“I want you to have it. I have other coats, and anyway, it looks better on you.” I know that’s a lie but I don’t call him out on it. He comes over and takes it off me, holding it out for me to put on. When I turn back around he tucks it round me.
“It’ll make me feel better knowing you’re warm up here. It gets even colder in January.”
“Thanks,” I whisper, his kindness and words threatening to bring back the tears. “I don’t want to say goodbye.”
“Then don’t say the words, because it’s not. We will see each other again. Soon.”
His words have a firm edge to them, and I let their strength seep into me. I pull out my phone and unlock it, then I hand it to him.
“I want regular messages and dick pics, please. Lots of dick pics,” I say, and he snorts as he passes me his phone. I put in my number, adding the contact as Cutie. He chuckles as I pass it back, then I see the name he put in. Sweetheart.
He pulls me into a deep kiss, almost bending me backwards. I return it with desperation and longing, trying to fit a month’s worth of kisses into a few short moments. Finally he releases me.
“I gotta go to work,” I say quietly and he nods, following me to the door. “Let me know when you get there safely.”
“I will.” I see him swallow and I know he’s struggling to keep it together as much as me. A part of me wants to cry, “take me with you,” but I know it has to be this way.
“Look aftermyhorse, alright?” I say as I open the door, and he smiles and ever-so-slightly rolls his eyes.
“Sometimes I think you like my horse more than me.”
“One day I’ll tell you if that’s true or not.” His soft laugh is the last sound I hear before the door clicks shut behind me.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
ANDRÉS
“Who’s ready for a drink?” Gabriel asks and receives a chorus of agreement. I blow on my hands and stamp my feet to try to bring some feeling back into them after being outside for the last few hours.
“Shall we go to the pub?” Linden suggests.
“You want to go to the pub on Christmas Eve? Are you crazy? It’ll be packed,” Gabriel’s sister Imogen scoffs, and Linden just laughs at her.
“I don’t mind. I could murder a pint right now.”
“We have beer at the house, Lin. But Andrés looks like he could do with something warmer and stronger to thaw him out,” Gabriel says.
“How do you cope with this?” I ask, stuffing my hands into my pockets. No one prepared me for a British winter. Aspen was technically colder, but there the air was crisp and dry. This isjust urgh. A cold grey dampness that drips off every surface and seeps into your bones, chilling you from the inside out. I don’t think I’ve been properly warm since I arrived here a few days ago. Thinking of Aspen brings Simon to my mind, not that he’s ever far from it. What I’d love right now is to crawl into a bed with him in it to warm me up. I resist the temptation to pull out my phone and check if he’s messaged because it would buzz if he had. He’s already sent me one this morning—early for him—and I know he’s busy preparing as much as possible for tomorrow, so I content myself with waiting until later.
“This is still quite mild. You wait until January and February. It’s truly dreadful then,” Imogen adds.
“Shut up, Immy,” Gabriel says. “Don’t scare him away before we’ve even got started.”
“He didn’t warn you about the weather, then?” Imogen asks, having no intention of obeying her brother.
“No, I don’t remember him mentioning that I might lose my toes to frostbite, or I might have asked for danger money,” I reply, and Imogen laughs heartily.
“Well, I know a good lawyer if you need to seek compensation for damages.”
“Will you two stop it,” Gabriel grumbles, and Imogen laughs again. Being included like this, even if I’ve been used as a pawn in the ongoing sibling banter, warms me enough to take the chill off. I’ve learned in a short space of time that Gabriel, despite him being my boss, doesn’t want any sort of awkward boss-employee relationship. Possibly because we were friends on the polo circuit first. He’s already drawn me into his family and close friends group. The flipside to that is being expected to joinin and help out, and today is no exception. Apparently Boxing Day is a traditional day for hunting in England. Gabriel’s family stopped hunting before it was made illegal, but the gathering has been an event at Monkswood for hundreds of years, a chance for the family to give back to the community. So they still have a ride across the estate for the locals, and afterwards, they serve food and drink in one of the barns. Today we’ve been setting out roped-off areas for people to park their cars and horseboxes, and putting up signs for the ride route across the whole estate.
We pile into the two ATVs we’ve been using—Gabriel, myself, and Linden in one, and Imogen and her husband Oliver in the other—and we drive back to the house. Monkswood Hall is huge. Gabriel didn’t say he lived in a fucking palace, at least that’s what it feels like. Large, ancient, and draughty is how he described it, but I didn’t believe him until I saw it for myself. He says it was built five hundred years ago with stone from the local abbey. It’s certainly beautiful but I’m glad I don’t have his heating bill. Gabriel drives round the back of the house, to a courtyard where there are several other ATVs parked up. He’s already told me they’re used for getting about the estate and I can use one whenever I need to. The keys are always left in. When I asked about security, Gabriel laughed.
“We’re a mile from the nearest road, who do you think is going to come up here and steal one? The gates are locked at night so they wouldn’t get far anyway.”
I’ve already seen the security cameras around the place, so I assume he knows what he’s talking about. We enter the boot room and take off our coats and boots. I follow Gabriel and Linden through a huge hallway, to a room where there’s a large open fire and several couches and chairs. It’s a welcome sight. There are several pictures on the wall, mostly animals, and a fewdisplay cases of pottery and small bronze statues. Against one of the walls stands a piano, and I wonder if Gabriel will let me play it sometime. It’s been a few years and I know I’ll be rusty, but maybe I’ll have time to play again while I’m here and not travelling so much. We’re greeted by three large hounds, their tails thumping and tongues lolling.
“They’re useless as guard dogs,” Gabriel grumbles.
