The question came completely out of left field, and it caught Dee up short. ‘Robbie?’
‘I’m not an idiot, Mummy. I saw the way you two were looking at one another in the fir plantation. There’s something you’re keeping back. I can tell.’
Dee smiled, her lips twisted into the shape but the emotion which should accompany it remaining absent. ‘He told me how he’s carried a torch for me for years.’ She shook her head, Freya’s confused expression mirrored by her own. ‘I know. Crazy, right? I mean, he’s almost ten years younger than me, and he’s so very handsome. He could have his pick of women.’ She swallowed, unsure how to phrase the rest of it. ‘Anyway, I was feeling low and weak, and …’
Freya’s shoulders hitched back, her expression darkening. ‘He took advantage of you?’
‘No, in fact I think it was the other way around. I think I took advantage of him. And it was the first time in years I actually felt special, desired. He made me feel … incredible. But …’
Freya tilted her head, a mannerism which Dee knew meant her daughter was processing information. Then she shook her head. Dee was convinced she knew what Freya was about to say. That she’d done the right thing; that a relationship with a younger man in these circumstances would only end in more tears, and Freya found the whole idea ridiculous. How she should concentrate on healing herself before she ran headlong into something else. Dee felt sure Freya would reinforce all the messages she had been doing her best to convince herself with.
‘You and Robbie …’
‘I know. It’s ridiculous, laughable. I don’t know what I was thinking – it was nothing but a moment of madness.’
‘Was it?’
‘Well, yes. I can only think that’s what everyone will believe. Can you imagine what his mother would say?’
‘You’ve found another human being who makes you feel all the things you deserve and have missed out on – and you’re worrying about what his mother will think?’ Freya did nothing to hide her smile. ‘I agree with you, thatisridiculous.’
Dee frowned. Maybe she had been scraping the bottom of the objections barrel dragging Dorathy Keel into the discussion. ‘So, what doyouthink, Freya?’
‘I think it doesn’t matter what I think – or Liv or Seb for that matter. I think all that matters is what you and Robbie feel for one another,’ Freya said, her smile broadening.
‘Do you?’ Dee had been so sure her children would find the whole idea ridiculous.
‘Is he as much of a gentleman as I’ve always imagined him to be?’ Freya asked.
Dee struggled to find the right words to adequately describe Robbie; instead her eyes filled with tears all over again and her lips quivered with emotion as she nodded.
‘Well, then, you’ve got an easy decision to make, haven’t you?’ Freya said.
Chapter 29
Sebastian had to admit he enjoyed opening up the music room to the village choir the following day. Aggie Fernell had made enough of a recovery to join her fellow singers and he couldn’t help but notice the way her gaze kept straying to the grand piano, the delighted smile when he’d asked if she’d like to play it, to accompany the singers.
She’d almost shoved him out of the way to get herself into position on the piano stool, and Sebastian had happily stood back. The grand piano Sebastian had grown up playing was a fantastic instrument – and having clonked his way through the carols on the village hall’s piano, he was beginning to properly appreciate it. He knew how well it measured up to those used by professional pianists from the orchestras he’d worked with and appreciated his privilege of having grown up with it.
He knew now, also – courtesy of the Macwarrens – that the piano had been bought and placed in Kirkshield Castle for far more than its aesthetic merits. The generations who came before him had also enjoyed it for its musicality, rather than as a status symbol. Somehow, that thought had him smiling as he listened to Aggie’s rendition of ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas’.
Whatever Jess had said when she’d suggested they move rehearsals to the castle had gone some way to denting some of the negativity he’d felt from the locals at previous rehearsals. It wasn’t gone completely. He had a long way to go if he wanted to truly integrate the castle and the community once more – but he no longer felt utterly overwhelmed by the task. And if he did have moments of uncertainty, he simply recited Jess’s mantra: brick by brick.
Jess had kept quiet about her aunt’s singing ability, but a fully independent and wheelchair-free Vivi had also joined the choir and, if he didn’t know better, he would have assumed Jess had inherited her ability from Vivi. It appeared many of the assembled group had already commented to that effect, and both Vivi and Jess were happy with the assumption, even if it wasn’t strictly accurate.
At the conclusion of the latest rehearsal, Sebastian had asked if the choir would like to perform at the house on Christmas morning. He intended to invite everyone from the village – make a big deal of the work the choir had put in – and they seemed more than happy to agree. He also promised them mulled wine and mince pies. Maybe the promise of alcohol was what had swung things for the handful of doubters.
As Jess busied herself wishing everyone a good evening as she let them out via the scullery door, Vivi had pulled him aside. She had told him in no uncertain terms that Jess would only remain at Kirkshield Castle for another couple of weeks, before being deployed elsewhere.
He’d assumed, incorrectly, that Jess had confessed the estate’s poor financial status to Vivi, and that the business owner in Vivi was protecting not only her foster daughter but her business asset, too. However, what Vivi had gone on to say had painted the situation in a very different light – and had left Sebastian with plenty to think about.
When Jess reappeared in the music room, her gaze travelled between the two of them.
‘What are you cooking up, Vivi?’ she said, suspicion dominating her features.
‘Nothing.’ Vivi turned to Sebastian, and he didn’t know how he managed to stifle a laugh at the effort she was making in order to keep a straight face. ‘She’s always so very suspicious. I have no idea where she gets her natural scepticism from – it can’t be from me.’
‘I was asking Vivi if she might like to come to lunch with us on Christmas Day. I thought it might be nice for her to be here,’ he said.
