Midsummer Dreams at Mill Grange

by Jenny Kane

  *

  ‘If you’d like to come up to the house, we’ll get the legal paperwork bit done. Then you can either crack on today, or let me know when you’d like to come, and we’ll go from there.’

  Sam peered up at the sky, ‘You know, it’s such a lovely day, would you mind bringing the forms outside? It seems a shame to miss a second of fresh air sometimes, doesn’t it?’

  ‘Absolutely.’ Thea, hoping her incomprehension didn’t show, added, ‘No problem. If you perch on a bench in the garden, I’ll fetch what we need.’

  Pushing open the scullery door, Thea called to Tina, ‘Could you pass me a clipboard, pen and a set of the health and safety forms, hun? My boots are filthy.’

  ‘Sure.’ Tina gathered up a set of papers. ‘He looks nice.’

  ‘Sam Philips. He’s lovely. Gently spoken.’ Thea lowered her voice. ‘He won’t come inside though. Doesn’t even want the usual tour around the house.’

  ‘That’s odd.’

  ‘Maybe he’s claustrophobic.’ Thea took the form. ‘I’ll have to adjust this so it has him cleared to work outside only, as I haven’t done the “don’t slip on the polished wooden stairs and trip over the rug corners because I don’t have the funds for an insurance claim” speech.’

  Tina stole another glimpse out of the window. ‘Shame. He’s the closest man to our age I’ve seen in months.’

  ‘And he’s lovely. He just likes fresh air. Probably been stuck in a desk job for years and is making the most of his temporary freedom.’

  ‘You realise you’ve said he is lovely twice?’

  ‘Have I? Oh, well he is.’

  ‘How long is he volunteering for?’

  Thea signalled with her forms. ‘I won’t know until he’s filled these in, will I?’

  ‘Right.’ Tina wiped her hands down her skirt in an unusually self-conscious manner. ‘Oh, I almost forget. I spoke to Malcolm again. He has agreed that I can work from here for a while. That way I can help with jobs you need an extra pair of hands for, and I can make sure we’re squeezing everything we can out of our allotted budget.’

  Thea beamed as a fraction of the anxiety that had been building in her shoulders melted in the face of Tina’s smile. ‘That’s brilliant. You’re a star. Thank you.’ She tilted her head in Sam’s direction. ‘You should go and talk to him.’

  ‘But it’s a bit weird that he won’t come indoors. Anyway, I absolutely don’t do ponytails on men.’

  ‘Tina! You can’t just judge someone like that without even speaking to them first.’

  ‘I know, but he isn’t going to fit in with my plan, is he?’ Watching through the window that looked across the garden towards Sam, Tina saw him take a penknife from his pocket and use it to prune the plant next to him while he waited. ‘Anyway, why on earth would he like me? I’m a superficial nightmare.’

  Thea poked her friend in the ribs. ‘Well, there is that!’

  ‘Oh!’

  ‘I’m only joking, although I’ve a good mind to send you outside with the forms just so you have to talk to him. He’s a bit shy, but very capable. He knows shed loads about gardening. Sam’s already pointed out where the ground will work best for vegetables and where for flowers.’

  ‘And you believed him.’

  ‘Because I’ve seen the old plans. I know he’s right.’

  ‘Oh.’

  ‘You’ve got to get past this older rich bloke thing, you…’

  The ring of the landline stopped Thea’s delving into Tina’s love life. ‘Now you’re going to have to take the forms out to Sam for me. That’s Shaun Cowlson’s number. If I don’t answer, Mabel and Diane will lynch me.’

  *

  ‘Thea?’

  Shaun yelled down the line, forcing Thea to lift the receiver from her ear. ‘You don’t have to shout. I can hear you.’

  ‘Oh, sorry. The line was so crackly last time I thought I’d shout louder.’

  Thea leant against the scullery sink so she could watch Tina and Sam through the window. ‘How can I help?’

  ‘I wanted to accept your offer to formally open Mill Grange to the public.’

  Thinking she must have misheard him, Thea said, ‘Sorry, the line must be playing up after all, could you repeat that?’

  ‘My agent received a lovely message from you accepting my offer to volunteer for the next few weeks and asking me to open the manor on the 4th August.’

