Jess smiled, shaking her head. ‘Possible tummy ache, but nobody will have the slightest sympathy.’
‘That’s a relief,’ Sebastian said, dumping what was left of the ruined baguette into the bin. ‘Anyway, at least he couldn’t get at the rest of it.’
With a flourish, Sebastian opened one of the doors on the Aga, and a billow of black smoke issued from within, engulfing his entire head for a moment. He stepped back, coughing and flapping at the smoke with an oven glove.
‘That’s the hot oven,’ Jess said.
‘I thought it was the warming oven,’ Sebastian said, back at the door and peering inside. ‘I just needed to keep it warm.’
‘The warming oven’s on the other side,’ Jess said, pointing at the identical door on the left side of the range.
‘Bloody hell,’ Sebastian muttered as he pulled out a tray of something burnt beyond recognition and dumped it on top. ‘Bloody Aga. Maybe I should have taken lessons from Vivi too.’
‘What was it?’ Jess asked, lifting a spatula and prodding at the charcoal moonscape.
‘Does it even matter?’ Sebastian said, his tone suddenly forlorn. ‘Spanish chicken with chorizo and peppers. Chef at The Old Goat put extra cherry tomatoes on it for me, too.’
Jess abandoned the spatula to the weak gravity of the tray. ‘We could always go to the pub instead,’ she said. ‘See if he has any left.’
Sebastian glanced down at his attire. ‘Looking like this? I don’t think so.’
‘You could always take it off.’
It was meant to be a joke. But something happened to Sebastian’s breathing, he sounded as though he’d not long finished running a marathon.
‘I don’t think I can do this much longer,’ he said. ‘That’s the second one this evening, Jess.’
‘Second what?’
‘When you asked what was on the menu earlier – do you remember that? – I almost said, “me”. Like I was fifteen again and trying to impress someone while tanked on alcopops.’
She laughed, then the levity slid away as she saw the intensity of his gaze. Her lip caught between her teeth.
‘Oh, holy Christ, Jess. I’m not going to be able to hold it together if you do that thing with your lip.’ His expression intensified. ‘There’s something I need to tell you, something I’ve been wanting to say for a while. And it’s that—’
Sebastian didn’t get to finish his sentence, though, because Digby chose that moment to vomit, very loudly and very productively, his stomach contents spewing in all directions.
‘Oh no,’ Jess said, both of them taking a step backwards, even though they were nowhere near the source. ‘Disgusting dog.’
Sebastian gave her a wry smile.
‘What were you going to say?’ she said.
He shook his head. ‘Timing is everything. Do you want a hand clearing it up?’
Jess wrinkled her nose. ‘Not sure I want to get anywhere near it myself, let alone rope anyone else in to help. Certainly not in this dress. I’d better go and …’
‘Take it off?’ he said, the twinkle in his eye unmistakeable, but the moment was gone.
‘I was going to say get changed, but I guess it’s much the same, under these circumstances.’
She changed swiftly into pyjamas with a soft jumper over the top, gathering up her hair into a messy bun and wrapping a scrunchie around it as she grabbed some cleaning products. Sebastian had left the kitchen – and who could blame him. At least Digby had got rid of most of the bread from his system – otherwise she’d have been worrying about him all night, she supposed. It was cold comfort, as she scrubbed at the floor.
Once equilibrium had been restored, she shoved the burnt pan from Sebastian’s ruined attempt at dinner into a sink full of water to soak, washed her hands and flicked off the lights. She supposed she should go to bed – get some decent sleep before the bedlam of Christmas Day arrived. But something Sebastian had said was doing laps in her head.If I let something important, something I really want, if I let it slip through my fingers, he’d said, suggesting it would be forever a mistake.
It was easy enough to locate him. Jess could hear the sound of the piano coming from the music room. He was in there and she could go to him right now. Nobody else was in the castle. Nobody need ever know except the two of them. And she didn’t want to let this slip through her fingers, either. She didn’t want to let Sebastian slip away.
Chapter 31
