"I"m good with cheating..." Alex almost laughed, this was perfect...all of it...why was he apologising?
"David and Anna are from The Butler"s Pantry. They do all our corporate catering, events, meetings, that sort of thing." Alex thought of Jocelyn with her fuchsia bag of delights added rescuing maidens in distress to The Butler"s Pantry"s list of accomplishments.
"And there I was thinking we"d be having ham sandwiches."
"I don"t think so," Sebastian smiled, "what have you got for us David?"
The chef"s cheeks were flushed pink as he reeled off a mouth watering menu.
"Our entree is crispy duck confit with braised endive and blood orange caramel, followed by wild sea ba.s.s with bouillabaisse garnish. Then, for dessert, vanilla panacotta with red wine, poached plums and cinnamon shortbread or a chocolate fondant with creme fraiche and raspberries, and of course an artisan cheeseboard served with quince jelly, grapes, strawberries, fig tart, crackers and oatmeal biscuits."
Alex wasn"t sure what to say for a moment. Then she recovered, "Of course." How could they forget the cheeseboard? "It sounds fabulous; how do you remember all that? I won"t need to eat for a week."
"At least you"re not on a diet." Sebastian was leaning on the back of the sofa, his ankles crossed, watching her take it all in. His tone was ironic, the quip loaded. They both knew someone who usually was.
Unwilling to spoil the mood, Alex hesitated, brought her gla.s.s at her lips, the bubbles popping under her nose. But she had to ask.
"And where"s Caroline tonight?"
Sebastian shifted uncomfortably, his face grim, "She"s tied up, won"t be back...ever if I can help it."
Alex"s eyebrows shot up as their eyes met. His contained a warning look, but Alex could read his mind. I"ll tell you later. She nodded almost imperceptibly. What on earth had gone on between them? What could have happened?
"So have a look round, I"ll get you another drink."
Alex looked at her gla.s.s, surprised. She"d knocked it back while he was speaking, nerves had to be. Sebastian reached over to pull a bottle from a cooler standing at one end of the sofa, the ice c.h.i.n.king and churning as he lifted it out. "You do still like Asti Spumante?"
Alex"s face broke with smothered laughter, "And there I was thinking it was champagne."
Leaving Sebastian in the kitchen to check on dinner, Alex was desperately curious to see what he had done with the house. They"d had such grand ideas all those years ago. But she needn"t have worried it was perfect, every room completely restored using original materials. Rustic tiles b.u.t.ted against rough plaster walls, but Sebastian had ensured the cottage had every modern convenience. If Alex was honest it was decorated exactly as she would have done it herself. Thankfully, he"d foregone the Laura Ashley wallpaper she"d been mad about then, had instead opted for matt colours, bold and strong, for beautiful detail a chair made from driftwood, gnarled and weathered, a cast iron four poster in the master bedroom, scrolls twisting and writhing at each corner, a huge copper shower head in the en suite bathroom, mosaic tiles blue, iridescent like the dragonfly.
Coming down the narrow pine staircase, her heels clicking on the boards, Alex found Sebastian with his head in the fridge discussing the best temperature to serve the cheese.
"It"s fabulous, you"ve done a great job."
"Thanks." Sebastian closed the fridge, "Are you ready to eat?"
"I"m starving."
"Good, I thought as it was so warm we could eat outside."
FIFTY.
Outside it was almost dark, the birds on their way home, bats filling their place flitting between the trees. Alex shivered, glad of her pink jacket, fine wool with its black and white striped lining. It was still warm, but after the heat of the kitchen, felt fresh. But she needn"t have worried. Sebastian had thought of everything.
"This way." Turning to his right outside the front door, following the crazy paved path tumbling with mint and rosemary, Sebastian led her past the twinkling windows of the kitchen, around the corner of the building.
Around the corner into fairyland.
Alex gasped, amazed. Tiny lanterns had been strung from a huge oak tree, its branches creating a majestic arch leaning towards the house. Flickering with hundreds of candles, the light from the lanterns fell on a table that had been set below; sparkling silver cutlery on a crisp white cloth, tall John Rocha crystal gla.s.ses, their stems slim and elegant, rose petals scattered over the tablecloth like confetti. Beside the table a chimaera had been lit, its terracotta body glowing, throwing out enough heat to keep them both warm well into the night. If they needed it...
