated her three to look after, plus Piccolo the foal, and he’d shown her how to groom them, exercise them and prepare their saddles. She’d been doing a pretty good job. But she hadn’t ventured too close to the larger ones. She had her little group, who she knew and trusted, and had so far stuck to them like glue.