by Jenny Kane
He crossed his arms defensively across his chest. ‘You can’t fire me, I’m a volunteer. I’ve signed the paperwork that says I can stay as I’ve passed the safety briefing.’
With her sense of exasperation and frustration at John’s blind stubbornness growing, Thea all but pleaded, ‘But you know nothing about restoration! I can’t imagine you getting your hands dirty via manual labour. I know for a fact that the shirt you’re wearing cost a fortune. You won’t want to ruin that.’
‘For you I would!’ John leapt to his feet. ‘Come out for a meal with me tonight. Just the two of us.’
‘You just said you were only here to apologise, and here you are, asking me out again.’ Thea picked up her clipboard and held it close to her chest. ‘John, I don’t think you’ve heard a single word I’ve said!’
‘Then tell me again over dinner.’ He checked his watch. ‘If we leave now, then we’ll still make our reservation.’
‘You’ve already booked us a table somewhere?’
‘Thea,’ John’s smile stayed in place, as he held out a hand for Thea to take. ‘We’ll have a nice time. I’m sure you could use some time out from the others. Especially that celebrity—’
Shaun’s voice rang across the scullery. ‘One of the worst things about my job is being labelled a celebrity. I’m not a celebrity. I’m a lucky archaeologist with a good job. I promise you’ll never see me dancing on television with a host of other people who think they’re famous, but who hardly anyone has heard of. Nor will I be dashing off to the jungle to eat grubs anytime soon.’
Completely ignoring John, Shaun lounged against the kitchen door and gestured to the paperwork on the table. ‘Are you ready, Thea? Our table is booked for nine. It isn’t the sort of place that likes you to be late for dinner.’
Recognising a rescue when she heard one, Thea said, ‘I’ll just make sure the house is empty and change my top.’
‘Excellent. I’ve already escorted Tina to her car. I’ll make sure this… gentleman… leaves safely.’
Thea smiled. ‘Thank you.’
Thea ran up the servants’ stairs. She didn’t want to think about what John might be saying to Shaun as he found himself purposefully steered to the back door.
Seventeen
April 9th
‘So, it’s not exactly the Ritz I made it out to be.’
Shaun pulled out a chair so Thea could sit down. ‘It could be a McDonald’s for all I care.’ Thea grabbed the glass of wine that Moira, the landlady of the Stag and Hound, had placed in front of her. ‘Thanks for rescuing me, but there’s no need to feel obliged to look after me now we’ve dodged John. I can slip out the back and grab some food from the bar.’ She glanced around the lounge-cum-dining room Shaun had steered her into via the pub’s staff entrance. ‘This is where you’re hiding out?’
‘It is. Moira has been marvellous. Something of a Landscape Treasures fan luckily for us. This is her private living area.’ Shaun raised a pint of Owl Bitter to his lips and paused, his expression serious. ‘I’m not letting you leave until you’ve eaten. I bet you haven’t had anything since breakfast.’
‘There hasn’t been time.’
Shaun was unconvinced by this claim. ‘As your temporary Sir Galahad, I insist on feeding you while you tell me what that excuse for a man wanted.’
Thea tried to sound dismissive, taking a sip of wine so she didn’t have to look at Shaun as she explained. ‘John saw me on the television and decided he’d come here to rake over old times. It was nothing really. I just hadn’t expected to see him.’
‘It appeared more serious than that. You were shaking and, more to the point, you were willing to come out with me in order to escape going out with him. Not an offer you’d have accepted otherwise, I suspect.’
Shielding her red cheeks with the menu to hide that he was right, Thea spoke into the list of delicious sounding fare. ‘Forgive me, I must seem ungrateful. But there isn’t much to tell.’
‘I could tell that dinner with John was the last thing you wanted, but you obviously need food. You are too pale and shaky for my liking.’
‘I shake a lot due to rotten circulation. Nothing to worry about.’ Meeting his eyes, Thea saw Shaun regarding her as if she might break and mumbled, ‘You’re right. I’ve not been eating enough. Being hungry always makes things seem worse than they are, don’t you think?’
‘Ummm.’ Shaun waved his phone. ‘Moira said to text the order and the food will arrive, genie-style, very soon.’
