“So what else did Father Christmas get you?” Sorrell said, looking at the little face with lopsided pigtails.
The camera moved, Amelia’s smile disappearing and instead the older, redder haired version of herself came into view.
“Thank you for the presents but you have some questions to answer,” Rosemary Slater said, her eyes looking scarily inquisitive. “And start by telling me about that suspicious looking red mark on your neck, because it’s either a vampire or you got lucky.”
Sorrell dislodged the duvet wrapped around her to rub at the mark. Yep, Zack had left his brand on her neck and the bastard hadn’t thought to give her the head’s up, even though he knew she was planning on speaking to her sister.
“I got lucky.”
“Christmas fling?” Rosemary said. “Please don’t tell me Mark is back on the scene… actually, I know it’s not Mark, he’d never do that. I even thought you had the wrong reproductive organs for him, to be honest.”
“Seriously?” Sorrell said. “It isn’t Mark and it’s been a bit longer than a Christmas fling.” The easier answer to her sister would’ve been to dismiss it as being a temporary dalliance with some hot tourist, but one, that wasn’t Sorrell’s modus operandi and two, it wasn’t fair on Zack. He didn’t want to be a fling. He was frequently telling her about the area at different times of year and the things he wanted to show her, and this included August. He was trying to tell her that he was in it for the long term.
“And you haven’t told me? Come on, Ells! I have two small children—I’m having a sex life vicariously through you!” Rosemary shook her hair out of its messy bun state.
Sorrell curled up under the duvet some more. Zack had left before the sun rose to help Jake out with the farms and then he was spending the day in work. That meant she had the freedom of time, with no hotel to run and no arrangements before the evening when there was wassailing and the Mummers’ Plays.
“Amelia isn’t listening, is she?” Sorrell said, not able to see her niece, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t lurking.
“Millie is obsessed with that doll. She’s busy talking to it. Tell me, if this isn’t a nice little fling to get you over the twattery that was Mark, then what is it and when do I need to visit?” She looked a little too enthusiastic for the details.
“He’s called Zack. He runs the care home that used to be in the hotel and his family own the local farm,” Sorrell said.
“Minor details. What does he look like and how big’s his dick?” Rosemary’s words were whispered and rushed, as if she was asking for the winning lottery numbers and had a limited amount of time to buy the ticket.
“You really are living through me,” Sorrell murmured, trying to hide the love bite on her neck. She was going to have to kill him later for leaving that.
“Who cares, just tell me the details,” Rosemary said. “But quickly. Ronan will be awake and needing feeding soon.”
Sorrell thought about the little nephew she had only met a handful of times. He was nine months old and she was desperate to see him again soon. “How about you come up for a night or two so I can see the kids and you can meet Zack?”
“So it is serious!” Rosemary said. “And I can look at that. Euan’s sister isn’t staying for as long as we thought. In fact, I think she’s leaving tomorrow, so we could come up and stay for a couple of nights, head home on New Year’s Eve?”
“Text me later with what Euan says,” Sorrell said. It would be good to have her sister there and to be able to spend some time with Ronan and his baby smell.
She noticed Rosemary shaking her head. “Not getting out of giving me the details. Spill.”
Sorrell laughed. “He’s tall, with light brown hair and he always has a bit of stubble. He’s really broad and has big biceps because of the work he still does on the farm and he’s really good.”
“Good in bed? Tell me, how many orgasms can he wring out of you? Before kids, Euan would usually get at least two, usually more,” Rosemary sighed. “Nowadays a good night is talked of in terms of how much sleep we get.”
“He’s…” Sorrell began, not sure of how much to share. She’d sent a few texts to Gwensi about how things were, but it felt different to say the words aloud. “He knows what he’s doing. He’s quite bossy; even when I’m in control, it’s because he’s letting me.”
“Dominant,” Rosemary practically sighed. “That’s what you needed. A man who would treat you well and fuck you blind.” A loud cry burst the relative peace, followed by Amelia yelling for her mother. “I’ll be in touch to confirm about coming to see you. In the meantime, practice safe sex, else you’ll be getting no sex. Millie…” The call was ended.
Sorrell laughed and pushed the cover back, deciding that she wouldn’t waste the day in bed while she was by herself. She had planned to curl up with a book, but that could wait until later when she’d done a couple of things at the hotel and walked through the large cottage on the other side of the grounds.
The little room Lena had adopted was the same as it had been last night; door open, clothes out. There had been no reply to the message Sorrell had sent and while she was aware that Lena was an adult, she had a niggling doubt about the lack of response. The lack of anything.
Instinct overcame ethics and she went into Lena’s room, straightening the clothes that were left untidily on her bed and on the floor.
It was then she saw it, Lena’s phone. The screen lit up when Sorrell pressed the home button, showing three unread messages, one from herself. There was a choice; did she unlock the phone and read the messages or not? She knew Lena’s passcode, having unlocked her phone for her before to pull out a message from Cam, one of the kitchen porters who was keen to be involved in the restaurant when she opened it.
Projects. Lots of projects. A restaurant. The bigger cottage. Zack.
Did she check the phone?
Lena was her employee. A friend. A young adult. A sheltered young adult who was hiding from something.
