‘In her defence, she was always going to give you the dress for Christmas, but she decided to give it to you a bit early, in case you might need it.’
‘Need it for what?’ Jess frowned. ‘Did she organise this evening?’
He shook his head vehemently. ‘No. Absolutely not. She simply suggested I might like to show you how much I appreciate what you’ve done for the family.’
‘Really?’
He pressed his lips together. ‘OK. That might not be exactly what she said.’
‘So, what did she actually say?’
‘She told me to remember you’re only here for another couple of weeks. And that sometimes we’re so busy focusing on one thing – in my case the problems with the estate – that we fail to see what’s staring us in the face.’ He took a deep breath. ‘She said I didn’tlookparticularly stupid, but that if I let something important, something I really want, if I let it slip through my fingers, then she would revise her opinion, because looks could be deceiving.’
The frown which flurried across his face and the way he took a gulp of bubbles suggested he was nervous.
‘I don’t think I understand,’ she said.
‘I don’t think I did either, for far too long.’ He looked around the room, swallowing hard. ‘Maybe this was a mistake.’
‘No. I meant this is a lovely idea, but I don’t understand why you’ve gone to so much effort for me.’
‘Don’t you?’ He left the words hanging in the air as he topped up her glass. Jess’s stomach flipped. Then his expression lightened. ‘I thought we could have dinner in the breakfast room,’ he said. ‘I know that sounds weird, but I’ve always liked that room far more than the formal dining room. And there was no way I was taking you to dinner in the kitchen.’
‘Busman’s holiday,’ she said, grateful that the conversation had gravitated towards safer ground.
‘Exactly. And I would have taken you out, but I wanted you to experience the castle when it’s quiet.’ He glanced around. ‘It comes to life when it’s full of people, but there’s also something special about being here like this. Just you and me.’
It almost sounded like Sebastian was presenting a sales pitch, on behalf of the castle, but Jess was beginning to understand what he meant. She’d imagined a space as huge as this would become increasingly intimidating with fewer people to fill it, but instead it was showing its ability to feel intimate.
‘It’s as though the castle is wrapping itself around us, like a cloak,’ she said, brows furrowing as she waited for his reaction. Did she sound insane?
Sebastian’s expression matched hers, and Jess thought she’d got her analogy completely wrong until he smiled. ‘I’d forgotten how warm this place could feel. I spent a long time convinced of its coldness, but now I realise that wasn’t the building’s fault.’
‘I love it here,’ Jess said, the words spilling out before she could check them. It was a truth too far, but it was the truth. To cover her tracks, she added, ‘I mean, I’ve loved my time here. Scotland is an amazing place.’
‘And you’ve only seen a fraction of it,’ Sebastian said, taking her hand again and heading for the breakfast room. ‘Are you hungry?’
The champagne had gone to her head, that much was clear, probably because she’d hardly eaten all day. Which was ridiculous, as she’d been knee-deep in food for most of it.
Sebastian held her chair for her, and as Jess slid into it, she took in the room. More tea lights adorned the space, lighting up every corner. The whole space danced in the candlelight.
‘What’s on the menu?’ she asked, wondering if it was only her aware of the weak double entendre. Heat swarmed up her neck and into her cheeks, but Sebastian didn’t seem to notice.
‘It’s a surprise,’ he said. ‘Back in a mo.’
The moment took so long that eventually Jess picked up her glass and headed for the kitchen. Maybe he needed help after all. Maybe he’d dropped all the crockery like she had that very first day; maybe there’d been a disaster and this time their roles would be reversed.
The truth wasn’t far off, but the problem had nothing to do with Sebastian having dropped anything. He glanced up as she entered, the colour high in his cheeks as he grimaced at the mess, then at Digby.
‘Oh, no,’ Jess said, instantly understanding what had happened. ‘Digby, you didn’t …’
‘Yes. Yes, he did,’ Sebastian said. ‘You know you told me that you had to watch his diet quite carefully, and that I shouldn’t be feeding him any of my toast? Well, I’m not sure the memo about laying off the carbs has reached Digby.’
Sebastian had left a basket of baguette slices on the kitchen table. Presumably he’d assumed they were safely out of reach of the relatively small dog. But someone had also left a kitchen chair set at a jaunty angle to the table – the perfect stepping stone, especially for a cockapoo with lofty aspirations. Or the waft of freshly baked baguette in his nostrils.
‘Oh Digby, you are the very devil,’ Jess said. Digby belched, then took himself off to his mat as Jess did her best to squash a giggle. ‘I’m so sorry. He’s so naughty. I should have warned you.’
‘He’s not going to die, or anything, is he?’