‘Wow, you really have got things sussed here.’ Finding she didn’t want to tell him they’d be housemates, and vowing to find herself a place to stay the next day, Thea asked, ‘Are you sure you want to move into the manor? You’ll have to cook for yourself and go without home comforts.’
‘After three weeks camping on the edge of a field in Wales in the pouring rain with no toilets or running water and the only source of food being a local petrol station, Mill Grange will feel like Buckingham Palace.’
Thea sounded wistful. ‘I remember that sort of adventure.’
‘Do you miss it?’
‘A bit. Not so much the being frozen and soaked with rain, or the wondering where to pee in the middle of the night, but the camaraderie. Excavation time was always so full of fun and companionship, not to mention the thrill of discovery – or not.’
‘That’s exactly it.’ Shaun’s face lit up in understanding, and suddenly he was every bit the TV presenter. ‘It’s not the work as such, but what it might lead to; what could be found. And the people, they’re the best in the world.’ Shaun paused, as if he’d realised how enthusiastic he’d become, and held up his phone again, ‘Now, do you know what you’d like to eat yet?’
‘Chicken and leek pie and chips please.’
‘Good choice.’ Shaun nodded. ‘With gravy, I hope?’
‘You Northerner you!’ Thea felt some of the tension in her shoulders unknot.
‘Don’t knock the Northerner, Southern girl.’
‘As if I would. My five years in Durham were the happiest of my life.’
‘I’d forgotten you were at Durham.’ The hint of flirtation Thea thought she’d seen in Shaun’s eyes dimmed. ‘Why did you give up the excavation circuit to work at the Roman Baths?’ He leant forward, giving her a waft of clean skin and fresh cotton.
Fiddling her wine glass in her fingers, Thea watched the pale liquid slosh around inside. ‘It was my dream job. Romano-Britain has been my passion since we did the Romans at primary school when I was five. If it hadn’t been the Roman Baths, I’d have tried to get a job at Herculaneum or Cirencester or somewhere similar. But Bath…’
‘The jewel in the crown.’
‘Exactly.’ Thea trailed a fingertip down the stem of her glass. ‘My job involved a lot of artefact analysis as well as conservation and museum work. I had the best of both worlds. Museum management and historical evaluation, with the occasional site visit thrown in for good measure. I was very lucky.’
‘And yet, here you are. On a Victorian site with no qualified staff, bar Tina, and if the trustees carry out their threat, unemployment looming.’
‘Yes.’ Thea wished she could think of something else to talk about, but her mind had gone blank.
‘You don’t strike me as someone who’d give up their childhood dream on a whim.’
From nowhere, tears pricked at the back of Thea’s eyes. She stared at the menu which rested in her lap, angry with herself for being feeble. Clearing her throat, she pretended to cough. ‘Sorry. Dry throats always make my eyes run.’ She took a gulp of Pinot. ‘There, that’s better.’
‘You don’t have to tell me.’ Shaun tilted his head, not convinced that her dotting of tears was the result of one cough. ‘Not if you don’t want to.’
Suddenly, Thea found she wanted to explain. When Shaun had last seen her, she was one of the main speakers at an international historical conference, and now… now she wasn’t sure what she was. It had all seemed so sensible
at the time.
‘The main reason I came here was because I wanted a new challenge. Perhaps I missed the social side of the dig life more than I realised? I hadn’t thought about that until now.’ She took another sip of wine to enforce her dry throat fib. ‘Working in Bath was great. I loved it. I used to talk to the Goddess Minerva all the time. And yes, I am aware that makes me sound nuts, but I had a statue in the corner of my office and she often gave better advice than anyone else on staff.’
Shaun laughed. ‘I can believe that. Frankly, if the Goddess of Wisdom can’t help, who can?’
Thea smiled. ‘But statues aside, I hardly met anyone. I worked behind the scenes or with transitory groups of people, and well…’ Thea broke off. She could feel her earlier blush rising back across her cheeks.
‘You were lonely?’
‘More tired of my own company really. I’m thirty-two, I suppose I assumed by now…’ Revisited by a flashback of Shaun removing the cobwebs from her hair, Thea changed direction. ‘The restoration manager job at Mill Grange came along just when I needed it. Tina was already with the Trust, and it is great to be working with her.’
