‘It’s been my pleasure. He’s a fab kid. If you want me to walk him down to school in the morning so you don’t have to take Isaac out in the cold, I’m happy to do it.’
She thought about what he’d said earlier, about wanting to take care of her, and the boys being a part of that. If she was seriously considering pursuing a relationship with him, she needed to know it would work for the boys as much as it did for her. Tristan and Elijah were starting to form a lovely bond and she should do what she could to encourage that. ‘That would be a great help.’
Wanting to show her appreciation, she stretched up intent on brushing a kiss to his cheek but he moved at the same time, reaching across her to grab the tea towel from the rack and somehow her lips ended up grazing the corner of his mouth. He froze, their mouths a breath apart. The sensible thing would’ve been to laugh it off, to move away and make an excuse about having to see to Elijah. His cheek carried a hint of that amber aftershave of his she loved so much and suddenly she wasn’t feeling in the least bit sensible. She closed the gap, feathering her lips over the edge of his, coaxing him with tiny kisses to turn and give her more of his mouth. When he did, she sighed into him, offering her parted lips up for him to claim.
The chair stood between them, preventing her from pressing any other part of her body against his so there was no other sensation to distract her from the firm heat of his mouth, the slip and slide of their tongues, tentative at first as they tasted and tested and learned the feel of one another. The pressure of his lips increased, turning their kiss deeper, forcing a little sound of need from her throat as she clutched at the edge of the stainless-steel board, any control she might have started off with completely deserting her.
He kissed her like a man starved; like a man who’d been waiting years for this moment and was determined to make the most of it. All those fears she’d had about whether she was ready to venture deeper into intimacy burned away in the heat of his lips on hers. Passion like she’d never known roared to life inside her. Had she honestly been worried she wouldn’t be able to connect to this part of herself again? She’d never felt more alive, more aware of herself as a woman. She wanted … hell, she just wanted.
She wanted to kiss him all night, to cast aside all her responsibilities and not be Jessica Ridley, not be anything other than a woman in the arms of a man intent on bringing her nothing but pleasure and the sweetest of release. The utter recklessness of it was enough to shock her back into reality and she dragged her mouth from his with a gasp. ‘Stop.’
Eyes locked, chests panting for breath they stared at each other across the gap created by the chair between them. ‘Jess, he gasped. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t m—’
Pressing trembling fingers to his lips, she shook her head. ‘That stop was for me, not for you. You haven’t done anything wrong.’
His brow furrowed. ‘Then what …’ He cut himself off this time and she could almost see the gears clicking behind his eyes as he comprehended the reality of their situation. ‘Yeah, yeah, of course, okay.’
She smiled at him, sharing his sense of frustration. ‘I think perhaps we should call it a night.’
Blowing out a long breath, he tucked his hands in his pockets. ‘I think you’re probably right.’ He strolled across the kitchen, pausing on the threshold to look back at her, a wicked glint in his eyes. ‘Jessica Ridley,’ he said with a shake of his head. ‘Who knew?’ And with that he was gone.
Chapter 14
The Saturday morning of the winter festival dawned dry and crisp. And bloody cold, Tristan thought to himself as he jogged down the steps of the castle and the shock of the freezing air hit his lungs. Tugging his flat cap down over his ears, he bundled his gloved hands into the pockets of his thick winter coat and marched briskly towards the front gates. Condensation turned the air white with every exhalation, to match the thickly frosted grass all around him. It was hard to tell how clear the day would be with the sky still mostly grey and the sun barely a hint of red on the low horizon, but the forecast was promising sunshine all weekend, and he was putting his faith in the Met Office. As he neared the gate, he could hear the hum of vehicle engines and bits and pieces of conversation. He quickened his pace.
‘Morning, Mr Ludworth.’ A plump, older man clutching a steaming mug and clad in a bright red bobble hat and a garish green puffa jacket greeted his arrival at the locked gates. ‘Lovely day for it.’