  As she watched Sam read the forms, and Tina trying hard not to make it obvious she was looking at him with open curiosity, Thea’s mind filled with murderous thoughts towards Mabel. It had to have been her. No one else would have the nerve to ring Shaun’s agent just to get what she wanted.

  ‘The thing is,’ Shaun went on, ‘my agent says I can’t do the 4th August. The lady she spoke to said 21st July would be fine instead, so I’ll open the manor then. Until then I’m….’

  Thea was aware Shaun was still talking, but she was no longer listening.

  21st July… that’s two weeks earlier than planned. That’s ridiculous. No, it’s impossible…

  ‘Is five o’clock okay?’

  ‘Five o’clock?’ Realising she was sounding unprofessional and as if she didn’t know what was going on – which she didn’t – Thea fell back on a familiar lie. ‘Forgive me, the line cut out. Five o’clock for what on which day?’

  ‘Today. To have my volunteer safety induction with you.’

  Nine

  April 8th

  ‘How dare Mabel put me in this position?’

  Crashing onto her desk seat, Thea glared at the list that confronted her. Every time she crossed something off it, she added at least two more tasks to the bottom.

  ‘And this is so typical of him,’ Thea muttered under her breath. ‘Mr Shaun “I’m a celebrity so the world has to adjust to suit me” Cowlson. As if I didn’t have enough to do. Now I’ve got to have another battle of wills with Mabel. Wasting time I don’t have explaining why we can’t possibly take two weeks less on the restoration and…’

  ‘Hi there, I just wondered if you knew when…’ As Diane pushed open the office door, she caught sight of the project leader’s face and stopped dead. ‘You okay, Thea? You look cross.’

  ‘Cross? Cross doesn’t even come close I’m…’ Realising she was in danger of shouting, Thea hastily calmed her voice. ‘But not with you, Diane. Forgive me. How can I help?’

  ‘I wondered if Shaun had called to confirm what time he was coming? We’d hate to miss his arrival.’

  Thea stared at Diane. She couldn’t believe this. A few days ago she’d dared to think she was making headway with the volunteers at Mill Grange. Now nothing seemed further from the truth.

  ‘You knew he was coming today?’

  ‘Yes.’ Diane looked uneasy.

  ‘Well, I didn’t. Not until he called me a few minutes ago. No one saw fit to tell me. Just as no one saw fit to inform me they’d phoned Mr Cowlson’s agent, on my behalf, in the first place.’

  ‘You didn’t know?’ Diane’s expression creased into a crosshatch of worry lines.

  ‘I did not.’ Thea took a deep breath. There was no point in shooting the messenger, or whatever the correct metaphor was for this situation. ‘Perhaps you could do me a favour, Diane?’

  ‘I’ll try.’

  ‘Can you round up the volunteers that are here? Derek is in the garden with the students. I’m not sure where Mabel is. I think the Biggleswaite sisters were planning to come in, although I haven’t checked the sign-in sheet for an hour or two, so they might not have arrived. Then there’s Tina and the new guy, Sam.’

  Unsettled by a quietly seething Thea, Diane didn’t argue. ‘Where would you like everyone to gather?’

  Remembering Sam’s request to stay outside, Thea said, ‘On the drive, by the butler’s pantry in ten minutes. Please.’

  *

  ‘Diane said you’d called an emergency meeting. What’s going on?’ Tina stuck her head around the office door in time to see Th
ea throw a heap of paper into the recycle bin with the force of an erupting volcano.

  ‘I may or may not be about to kill Mabel. The more people around to prevent that happening, the better.’ Thea dragged on her boots. ‘What time is it?’

  ‘Just gone four.’

  ‘Less than an hour! Typical, bloody Shaun Cowlson.’

  ‘Shaun? Did you decide to accept his offer of help then?’

  ‘No, I didn’t. As helpful as his level of experience would be, the number of people who’d pitch up here that don’t want to volunteer, but do want to hang around so they can grab an autograph would be counterproductive.’

  ‘So, how come he’s…?’

  ‘Mabel.’ Stamping out of the scullery, hoping her anger wouldn’t dissolve into a heap of apologetic embarrassment until after she’d said what needed saying, Thea continued to fume.

  Jogging to keep up as Thea stomped along, Tina laid a placating hand on her friend’s shoulder. ‘Presumably Shaun doesn’t know he’s inconveniencing us if you didn’t speak to him yourself?’

