Jess frowned. ‘But that doesn’t make any sense. They need to get it fixed.’
‘Aye. Along with plenty of the other estate properties.’
‘How many houses belong to the Kirkshield Estate?’
‘Most of the village. Plus the shop and the little village hall. There are also the tenant farms, the estate manager’s cottage and this one. Not a modern roof or new window between them, and they’re not getting any younger.’ He grinned. ‘A bit like their occupants.’
It was on the tip of her tongue to say she didn’t think he was doing too badly, but Jess managed to stop herself. Flirting with the gamekeeper might turn out to be fun, but she reminded herself she was only here for a few weeks.
He frowned as he passed her a mug. ‘I suppose things will change now the young earl is back. I just hope they change for the better. He hasn’t been here for almost a decade – left his mother at the mercy of that man for far too long.’ Robbie sucked in a breath, then shook his head. Jess got the impression he thought he’d spoken out of turn. His expression eased as he returned to safer ground. ‘The estate manager has been tearing his hair out with all the maintenance which needs to happen. There’ll be plenty places crying out for attention. Let’s hope Sebastian is up to the job.’
As Jess sipped at her tea, she wondered what it would be like to be faced with such a huge task. The worst she’d had to deal with in her own flat was getting someone to replace the catch on a window when she managed to pull it off. And that had cost her an arm and a leg, even though the bloke had only taken about twenty minutes to fix it. The situation at Kirkshield Castle, though, was infinitely bigger. She wondered how Sebastian was going to deal with the challenges.
But perhaps she was projecting her own view of the situation onto someone she barely knew. The Barclay-Browns probably had more money than they could shake a stick at. Sebastian could simply wave a magic wand and the estate would sail back into a state of glory, with new roofs and windows – and hopefully heating systems – for everyone. Or perhaps he was like his father and would renege on his responsibilities and let the community continue to struggle.
‘I’ll find you a bucket.’ Robbie broke through her thoughts and left the room. She drained her mug and rinsed it out while she waited.
With a bright yellow plastic bucket in one hand, Digby’s lead in the other and the promise from Robbie of a warm welcome whenever she wanted a cup of tea and a chat, Jess headed back to the castle. She couldn’t shift the naughty thought which nestled at the back of her mind, and she scolded herself as she walked up the path. Finding out what else Robbie might have on offer was something she wasn’t going to do. It wasn’t going to happen.
If she kept repeating it enough, she was sure she’d manage to banish that stray thought. At least, she was probably sure. Maybe she’d manage to ignore it. Jess nipped her bottom lip between her teeth in an effort to stop the silly grin which was doing its best to spread across her face.
OK, she admitted it – the gamekeeper was really hot.
Sebastian saw Jess through the kitchen window. The way she was grinning, with her bottom lip caught between her teeth, did little to raise his spirits, even though there was no denying she had a great smile. But it would take more than that to bring sunshine into Sebastian’s cloudy day. He’d finished his meeting and, to be honest, after Ben – the estate manager – had run through all the building maintenance schedules, plus all the land and forestry work which had been neglected over the last decade, he was even more overwhelmed by the estate’s problems than before. It seemed that while Sebastian had been away, his father had done nothing except enjoy himself.
With a shake of his head, Sebastian tried to push away the negatives. But it was hard to chase away the niggling feeling that he himself had spent the last decade doing the same – in his case pursuing his lifelong dream of becoming lead violinist in a professional orchestra.
And he’d been so close to achieving it.
Jess bundled in through the scullery, dropping the dog’s lead as she fastened the door and perched a bright yellow bucket on the edge of the Belfast sink.
‘Oh, hello,’ she said, her grin sliding away as she unzipped her coat. Sebastian felt as though his presence had disrupted her train of thought, that she was irritated to find him in the kitchen. ‘Digby, come away,’ she added as the dog beelined for his feet.
‘We made friends earlier,’ Sebastian said, ‘I popped into the kitchen and couldn’t see you anywhere, so I made myself some toast, and we …’
Jess frowned, interrupting him. ‘I’m sorry I wasn’t here. Should I take it that I’m supposed to stay in this room until everyone has presented themselves for meals?’
She sounded annoyed, as though he’d criticised her, and heat spiked beneath his collar. ‘No, I … Not at all … I was just going to say we bonded over the corner of a crust. And I wanted to check it was OK for me to have given it to him.’
‘I’d rather nobody fed him except me, if it’s all the same. I need to watch his diet.’
Jess’s cheeks coloured as she spoke, her words tight. Perhaps the dog had major medical issues and Sebastian really had put the little dog in danger, albeit unintentionally. Or perhaps she should have made them aware of any special doggy dietary requirements. He felt scolded in his own house.
‘Understood,’ he said, his own tone brisk and sharp as irritation took the upper hand. ‘It won’t happen again.’
She hung her coat on the back of the door and scooped up the bucket, the frown still embedded on her forehead.
‘What’s that for?’ he asked.
Jess sighed, shifting her weight from one foot to the other as though making a decision. She sucked in a breath. ‘If you follow me, I’ll show you.’
With three flights of stairs behind them, Sebastian shadowed Jess into the roof space. He hadn’t been up here in a good fifteen years. He used to come up here in the school holidays, playing hide and seek with school friends, and sometimes friends from the village. Once he’d decided to practise hockey up here, using some boxes as a goal. A glance around confirmed the window he’d broken was still patched with a piece of hardboard. He wondered if the hockey ball was still on the roof.
Perhaps the fact that window had never been mended should have been his first clue as to why Jess was up here with a bucket.
She didn’t speak as she led him to what at first glance looked like an infestation of brightly coloured buckets, as though they’d somehow grown from the floorboards like mushrooms. As the new bucket was added to the ensemble, set on a darkened patch of floor, Sebastian drew in a long breath.
‘I see,’ he said.
