Chapter Six
Mats stared at Thea. ‘What did you say?’ he asked slowly. The only competition for their voices came from the wind rattling dead leaves along the ground and mewing seagulls swooping above.
Thea’s chin was set and her eyes were defiant. Red ear defenders dangled from her fingers and a leaf blower leant against her because she’d been clearing a pathway. She was perfectly white. ‘If theGarden Gladiatorspeople come, then I go,’ she repeated flatly. But then her eyes filled with tears. ‘I left that life behind,’ she choked, then turned and blundered away between the hall and the west lawns, the leaf blower swinging wildly in her grip as she rounded the back of the grey-stone building.
He stared after her in disbelief. What was it with these Wynter sisters? Had nobody taught them the value – the common courtesy! – of explaining themselves? Slowly, he became aware of the wind cutting through his runninggear, chilling the sweat on his body from his run. He turned towards the hall but headed for the front doors.
He crossed the lobby. Ezzie’s office was empty, so he couldn’t seek clarification from her.
Entering the family quarters, he jogged up to his room, dumped his sweaty workout clothes and stepped into a hot shower, soaping himself with quick, angry movements. He was hardly out and dressed when he heard a vehicle outside. A glance through one of the enormous windows showed him that his family and Josefin had arrived home, and he ran downstairs to meet them.
‘Pappa, Pappa.’ Astrid and Alvin raced towards him up the broad downstairs corridor.
He swooped them up, replying in Swedish despite his own best efforts to stick to English in the UK. ‘Had a good time?’
‘We went to the beach—’
‘There’s the sea and—’
‘Alvin put his foot in a pool—’
‘I put my foot in a pool,’ Alvin confirmed, and he and Astrid dissolved into giggles, while Josefin and Grete pulled off their coats.
Mats put the warm, breathless children down and turned them gently towards Josefin. ‘You go with Josefin for a few minutes. I have to talk to Farmor.’
Grete had been turning away, but now she paused and raised enquiring eyebrows.
While Josefin helped the children with their coats, he ushered his mum along the corridor to the home office at the front of the house, most often used by Erik to keep his finger on the pulse of his empire during visits to Rothach, and where there was a computer and printer.
Mats waited for Grete to take the chair behind thewooden desk. Between them, the Wynter sisters had rubbed him up the wrong way and he felt better pacing the floor. ‘I can’t understand some people,’ he snapped, barely giving Grete time to seat herself.
‘Your father again?’ she answered in dismay. ‘I had a long talk with him this morning and thought he was beginning to see why we need time away.’
Mats halted. ‘Pappa?’ he asked blankly. ‘No. Not him. Something that’s just happened.’
Grete relaxed back in her chair. ‘Tell me. If you can stop running around the room long enough,’ she added drily.
He took a deep breath. ‘We’ve been approached to use Rothach Hall’s gardens as a filming location for a gardening programme – for a fee that would mitigate some of Rothach’s running costs and probably increase visitor numbers. Did you know that Thea Wynter was a star of this show in the past?’
‘Yes,’ Grete answered hollowly.
Mats resumed pacing. ‘I mentioned it to Ezzie, and she looked at me as if I’d turned into a snake. She said – rudely – that her sister wouldn’t do it. So, I asked Thea myself and she was just as disrespectful, saying that if the filming people come, she’ll leave.’
‘Oh,Mats.’ Grete’s hands flew to her face. ‘You should have spoken to me first. Last summer, Thea was stalked and harassed,here on our property, and it was linked with that show. We told you about it. Don’t you remember? Tavish was involved, which is why it was considered best if he left.’
Mats halted. He stared at Grete, a sinking feeling in his chest. ‘Remind me,’ he suggested quietly, and dropped into a chair.
Grete folded her hands. ‘Some time ago, Thea appeared on a popular reality gardening show located where she worked then. She crossed swords with a social media influencer, who followed her all the way to Skye. When she refused to co-operate with him on some campaign, he rallied social media against her. Erik threw the man off the estate and threatened him with the police. I know you’re impetuous, Mats, but Pappa and I protect our employees,’ Grete reproached him.
‘Oh. Shit.’ He winced as he remembered jumping on his high horse when Ezz and Thea didn’t immediately love the news he’d thrust at them. He rubbed his hand through hair, still damp from the shower. ‘Like the financial officer I am, I followed the money.’
Grete hesitated. ‘True. But employees are people. And … Mats? They’re notyouremployees. Rothach isn’t like Larsson Fiskeri, where you’re on the board. Rothach Hall belongs to Pappa and me.’
‘Shit,’ he groaned again, remembering the horror in Ezz’s blue eyes and the tears in Thea’s dark ones. ‘I overstepped. I’ll talk to them.’ He rose and rounded the desk to give Grete an apologetic hug.
But she hadn’t finished with him yet. ‘No,’ she said decisively. ‘It would be better for me to do it. Not only are they excellent employees of long-standing, deserving our consideration and respect, but, between them, they run this place. If we lose the Wynter sisters, it will be a disaster. I need to talk to Ezzie anyway, so I’ll explain that you didn’t have the full story, and she and I can speak to Thea together.’
Mats stared at his mother. ‘If it’s going to be a difficult conversation then I should stay,’ he objected, feeling worse by the second. ‘You don’t trust me?’