‘Morning, Mac, I certainly hope so,’ he replied, recognising one of the food vendors who’d not only participated in the summer fete with his speciality hog roast, but had also catered for Arthur and Lucie’s wedding reception. Tristan unlocked the padlock and tugged loose the thick chain securing the gates before chucking both out of the way beside one of the gateposts. Having worked free the bolt which locked the gate into the ground, he swung back the left-hand side. Without prompting, Mac unfastened the right-hand side and did the same. ‘Cheers, Mac. Right, do you remember which way you’re going?’
‘I do, indeed, and I’m in the same pitch as before, that’s right?’
‘Absolutely. Arthur and Will are just finishing up their breakfasts and then they’ll be down to make sure everyone sets up in the right spot, but if you wouldn’t mind acting as the lead for the rest of the early birds.’ Tristan wasn’t sure how many other vendors were already in the queue, but the headlights on the vehicles disappeared beyond his line of sight.
‘Not a problem. I think most of us are returners so we can look after ourselves and help the newbies. I’ve got a copy of the plan you sent through in the cab of my truck if there’s any issues until his Lordship gets down there. How is he, by the way? I’m looking forward to seeing him – and his lovely wife – again.’
‘He’s doing great,’ Tristan said as he walked Mac back to his truck. ‘Lucie, too. I’ve no doubt you’ll be able to catch up with everyone during the day as the conversation at dinner last night was how much all of us are looking forward to one of your pork and apple sauce rolls.’
Beaming, Mac clambered into the driver’s seat. ‘Send ‘em all my way. Mate’s rates for the family.’
‘You’ve got yourself a deal.’ Tristan closed the door and smiled across at the peroxide blonde in the passenger seat of the truck. ‘Morning, Mrs Mac.’
‘Morning, lovely. All set for the day? It’s going to be a good one, I reckon.’
‘Just about, and I hope so. You guys are staying over tonight, right?’ The festival was running over three consecutive weekends, and most of the vendors who weren’t local were either camping overnight or putting up in the village. They had a couple of B&Bs, but a number of enterprising families had offered overnight accommodation to make a few extra pounds in the run up to Christmas.
‘We are indeed, lovely. Forecast is chilly, but it’s plenty snug and warm in there.’ She nodded back to the special sleeping compartment in the back of the truck. As plump as her husband, Tristan had no doubt it would be both snug and warm once the pair of them were in there.
‘Well, we’re launching the woodland walk tonight, so if you’re not too tired at the end of the day, I hope you’ll come and join us.’
Mrs Mac smiled. ‘I was telling Mac about it and we’ve got our walking shoes packed and ready.’
‘Fantastic, I’ll catch up with you both later.’ Tristan stepped back and waved the truck forward.
A sharp whistle rang out as Mac was easing his truck and trailer through the gate, and Tristan glanced behind him to see Arthur jogging down the drive towards them. After a few quick hellos, Arthur was installed in the back of Mac’s truck and they were on their way to the showground.
The morning passed in a blur of checking in all the vendors and welcoming the volunteers from the village who were taking admission fees on the gate. Tristan stayed with them for the first hour to make sure they had everything in hand before finally feeling able to head down to the showground. The weather was fulfilling everything the forecasters had promised, the duck-egg blue sky cle
ar apart from the odd streak of high, white cloud. Those early freezing temperatures had eased now the sun was out and everywhere he looked there were smiling faces.
Every stall had people around it and the hot food trucks filled the air with delicious scents. One of the biggest queues was over where the team from the wildlife park had set up. Wandering over, Tristan was delighted to find Jess and the boys in the queue. Though she had the pushchair with her, Isaac was out of it and clinging to Elijah’s hand as they waited for their turn to meet ‘Santa’s’ reindeer. Smiling his thanks as people behind them in the queue let him through, Tristan made his way to Jess’s side. ‘Good morning.’ Though he wanted to kiss her, he settled for finding her hand and giving it a discreet squeeze.
‘Hello! How are you?’ To his delight, Jess planted a quick kiss on his cheek. ‘Everything looks wonderful, is it all running to plan?’
‘Tris! Tris!’