"Sit down; more wine? Red or white? I thought we"d go with Spanish tonight." Sebastian pulled out a cast iron scroll back chair, its seat and back upholstered in a rich burgundy velvet.
"White please." At least she wasn"t driving.
Alex sat down, marvelling at the table, the sound of the mill wheel splashing rhythmically through the water at the other end of the house, the rush of the river, winding into the trees, loud beside them. "This is beautiful. Really. You"ve gone to a lot of trouble."
Sebastian shrugged. "It"s been a tough week, we deserve to treat ourselves once in a while."
"It"s a bit more than a treat."
"I think I owe it to you, don"t you, after the accident with your dad, the picture?" Sebastian grimaced ruefully, filling her gla.s.s from a bottle chilling in a silver cooler on the table. "And I wanted to tell you face to face that you don"t have to worry about your dad. I"ll look after him."
Alex tucked a blonde curl that had strayed across her face back behind her ear, focusing on the cloth in front of her, sorting her thoughts, taking in what he had said. It had all been so perfect and then, like always, they came back down to earth with a b.u.mp. Why did reality always get in the way of your dreams?
Looking up, she met his eye, her voice practical, no nonsense, like they were in a business meeting "But he can"t work".
Sebastian shook his head, pulling out his own chair, sitting down with a sigh; she wasn"t getting it.
"There is nothing I regret more than that accident." He spoke slowly, spelling it out. There were other things he regretted, lots of them, but right now that was at the top of the list. "Tom built this estate. I don"t want to lose him, as a friend or as a member of the staff. I want him to stay on in the cottage for life my lawyers are drawing up the papers. And I want him to train in a couple of a.s.sistants to do the grunt work. I need an estate manager more than a gamekeeper. I haven"t discussed it with him, but I hope he"ll agree."
Sebastian stopped abruptly, fiddled with his dessert fork for a moment, giving her time to take in what he was saying. It had all come out in a rush, not what he"d planned at all. Then, putting the fork straight, "Do you think he"ll do it?"
Alex felt a tear p.r.i.c.k, pretended something was irritating her eye, brushing it away with her fingertip, trying to look natural, trying to look relaxed. She couldn"t cry now.
"I"m sure he will." Her voice cracked what else could she say?
Behind her, a voice made her start.
"Here we are Mr Wingfield. I hope everything"s to your satisfaction." The food she"d completely forgotten about it.
"Thank you Anna, that"s perfect."
Alex managed a smile as the young girl laid her plate in front of her, twisting it around to its best advantage, the Wingfield crest at the top. Alex took another sip of her wine, trying to hide her confusion behind her gla.s.s.
The food was just as good as it had smelled, gave them something safe to talk about. Their main course arrived as promptly as the entree.
"Thank you Anna, tell David that was all delicious. We"ll help ourselves to dessert; the two of you can get off home now. You"ve done a great job."
"Thank you Mr Wingfield. I"ve put out the cheese and port in the kitchen."
Sebastian nodded, his smile of appreciation sincere.
"So how did you know that I adore duck and sea ba.s.s?" Alex looked at him quizzically.
Sebastian played with his gla.s.s, swishing the contents around, watching the tear drops form on the sides. "Let"s just say a little bird told me...well, maybe not that little."
Alex giggled, "Joss?" He tried to look non-committal, failed desperately, "but how did she know...did she speak to Marina? Does she know about all this?"
Sebastian shook his head, "No, don"t worry. Joss is very discreet."
"And my dad? I hope she"s not taking him out as part of some master plan."
"Your dad? Is he out of hospital?" Sebastian sounded genuinely surprised, "that"s great. I"m sorry, I didn"t know. I haven"t spoken to him since before... with everything..."
With everything...Alex watched Sebastian"s face, could see a shadow pa.s.s. His grandfather and his house. She bit her lip. She was dying to ask about Caroline, but she couldn"t just come out and say it...Sebastian didn"t seem to notice that she had fallen quiet, that she was doing battle with a little red demon with curiosity written in capital letters across his chest.
"He"ll be glad to be out of that place, he hates being cooped up."