  Her insides fizzed with indignation. ‘That’s no excuse. He’s in the business, he knows exactly how long restoration takes!’

  Tina held back from pointing out that Shaun had no idea how long this project had been ongoing, so couldn’t possibly know when their end date was supposed to have been.

  Derek was waiting in the driveway with Diane. Mabel was walking from the direction of the stables and a wary-looking Sam stood at the very back of the group. Clearing her throat nervously, Diane said, ‘Umm… none of the others are on site at the moment, Thea.’

  Reminding herself that her job and the future boost to the village economy could depend on this, Thea gripped her latest list so hard it crinkled.

  ‘First, my apologies to Sam. I had intended to introduce you to everyone over a cup of tea and some of Tina’s most excellent lemon cake tomorrow. However, my hand has been forced into holding this impromptu meeting.’ She turned to address the remainder of the small gathering. ‘Sam will be helping us in the gardens and woodland. Sam, this is Derek, Diane and Mabel. Tina you’ve met. Ethel, Edna, Alice and Bill will be here later today or tomorrow.’

  As Sam raised a hand in silent greeting to the group, Thea kept talking. She didn’t dare stop, because if she did, she knew her inbuilt desire to avoid altercations at all costs would take over.

  ‘Someone has seen fit to ring the agent of the TV archaeologist, Shaun Cowlson, and invite him to start volunteering here from today and to open the manor for us.’

  Derek and Tina’s eyes fell on Mabel. Diane kept her gaze fixed on the gravel, while Sam observed the unfolding tableau with inquisitive silence.

  ‘While every extra pair of hands is required to get Mill Grange up and running, what we don’t have time for is the number of Landscape Treasure fans that a celebrity’s presence would bring here – people who wish to loiter rather than help. Also – and this is the crucial point here – that same person has taken it upon themselves to agree to Mr Cowlson opening the manor, not on 4th August as the trustees requested, but on 21st July!’

  ‘What?!’ Tina was aghast. ‘That’s insane, there’s just no way—’

  ‘It gets worse.’ Thea felt her cheeks start to colour crimson as her instinct to sidestep confrontation tried to stop her talking; but now she’d started her mouth had taken on a life of its own. ‘I’ve spoken to one of the junior trustees. Apparently they’re delighted that we are ahead of schedule, despite what Tina and I told them. Can you imagine how untrustworthy we’re going to appear when I call them to explain that this is not the case? At best, it looks as if I have been making out Mill Grange needs longer to work on than quoted, at worse it looks as if Tina and I have been lying to our employers.’

  Tina went pale as the silence that greeted Thea’s was underlined when she added, ‘As if this isn’t bad enough, it has come to my attention today that if we can’t reach our goal in time, and on budget, the house and grounds will be sold and never open to the public at all. This was something I was planning to discuss with everyone at a group meeting tomorrow.’

  The communal gasp was cut short by Mabel breaking her crab-apple silence. ‘That’s ridiculous. They wouldn’t dare! Anyway, they would have told me when—’

  ‘When you told them about Shaun coming? Well, you’re good at phone calls, Mabel, why don’t you ring the trustees back and find out?’ Knowing she sounded childish, Thea carried on, ‘And now, I have to leave the jobs I’d scheduled for the rest of the day to play nursemaid to a celebrity.’

  Catching Derek’s reassuring eye, Thea adopted a less combative tone. ‘You guys have been great. What you’ve done is fantastic, but even with the extra folk due to help we were pushing it for opening in August. I’ve already had to dismiss things like saving the big lean-to greenhouse. If the Open Day has to be two weeks earlier than arranged, even more will have to go. Perhaps the entire mill building will have to be abandoned in favour of the manor.’

  Not waiting for this news to sink in, Thea turned on her heels, with the parting words, ‘I would very much appreciate it if you’d all leave by five o’clock so that I can show our unexpected guest around in peace. I would also appreciate it if word of Mr Cowlson’s presence here did not leak out.’

  As Thea passed Derek, she heard him mumble, ‘Well done, St George.’

  *

  With her pulse galloping around her system, her face red and her head thumping, Thea sat at the kitchen table and started to scratch red lines across her plans for the rest of the day. Wishing confrontation didn’t always make her feel ill and guilty, even when it was justified, she took some calming breaths. Thea couldn’t believe she’d just said all that out loud rather than letting it stew privately in her mind as usual. She wouldn’t blame Sam if he picked up his holdall and left there and then.

