‘You would think so.’
She went inside, took Callum’s things to his room, unpacked and left the bags behind a chair ready to repack in the morning with whatever he chose to take for that day.
The one place Riley refused to allow anyone apart from her to enter was the primary bedroom suite with its unmade bed and cups and plates with detritus from whatever food or drink he hadn’t finished the night before. She put them all together on the chest of drawers nearest the door, then walked down the short hallway leading first to a dressing room where she was greeted with clothes on the floor beneath empty hangers and the en-suite bathroom to the right with damp towels strewn all over the floor. She took several minutes to tidy up and replace towels from the airing cupboard along the hall midway between his room and hers.
Satisfied that Riley’s room was as tidy as she could make it, she went to her room and having chosen what to wear the following day, changed into a pair of shorts and a thin summery top. She sat on her bed wishing she didn’t have any work to do and could simply slip under the sheets and fall asleep. This was the most comfortable bed she had ever slept in and she knew she would miss it when she did leave. She fell back against her downy pillows and closed her eyes.
The most difficult part about staying here longer was going to be putting up with Riley’s moods and persuading him to get out of bed in the mornings.
Deciding to get up before she did actually fall asleep, Tasha made her way through to Riley’s bedroom to fetch the dirty crockery and take it down to the kitchen.
Spotting the stunning view from his bedroom window, she walked over to one of them and gazed out at the pond and wood beyond.
She opened the window slightly to let in a little more air and looked up the driveway in the direction of the manor house, noticing that she could only just see a couple of upstairs windows. She wondered how the party preparations were coming along and whether all the guests had arrived yet, when she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye.
It was a pretty, blonde-haired woman of about her age wandering cheerfully across the lawn. She didn’t look as if she was heading anywhere in particular, or in any hurry, and Tasha was concerned about Riley’s reaction to seeing a stranger so close to the cottage when she had assured him she had chosen this place for the privacy.
Tasha groaned, aware she needed to go outside and speak to the woman and discreetly find out who she was and what she was doing down here. If she was one of Callum’s guests hopefully she wouldn’t mind being asked to stay closer to the main house or bypass this property on her walk. Tasha heard the girl singing something but didn’t recognise the tune. She hoped she wasn’t about to upset her by asking her to move.
Tasha grabbed the crockery and hurried downstairs and out of the front door, her thoughts racing as she tried to think how best to address the issue with the woman. Stepping outside, Tasha had only gone a little way when she heard laughter. Had someone joined the woman? She went to find out and as she walked around the end of the house, she saw Riley with his hands on his hips and head thrown back.
Unsure what to do for a moment, Tasha decided to leave them to it. Riley seemed perfectly happy and she was grateful not to have to endure an awkward conversation with someone who was most likely related to Callum, especially after all Callum had done to return Riley’s phone.
‘Hey, Tasha,’ Riley shouted, waving her over to join them. ‘Come here for a second.’
Groaning inwardly, Tasha did as he asked. She smiled politely and held out her hand towards the woman when she reached them. ‘Hi, I’m Tasha, Riley’s assistant.’
The girl beamed back at her. ‘I see. I’m Erin. Erin Preston. I gather you’ve met my brother Callum.’
Tasha’s stomach did a little flip at the mention of his name. ‘That’s right.’ Tasha smiled. ‘He was very kind finding Riley’s phone recently. We’re grateful to him, aren’t we, Riley?’
She didn’t look at him when she asked the question, knowing him well enough to be certain he had his most charming smile on his face and would act exactly as he was expected to.
‘We are. In fact, I was hoping to see him again sometime to thank him personally.’
There was a slight silence before Erin spoke. ‘If you’re doing nothing now, I’m sure Callum wouldn’t mind you popping by the manor house to say hi. If you’re not too busy, that is?’
Tasha wasn’t sure. ‘Won’t he be getting everything ready for the party tomorrow though?’
Erin shrugged. ‘He’s got all of us helping him do that. No, I’m certain it’ll be fine.’
Tasha didn’t like to point out that if Erin was here chatting to them then she wasn’t being much help with the party preparations. She waited for Riley to decide what he wanted to do.
‘Great idea,’ he said. ‘I was hoping for a tour of the house and grounds, wasn’t I, Tasha?’
It was the first she had heard of it, Tasha thought, but didn’t argue and instead forced another smile, wishing she had Riley’s talent for charming people.
‘Great,’ Erin said. ‘Let’s go.’
‘Shouldn’t we wait while you check he’s OK with us bothering him?’ Tasha asked, not wanting to be one of the reasons Callum’s preparations were interrupted.
‘No, my brother will go mad if I don’t invite you both.’ Erin cocked her head. ‘Come on, I promise we won’t be long. Anyway, if we’re to be neighbours for the next week I think we should get to know each other a bit, don’t you?’
‘Of course we should,’ Riley agreed, linking arms with Erin and making her giggle in delight.
Tasha followed the pair of them, hoping Callum’s relations wouldn’t mind them intruding. She suspected the next week was going to be a very long one.
13