Laughing, Tristan bent down to scoop up Isaac who was waving his arms for a lift up. ‘Hello, matey, nice hat!’ He tugged one of the plaited wool lengths hanging down from the ear flaps on Isaac’s Nordic-style woolly hat. Settling the boy on his hip, he turned back to Jess. ‘I can’t believe how smoothly it’s all going, it’s actually quite terrifying. I saw Iggy earlier and she said she felt the same all the way through the summer fete so perhaps this is normal.’
The people in front of them shuffled forward a dozen steps as the next small group were admitted into the animal pens. ‘Have you been queuing long?’ He asked Jess as they closed the gap.
She shrugged a shoulder. ‘About ten minutes, give or take. I explained to the boys before we started that the reindeer didn’t like big crowds so it might be a while. If we all behave then we’re going for waffles and hot chocolate afterwards, isn’t that right, Eli?’
The little boy grinned up. ‘I’m having chocolate sauce AND cream on mine.’
‘Wow! That sounds tasty. Do you think if I behave myself, I’ll be allowed waffles, too?’
Jess laughed. ‘You’ll have to be a very good boy.’
Leaning over, Tristan whispered in her ear. ‘Hard when I’m this close to you.’ He snuck a little kiss on her cheek to prove his point.
Her cheeks, already glowing from the cold, deepened to a rosy blush. ‘Definitely no treats for you,’ she muttered, but she was smiling as she said it.
As he had something of a captive audience around him, Tristan decided to do a bit of on the spot market research and began chatting to the families in the queue on either side of them. He was gratified to learn the couple in front had travelled over an hour and had driven up in a little convoy with several other family members. ‘Did you mind that we don’t have a Santa’s grotto?’ he asked the father of the group in an undertone.
‘To be honest, mate, it was a relief. These days are always expensive when you factor in the food and stuff you end up picking up from the stalls. I like this idea, and if the kids enjoy it, we’re going to make a trip to the wildlife park in the new year. We hadn’t heard of it until we saw about it in the programme, and we’re always looking for something to do at weekends.’
‘That’s great to hear, and one of the things we were hoping would come of their association with us. They do a lot of great conservation work so if we can send a few more visitors their way, then it’s win-win.’ He hefted a wriggling Isaac higher on his hip. ‘What about the woodland walk? Are you planning to stick around for that?’
The man shook his head. ‘It’s a bit of a long day for our littlest.’
Tristan understood that. ‘Well, it’s on every night between now and Christmas Eve so if you do decide to come back for it, hang onto your ticket from today and you’ll be entitled to the same discount as if you’d bought a joint ticket this morning.’
‘Really? That’s great news.’ The man nudged his wife. ‘Did you hear that, Lisa? We can come one night just for the light show in the woods and get a discount if we show our tickets from today.’
‘Oh, that’s great news.’
They had included it in the programme, and the ticket sellers at the gates had been briefed but perhaps he needed to get Arthur to mention it when he did his little welcome speech they’d planned for around lunchtime. ‘Make sure you spread the word!’
Twenty minutes later, they’d made it to the front of the queue, which was just as well as Isaac was getting a bit restless. The moment Tristan approached the keeper standing nearer to a small group of tethered, grazing reindeer, the little boy was transfixed. They were bigger than Tristan had expected, and he was surprised to discover as the keeper began his briefing that they were all female, given they all had antlers. The keeper kept her facts short and sweet, including the theory that because the male reindeer shed their antlers in the autumn rut, it could be argued that Rudolph of the famous Christmas song should in fact be renamed Rudolphina.
After the talk, the children were offered the chance to feed the reindeer by tossing a few handfuls of a specially prepared mix onto the grass near the small herd and there was also an opportunity to pet a smaller female who was being held by another keeper. Each child was allowed to approach with an adult and shown how to gently stroke the reindeer’s flank. Isaac didn’t seem too keen, turning to burrow his face in Tristan’s shoulder whenever one of the animals swung its head in their direction. He retreated to the side lines, steering the pram with one hand and keeping hold of Isaac with the other while they waited patiently for Elijah to have his turn.
