‘A pleasure to meet you, Whitney dear,’ Arty tells me. ‘Jake never mentioned you.’
‘Can’t resist keeping her all to myself,’ Jake jokes, charming as ever.
‘You said your friends were getting married here?’ he says.
‘Yes, Andrew and Cordelia,’ I reply.
Or Buzz and Tink if you’re that way inclined – bleurgh!
Jake’s hand tightens around mine. Arty smiles.
‘I’ll admit, when I first met you, Jake, I assumed you were simply a businessman,’ Arty says.
Jake’s expression doesn’t change, but I feel the tension in his grip.
‘And you are,’ Arty continues smoothly, ‘but I didn’t realise you were a family man too. I definitely didn’t think you would be the sort of gent to get down on one knee, so publicly – and here too. You must really feel something for the place.’
‘You know how you just get that feelin’, when something feels right, and you can’t stop yourself?’ Jake replies. ‘I know that I love Whitney, and I know that I love this place, and it was like an instinct.’
Arty nods, like he gets it.
‘Rosewood has always been a place for love stories,’ he says. ‘Weddings, engagements, honeymoons. I’ve seen them all. There’s something in the air here. Something romantic. A place like this, it takes a lot of love to keep it going. You have to love the land, the horses, the old buildings. And you can’t do it alone; it takes a family. The love of a family will warm the place from the inside out; it will keep it alive forever. That’s what I want.’
‘That’s what I want too,’ Jake replies, and I know this – he and I – is fake, but I know that he means it.
‘I’m a practical man,’ Arty continues. ‘I like practicality and honesty.’
‘Of course,’ Jake replies, cool as anything.
Arty’s gaze lingers on us both, like he’s weighing us up. Then he stands. He’s not especially tall, but he has presence. The sort of man who commands a room simply by existing in it. He walks around his huge desk and gestures towards the leather sofas.
‘Sit with me,’ he says.
We do.
Arty takes a seat in the armchair, only feet away from us now, talking to us in a more intimate, relaxed setting. I don’t know if he’s more or less intimidating, without the big desk between us. It’s like the flex has gone, that big boss vibe, but suddenly he’s so much closer, like it might be easier for him to detect our bullshit.
‘So,’ he says. ‘Tell me. Why do you want Rosewood, Jake? You too, Whitney.’
Jake takes a slow breath.
‘Because it matters,’ he says simply. ‘Because I hear every word you’re saying, about how this place needs love and family, and I want to bring it. My dad lives in a long-term care facility, not too far from here. I want to be close to him. That’s my main reason for moving over from the States.’
‘And for me,’ I add – hopefully helpfully. ‘I live in London at the moment, my family in Kent, and I don’t want to move away from them. Family is everything to me. We want to raise our own family here, with our families around us. But Jake’s job, looking after horses, it means so much to him. This place is the best of all worlds.’
It might not be strictly true, as far as the two of us go, but I know that’s what Jake wants, and in a way I’m being honest about myself too. I want to settle down with my own family close by.
Arty’s brow goes up.
‘That’s a sentimental answer,’ he says.
‘It’s also a true one,’ Jake replies. ‘I’ve been working the land my whole life,’ he continues. ‘Our ranch back home, working with my mom and my stepdad, was a real family place. But my stepdad passed, then my mom, and I didn’t have any siblings – it made sense to sell. Then I met Whitney and thought, well, family is what matters, and home is where you make it. This place is special. It’s got history. It’s got heart.’
I can’t help but smile at the way he talks.
Arty watches him closely.
‘And what would you do with it?’ Arty asks.