  Thea closed her eyes. This is your fault John! If you hadn’t come to Bath I’d be sitting in my little office there, sorting out artefact exchanges, cataloguing new acquisitions and chatting to the statue of Minerva in the corner.

  The kitchen door opened and Tina stuck her head around the door. ‘Can I come in, or would you rather be on your own?’

  ‘It’s safe, I’ve calmed down.’

  Tina waved the kettle up in an unnecessary gesture to see if her friend wanted coffee. ‘I’ve never seen you like that. You were fantastic. How do you feel?’

  ‘Ready to curl into a ball and hide under the bed until it all goes away. I can’t stop shaking.’ Thea lifted her hands, which were quivering as if she’d got a severe case of stage-fright.

  ‘Here, have some water while I boil the kettle.’ Slipping onto the seat opposite, Tina pushed the water jug and a glass nearer her friend. ‘I know this is a silly question in light of what you said outside, but has Mabel really arranged for Shaun to open the manor two weeks early and cleared it with the board?’

  ‘Yep. I’d better phone them and explain she was being overzealous.’

  ‘Hell!’ Tina was stunned. ‘I’m not sure talking to the Trust will work.’

  ‘I have to try. Then when Shaun arrives, I’ll say thanks but no thanks to his offer of help.’ Thea shook her head. ‘I can’t believe Mabel’s put me in this position. It’s so embarrassing.’

  ‘Why don’t you deal with Shaun and I’ll call Malcolm in the morning. He won’t be there now or I’d be on the phone already. It’s my job to deal with the trustees after all.’ Tina played her right pigtail in her fingers. ‘Do you want me to help with Shaun’s tour?’

  ‘Thanks, but I’ll be okay,’ Thea reassured her friend. ‘How did you get on with Sam?’

  ‘He’s very quiet. Every time I asked him a question he dodged it and talked about the gardens instead.’

  ‘What did you ask him?’

  ‘Normal things. Where he’d come from, what work he was escaping and stuff.’

  ‘Maybe he’s extremely private.’

  ‘Maybe he’s an escaped prisoner or
something.’

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous!’

  ‘Well, he might be.’

  ‘If he is, he’s an escaped prisoner who knows a lot about gardening, so he can stay.’

  Tina unhooked her bag from her chair. ‘Are you absolutely sure you don’t want me to stay? All I’d have to do is make a quick call and I can stop here overnight.’

  Noting the mild heightening of colour on Tina’s cheeks, Thea cocked her head to one side. ‘A quick call? Have you got a date?’

  ‘Well, umm, yes.’

  Thea’s eyes widened. ‘Really? That’s great. Why didn’t you say? I’d have left off going on about Sam.’

  Tina shifted her bag further up her arm. ‘I thought you might laugh.’

  Thea propped herself against the edge of the table. ‘I’d never laugh at you. With you certainly, but never at you. What’s the lucky chap like?’

  ‘His name’s Leon, but I don’t know what he’s like. Not yet.’

  ‘How come you… ah, Internet dating?’

  ‘Yeah.’ Tina tugged at her pigtails. ‘Why aren’t you smirking?’

  ‘Because it’s a good idea. You’re braver than I am. I’d started to think about joining a dating site, but then John re-arrived and my life tilted in a rather different angle than I was expecting.’

  Tina beamed. ‘You were? And you aren’t saying that to be nice?’

  ‘Thousands of people find their partners that way now. One of my colleagues at the museum met his wife that way. Seeing them together, it’s inconceivable to think they may never have met otherwise. They just fit somehow.’

  ‘That’s good. Maybe that’s how I’ll feel tomorrow.’

  ‘This is a first date, then?’

  ‘Yes. I’ve had a few that haven’t worked. I’ve told myself this is the last chance on this site. If it’s a disaster I’ll try a different one.’

  ‘Which one is it?’

  Tina blushed. ‘Superior Singles.’

  Thea couldn’t help but grin. ‘Leon wouldn’t be an older guy with a bit of money in the bank, would he?’

  ‘You wouldn’t be laughing at me, would you?’ Tina smiled despite herself.