The next section filled with smaller pens holding rabbits, guinea pigs, miniature goats and a pair of rare breed pigs was much more to Isaac’s taste and he clamoured to be let down. Lifting him over the edge of the rabbit pen, Tristan hunkered down beside the fence and watched in delight as the bunnies hopped over to investigate their new visitor. ‘Gently,’ Tristan said when Isaac stretched out a hand towards a fawn-coloured Lop with huge ears. Taking the boy’s wrist in a soft grip, he showed him how to pet the rabbit. ‘Like with Pippin, okay?’
‘’Kay!’ The sweet smile Isaac gave him did all sorts of funny things to Tristan’s heart, and he had to sit on the grass and catch his breath at the sudden wave of emotion. If he and Jess were really going to do this, then it would be Tristan’s job to teach these boys, to help them grow into men of compassion the way his father and uncle had done for him and Arthur. He would never be Elijah’s or Isaac’s father – nor would he ever try to assume a role which Steve already did admirably – but he could be a friend, an advisor and a confidante. One hell of a responsibility, but the rewards might make it the most fulfilling thing he ever did in his life. And maybe, just maybe, somewhere along the line he and Jess might have a child of their own.
A pair of small arms were flung around his neck and Tristan found himself with a very excited five-year old in his lap. ‘I touched a pig!’ Elijah beamed from ear to ear, clearly proud at this amazing achievement.
‘Wow! What did it feel like?’
‘He was all bristly like a brush, wasn’t he Mummy?’ The pair of them glanced up to Jess who was standing next to them.
‘Yes, he was. I thought he was going to be smooth.’
Tristan laughed. ‘Did you touch him, too?’
‘Of course. Though it might be the first and last time I do so.’ She knelt beside him and leaned over the fence towards Isaac. ‘Have you been making friends with the bunnies?’ She stroked the rabbit who’d settled between Isaac’s legs and was happily nibbling at the grass. ‘Oh, he’s lovely and soft. Come and give him a stroke, Eli.’ Tristan sat quietly, watching the three of them pet the rabbit, heart full to bursting and didn’t think he’d ever been happier in his life.
They were just making their way towards the waffle seller when his mobile started ringing.
‘Hello?’
‘Tristan? It’s Will. We’ve got an issue up at the car park, can you come and give me a hand?’
‘Sure, give me five minutes.’ He hung up then turned to Jess with an apologetic smile. �
�Sorry, duty calls.’
‘Don’t worry about it, it was lovely we got to spend some time with you, I thought you’d be rushed off your feet all day.’ She held out her arms to Isaac. ‘Come on, little man, Tristan has to go and do his work.’ She settled the toddler on his feet.
‘I’ll see you later, hopefully?’
She nodded. ‘We’re heading back in a bit because these two are going to need a decent nap before we go and see the lights later.’
‘Wait for me?’ It was only as he said it, he realised what he’d said.
Jess glanced down then up at him through her lashes. ‘Always,’ she murmured.
Euphoria gave his feet wings though Tristan soon came down with a bump when he heard horns beeping. Doubling his pace, he found a frustrated Will at the top of the area they’d set aside for parking. In addition to the orderly queue of cars snaking back towards the gate, there was a second queue cutting at right angles. ‘Hey, sorry, what’s up?’ he gasped, bending at the waist to catch his breath.
‘Some idiot didn’t want to wait and cut across the field thinking he’d spotted a gap and then couldn’t get through. Only by the time he realised all the rest of these jokers had followed suit. A horn beeped and Will immediately turned, cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled. ‘Stop that! It’s your own fault for trying to push in.’
Fearing Will was about to lose it, Tristan sent him off to placate the drivers who’d obeyed the signs and went to sort out the miscreants. The red-faced driver who’d caused all the trouble in the first place leaned out of his window and began to complain as soon as Tristan approached. ‘What a bloody joke this is! Couldn’t organise a piss-up in a brewery.’
‘Terry!’ The woman in the passenger seat snapped. ‘I told you to wait, but would you listen to me? No of course you had to decide you knew best, just like you always bloody do!’
Oh, Christ. The last thing he needed was to get dragged into the middle of a domestic. ‘You’ve been very patient, sir. Please, give me a few more minutes and I’ll have this sorted.’
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