Shaun studied Thea’s face, noticing the random flecks of brown that mixed with the blue of her eyes. ‘So you fancied a fresh challenge in the hope you’d be introduced to new people and have a more hands-on career?’
‘Exactly.’ Glad to be back on the topic of her new job, she added, ‘If everything had gone to plan, I’d have managed the manor and mill once it was open to the public. Arranged exhibitions, visits, and all that.’
‘And now?’
‘Until I’m told otherwise, I’ll carry on busting a gut to get the manor open on time.’ To Thea’s relief, they were interrupted by Moira arriving with their food. ‘Thank you, that smells amazing.’
The landlady smiled, but said nothing as she scuttled back to her busy bar.
‘She’ll think we’re on a date.’
Shaun’s eyebrows rose. ‘Would that be so awful?’
‘You have your reputation to think of.’
‘And so do you.’ Shaun’s hand hovered over the tiny gravy-boat steaming invitingly on the edge of his plate. ‘I have a confession to make.’
Thea tried not to burn her mouth as she chewed too many chips at once.
‘I have an ulterior motive for being at Mill Grange.’
Thea’s heart sank. Perhaps she should have stuck to her first instincts and not let Shaun anywhere near the grange. ‘You do?’
‘Do you remember the conference in Bath?’ Shaun shifted in his seat. ‘The Historical and Heritage Committee one?’
‘I remember.’ Thea wished she hadn’t already drained her wine. ‘You were with Becky Gibson.’
‘Oh, yes.’ Shaun stared into his pint glass. He obviously hadn’t expected that name to come up.
‘Yes?’ Thea felt her hackles rising. ‘That’s all you can say? You broke my friend’s heart and all you give me is an, “Oh yes”?’
‘I broke her heart?’ His glass landed on the table with a thump. ‘Are you kidding me?’
‘After the conference, Becky told me what had happened.’ Thea’s frown deepened. ‘You don’t deny ending it, do you?’
‘No, I don’t.’ Shaun stabbed his fork at his chips. ‘I’m sorry to say this if she’s your friend, but there’s no denying that woman’s trouble.’
Thea was about to defend Becky when she recalled how many times in the past forty-eight hours Shaun had acted against type; at least, the type of man her student-time friend had attributed him to be.
‘Becky arrived in my life at that conference like a targeted missile. With hindsight I saw she had it all planned. I was too blind… too flattered and arrogant to see it.’
‘Becky’s a pretty girl.’
‘A little too pretty for my taste.’
‘How do you mean?’
Shaun grinned, easing the sudden tension. ‘She’d never dribble gravy for a start.’
Self-consciously dabbing a spot of stray gravy from her chin, Thea resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at him as Shaun’s smile dropped back into a scowl of recollection. ‘Her hair was too neat, her makeup too perfect, clothes too clean and clearly expensive. Didn’t you ever wonder how Becky could afford them?’ He paused. ‘It was like she was hiding something under all the layers of perfection. I was a fool not to see it.’
‘See what?’
‘That I was nothing more than a challenge to her.’ Shaun drained the remaining ale from his glass. ‘I’d just landed my second series of Landscape Treasures. I was still learning how to act in the public eye. To say I was a rookie who was out of his depth is putting it mildly. Anyway, I discovered later that Becky was a celeb-hunter. The more known faces she slept with the better.’
‘You’re joking?’
‘I wish I was.’ Shaun sighed. ‘I discovered, purely by accident, that she’d been recording us in bed.’
Thea froze in the act of cutting her pie as an image she didn’t want fogged her mind. ‘How… ummm… how do you discover something like that by accident?’
‘I knocked her mobile to the floor when I turned over to get a glass of water while she was in the shower… afterwards.’ Shaun faltered as it dawned on him exactly what he was confessing to. ‘The phone was still recording.’
‘Oh.’ Thea didn’t know what else to say.
