Page 69

“It’s okay,” I say. “I just don’t have many answers for you.”

“And I don’t deserve them anyway.” He lifts his beer to his mouth, taking a long sip. “Shall we change the subject now?” he asks, smiling at me as he puts his glass down.

“Please?” I laugh. “What shall we talk about?”

He shrugs. “How about we bitch about Penny again?”

I nod at him. “Sounds good. You go first.”

“Want me to tell you about the time I put a snake in her bathtub?” Caleb gives me a wicked grin.

My mouth drops open. “You didn’t. How old were you?”

“Thirteen. She’d pissed Theo off. And been rude to me even though I was a guest.” He takes a slow pull of his beer, like this is a perfectly reasonable chain of events. “So I borrowed a grass snake from the groundskeeper’s kid and let it loose in her en suite.”

I stare at him. “You absolutely did not.”

“I absolutely did.” He grins wickedly. “Don’t worry. It was harmless. Tiny. More scared of her than she was of it.”

“I doubt that.”

“Maybe not. She did scream the whole house down. Staff came running. Beckett nearly choked trying not to laugh.”

“And what did you do?” I ask.

“I was the picture of innocence.” He places a hand over his chest and flutters his eyelashes. “Deeply concerned. I even offered to check under the bed for more.”

I shake my head, laughing despite myself. “Remind me to keep my door locked when I’m there.”

“Don’t worry, I like you.” He winks. “I just don’t like the way his family treats Theo sometimes.”

His phone starts to buzz. “Shit,” he murmurs, reading the message. “I have to go back to the office. Want me to call you a cab?”

“It’s fine. I’m going to walk,” I tell him. “You go ahead.” I still have some of my wine to drink.

He pushes off the stool. “I’ll see you at the party.”

“You’re coming to Norfolk after all?” I sound delighted, because I am. At least I’ll know somebody other than Theo and his mother there.

“Someone has to make sure you survive Penny’s scrutiny. I’m heading up to Scotland the next day anyway. Might as well stop on the way.” He steps back toward the door, then pauses.

“And Georgia?”

“Yes?”

He lets out a breath. “Take care of yourself.”

I have no idea whether he means on my walk back to the hotel, or at Ravensmere. Or something altogether different. Whatever it is, I nod, and watch him leave the pub before I pick up my glass, trying not to think of all the ways he’s tried to warn me off his friend.

GEORGIA

“Do you always drive this fast?” I ask Theo the next day, as he shifts down a gear and swings us around the corner of a narrow country road like his foot is glued to the gas pedal.

A smile pulls at his lips. “Not in London, no. Too many cars.”

“But you would if you could?” I let out a sigh of relief when he has to slow down because there’s a line of cars ahead.

“I learned to drive on these roads. Don’t worry, you’re safe with me.” He slides his hand on my thigh, squeezing my skin.