“Ollie.Thereyou are.”
Oh, shit. I knew this would come, that Archer would meet my parents, but dread was unfurling in my belly as I turned to face them.
They’d grown smaller since I’d last seen them. Perhaps it was seeing them away from Shaw territory, but they looked less impressive, somehow.
After Archer had welcomed them, Mum looked around with a practised gaze, and I wilted inside, waiting for her criticism.
“Talbot Court wasn’t on my radar,” she informed Archer, “but I don’t know why because it’s going to be beautiful once fully restored.”
“Thank you. I happen to think it’s rather beautiful now.”
After an instant’s shock, as Mum processed Archer’s response and the fact he was the head of a family, she agreed. “It is,” she said, and she meant it. “I’m keen to see the sculpture garden finished.”
It had been an overgrown mess when Chris and I had first tackled it. Now it was an untidy but welcoming space, with the old stone statues we’d uncovered standing at clever focal points. Whoever had designed this garden had been a genius. It was my favourite part of the gardens, too, and I smiled at Mum as I realised that.
“Ollie’s done a fantastic job making all of this happen,” Archer continued, his hand warm and reassuring in the small of my back.
Dad cocked his head, as if he must not have heard that correctly.
“The entire idea was his, as well as the execution of all the details,” Archer continued, and Jack turned away to hide a smile.
My phone sounded.He’s nuts about you.I kind of knew that, but to hear it from someone else was nice.
Archer escorted my parents round the grounds as I went to ensure no one had fallen into the pool in the maze. I also checked in on Tim, who was doing his usual roaring trade selling plants from Talbot Court garden, and Mia, who was sitting by the moat selling duck food and small cardboard tubs of ice cream. I knew we’d do well to offer tea and cakes, but that would be a nightmare with food safety standards, and I wasn’t ready to takethat on yet. On our first open day, we’d sold bottles of water, but none of us liked doing that because of the ecological cost. These days, we simply had a table with big jugs of water and fruit squash together with cheap glasses that wouldn’t break the bank if people walked off with them. Guests could help themselves for free. It made it feel a little less like a business and more like welcoming people to our home.
Perhaps we could get some koi carp or trout for the moat and sell food for them as well. I wasn’t sure about that, because the existence of fish might encourage more ducks. I’dalmostgot used to the storm of quacking that started up right outside the window each dawn. On the days when they still woke me, it was an opportunity to wake Archer in my turn, and we’d have time together before heading off to work. Time with his body warm against mine, with kisses and murmurs as we touched one another. I didn’t think I would ever grow tired of discovering his body anew.
“Earth to Ollie.” I blinked back thoughts of warm, sleepy, naked Archer to find Jack standing there. “We’re heading out. Mr Rochester invited us to supper, but your parents graciously declined.” He leaned in closer and lowered his voice. “I think they’re a bit overawed by him.”
“Heisimpressive, isn’t he?” I agreed.
“Nope. Not going there. You can keep your sex talk for him.” He grinned at me, the same grin I’d seen almost every day of my life, easy and filled with years of friendship. “I’ll give your love to Sarah and Lisa.”
“I’ll come over before much longer,” I promised. It was on Archer’s radar to make a formal visit to Jack’s dad, but we’d been so busy, there hadn’t been time. As well as all the work of getting the gardens ready to open, the rather terrifying Evelyn Berstow had visited, and Rufus and Mark had come back to spend time in the library. And in the maze, which Mark had figured out byhimself on only his second attempt. No wonder he was at Oxford University.
I didn’t have time to indulge in the slight sadness I felt after waving off my parents and Jack. There was too much to do. I had a child to reunite with its lost parents, season tickets to sell to guests who weren’t comfortable buying online, and Chris to congratulate on his new job. I’d miss his help around the place.
When Chris and I first started working together, I’d scarcely been able to look at him because of the guilt I felt over flaming him, but he’d had the same problem concerning what he’d done to me. Our mutual feelings of guilt balanced one another, meaning we got past that quite quickly. What took longer was my wariness of him. I knew he hadn’t been in his right mind, but my body remembered his hand around my throat even when my brain told me he was safe.
Archer had been even more edgy than I was, and he was never out of our sight for that first week. I had no idea what that did to his schedule of work in the forge, but it meant we’d got a lot more done in the garden than I’d anticipated. After a while, Chris and I had settled into a working partnership, and now, I found I’d miss him. I had Tim and Mia’s help for the rest of the summer, but we’d need to hire someone else.
Why had I ever thought this to be a good idea? The challenges were never-ending. But as Archer came up behind me, his hand in the small of my back and that wonderful scent of metal and smoke surrounding him, I was happier than I’d ever been.
* * *
I came back into the bedroom fresh from the shower and found a large cardboard box on the bed.
“For you,” Archer said, with a soft smile.
Oh my God, Ilovedpresents. I scrabbled at the flaps to open it.
“Bear in mind, I started this before you opened hostilities with them,” he added as I lifted out the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.
Archer hadmadethis? Forme?
It was a sculpture of a peacock, tail curved down behind it to sweep the floor, and it was as exquisitely made as all of his work, with the feathers rendered in minute detail. He’d made hard metal look organic.
It was beautiful beyond words, but what left me speechless was what it was made from. The body and feathers were copper, while the quills and eyes of the feathers gleamed silver.