Intently studying, but not really seeing, a painting of a stag that hung over the fireplace, Shaun hurriedly said, ‘I deleted it all before I confronted her, which was stupid because then I had no evidence and, of course, she denied it. Said the video function must have been knocked on by the fall. I told Becky to get out and not come back, and she left – and then apparently painted me as a brute to all her friends as an act of revenge.’
Thea swallowed. ‘I’m sorry I believed her. She was very convincing.’
‘Fakes often are.’ Shaun shifted awkwardly in his seat. ‘Anyway, you didn’t know me then. I hope you see me differently now we’ve met properly.’
Finding she couldn’t look at him, Thea stared at her plate. ‘Yes. Yes, of course.’
Shaun stabbed another chip as if it was entirely to blame for his past mistakes. ‘A year later I was chatting to a fellow presenter at a charity dinner and discovered he hadn’t been so lucky. Becky had got three grand out of him to keep their night together out of the papers.’
‘Bloody hell.’
‘I was lucky in that hardly anyone outside of the world of archaeology fans knew who I was at that stage of my career.’
The room became quiet but for the scrape of cutlery on china, until Shaun said, ‘I told you I had a confession to make.’
‘Wasn’t that it?’
‘No.’ He looked uneasy. ‘I’ve been following your career since that conference. That’s why I was so surprised when you stepped off the radar and left Bath.’
‘Followed me?’ Thea paled. Shaun, as if guessing what she was thinking, quickly added, ‘Not in a stalker way, but in a fellow professional spotting a potential colleague sort of way.’
‘Whatever for?’
‘Because before Becky Gibson blinded me with fake flattery, I was going to ask you out.’
Eighteen
April 9th
Thea realised that her mouth was wordlessly opening and closing before she finally whispered, ‘Ask me out?’
‘It can’t be that much of a shock surely?’ Shaun tilted his head and gave her a lopsided grin. ‘We have a lot in common.’
‘But you don’t know anything about me.’
‘I’d like to though.’ Shaun dropped his gaze to his plate and shovelled up his last mouthful of food. ‘You couldn’t be more surprised if I’d punched you.’
‘I… it’s just.’ An image of John’s grinning face as he sat next to Mabel at the kitchen table elbowed its way into her mind. ‘There’s so much going on and… well, you could go out with anyone.’
‘And yet here I am with you.’ Shaun gav
e Thea a searching look. ‘How about we leave it at that? For now.’
‘For now?’ Thea couldn’t decide if she was disappointed or relieved.
‘For now you need to sort out the manor and, more immediately I suspect, John.’ Shaun held her gaze. ‘After that, I reserve the right to ask you on a proper date. Would that be acceptable?’
‘Um. Yes. Thanks.’ Thea laid down her knife and fork, not quite sure what to do or say next. She’d spent years with the idea of Shaun Cowlson as the man who’d hurt her friend. Now, she didn’t know what to think. There was food left on her plate, but delicious though it was, she couldn’t face another mouthful. ‘Is it possible to fire a volunteer?’
‘Ah.’ Shaun glowered over his pint. ‘You really don’t want John here, do you?’
‘No. For his sake as much as mine.’
‘Come on.’ Shaun pushed back his chair and headed to the sofa. ‘Let’s sit by the fire.’ Seeing the conflicted expression on Thea’s face, he held up a palm as if he was a scout making a promise. ‘I’ll sit as far away from you as the seat cushions will allow. We may as well be comfortable while you explain why you want John away from Mill Grange so badly.’
Thea conceded the point. ‘Do you think we could have another drink? This saga requires alcohol.’
*
After Thea had explained the full story, Shaun insisted on walking her back to Mill Grange.
Protesting for the third time as they crept out of the pub under the cover of darkness, Thea crossed her fingers as she said, ‘Tina will be picking me up to take me back to her place for the night soon. And besides, I’ll have to move around on my own during the day or no work will get done. In fact, I intend to be so busy John won’t have the time to get anywhere near me.’
‘I wish it wasn’t so awkward trying to fire volunteers.’ Shaun hovered at Thea’s elbow as they walked up the driveway, almost, but not touching her arm. ‘Especially one who hasn’t even started work. He hasn’t had the chance to make an unforgivable mistake yet, and as he’s passed the health and safety thing… I don’t suppose anything will come up when his criminal check thing is done?’