‘Lock in!’ shouted Fletcher who was immediately silenced by Jasper.
‘Fletcher, enough. We’re going home,’ he told him, as sternly as he could slur.
‘Aye, all right lad, let’s be off,’ said Fletcher, knowing when he was beaten.
Taxis had all been booked to arrive at the same time to take them home. Adira had seen to that, not relishing the idea of picking up two drunken Hendricks. And drunk they were, as they fell out of the taxi and staggered up The Laurels’ doorsteps. Jasper had difficulty finding his key, then struggled even more trying to put it into the lock.
‘Hurry up, Jasper!’ hissed Fletcher, ‘I’m bursting.’
‘Shush, you’ll wake Adira,’ Jasper mumbled, then grunted with satisfaction at getting the key to turn and open the door.
Fletcher dashed, as quickly as an inebriated eighty-five-year-old could, to the cloakroom. Jasper rolled his eyes at hearing the loud sigh of relief come from the door. He sat, waiting on the bottom stair to take him upstairs to bed. There was no way he could leave Fletcher to take care of himself. At last Fletcher swaggered into the hall, marginally missing the console table and gripped the banister post.
‘Well, what a cracking night that was,’ he said, then hiccupped.
Jasper couldn’t help but chuckle. The old boy had out-drunk them all. So much for the two whiskies only rule. More like two bottles.
‘Come on, you. Bed.’ Together they stumbled, arm in arm up the stairs, tittering all the way.
Meanwhile, Adira, who’d been lying awake, waiting for their return, smiled to herself and turned over to snuggle into a peaceful sleep.
Cassie hadn’t slept a wink. She too had been waiting for Rory to return. What had he meant about ‘talking tomorrow’ and ‘you tell me’? Her mind was spinning with questions. At last she heard his footsteps on the corridor and the door open. He tripped and cursed, then made his way to the bathroom. After what seemed an age, he tried his best to creep into bed, but stubbed his toe and cursed again, then flopped with a thud next to her.
‘Rory?’ she whispered, but all she got was a faint groan. ‘Rory,’ she tried again, louder this time. Still no answer, just the sound of soft snoring coming from him. Sighing with impatience, Cassie turned her back on him.
Chapter 31
It was late morning by the time Rory finally surfaced, much to the annoyance of Cassie, who was still burning with curiosity over their ‘talk’. Predicting he would have the mother of all hangovers, she placed a packet of paracetamols and a glass of water on the bedside table for him.
Gradually waking, he yawned, rubbed his eyes and slowly sat up. Cassie had showered, dressed and was on her laptop.
‘Ah, still living then?’ she teased.
‘Just about,’ he mumbled then reached for his water and tablets. ‘Thanks for these,’ he said after downing the full glass. He looked at Cassie, concentrating on her screen. ‘What are you looking at?’
‘What do you think? Property,’ she replied, not taking her eyes off the laptop.
‘We might have found the right one,’ he replied.
This got her attention. Suddenly she was all ears.
‘What do you mean?’ she asked sharply, eager to know.
Rory outlined all the details of the barn on the Hendricks’ estate and how Jasper had invited them to look at it that day. Cassie sat transfixed, taking everything in.
‘But that sounds ideal!’ she squealed with delight.
‘That’s what I thought,’ replied Rory, ‘but we must be cautious. We don’t know how much Jasper will want for it. It sounds like it needs a lot of work doing to it.’
‘Yes,’ agreed Cassie, ever mindful of the dilapidated farmhouse they’d viewed. ‘We’ll have a better idea once we’ve seen it, though, and at least we know Jasper won’t want to rip us off.’
‘There is that,’ nodded Rory, ‘but he is a businessman at the end of the day, Cass,’ he tried to warn her.
‘A fair one,’ she replied instantly, ‘just like Fletcher was. My dad can vouch for that.’
‘Let’s not get too excited.’ Rory hated the idea of having their hopes dashed again.
‘Come on, get up. I’ll order us some breakfast, then we can go.’