The demon gave Alex a sharp poke with his trident. She hesitated for a moment, desperately trying to think of a tactful way to ask. From somewhere behind the house she heard a car start and pull slowly away, its tyres crunching on the rough lane that ran up towards the main house and the front gate. Now they were alone. The distraction gave her a moment to formulate her thoughts.
"Dad told me what happened, with the accident; well what he thought had happened," Alex paused, teetering on the edge of accusation, unsure whether she should continue," he reckoned Caroline had something to do with it."
She"d said it. Alex held her breath; under the table dug her nails into the palm of her hand. What would he say?
Sebastian nodded, running his fingertips along his eyebrow, his eyes unfocused. She could hear the exhaustion in his voice when he spoke.
"She"s had a lot to do with my problems recently. I"m sure Tom will be very pleased to see the back of her."
The back of her? Alex felt a surge of elation, but it was elation tinged with a glimmer of guilt. She mentally kicked herself: why should she be feeling guilty? The demon did a jig.
"Has she gone somewhere?" Alex"s tone was deliberately innocent. She mustn"t gloat.
Sebastian grimaced, putting his head in his hands, rubbing his face hard, like he was trying to clean away the past, "New York. I hope."
"What? Why on earth?" Alex put her gla.s.s down too hard, flinched at the impact. She hadn"t expected that...
But Sebastian didn"t seem to notice. His voice was low, angry, hurt, his eyes fixed on a moth fluttering around the chimaera, attracted by the light from the coals glowing inside.
"There"s been a lot happening." Sebastian paused, looked at Alex, his eyes hard, his mind somewhere else, somewhere where there was smoke and flames and the body of an old man being dragged out of a house by a two fire fighters, two fire fighters who were prepared to risk their lives to save his. "She came to the house...before the fire...they found her cigarettes on the drive." He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, "she had a bit of a go at your laptop I"m afraid."
"My laptop. But...?" The questions jostled for attention, falling over themselves...Her cigarettes?
As if Sebastian knew what was coming, he interrupted her, clearing his throat, moving on.
"I"ve got someone looking at it, trying to salvage the hard drive." Then he grimaced, like it was his fault, "The guards reckon it could have been a stray cigarette that started the fire."
"My G.o.d." Her eyes wide, Alex shook her head. It was all such a lot to take in. She"d already heard some of it from Jocelyn, but not the part about Caroline. And coming from Sebastian, seeing his pain, it was suddenly much more real. She shivered involuntarily.
"I"m not sure if they will be able to tell conclusively." Sebastian chewed the nail on his thumb for a moment, his mind obviously elsewhere. Something in his voice made Alex look up. Then he picked up the bottle of red and emptied the rest of it into his gla.s.s.
"They don"t know for sure it was her. There"s more to the picture always is with Caroline." He paused, "She"s been having a fling." Sebastian stopped speaking, obviously in pain.
Alex held up her hand, stopping him, "You don"t have to tell me."
Sebastian cleared his throat. "It"s better you know." He picked up his gla.s.s and took a sip, "It was someone in the company. Guy called Jackson, everyone calls him Peter though, like Peter Pan. He"s an ex-Royal Marine, brilliant negotiator." He paused. "He"s Joss"s son, so just be careful..."
Alex swallowed hard, trying to take it in. Joss"s son? "I won"t say anything. You know me."
A smile flicked across Sebastian"s face, that was true.
"The thing is, whatever about it looking like Caroline being involved, if anyone"s likely to have started the fire, it"s him."
"Jeez," the word slipped out, incredulity written all over Alex"s face, "What are you going to do?"
Sebastian shrugged, "Not much I can do. The guards are looking after it now. There"s a load of circ.u.mstantial evidence that Caroline was here, but no forensics to prove she set the fire, and Jackson told them that he came down to the house, saw Caroline leaving, that there was no sign of a fire then. I don"t think she"d know how to start one be honest." He cleared his throat. "They questioned her yesterday and she was totally clueless. And she was so drunk when they picked her up, she could hardly stand."
"She was arrested?" Alex could hear the disbelief in her own voice.
Sebastian nodded ruefully, "Forgot to say that. She was as p.i.s.sed as a newt. The guards arrested her for drink driving; she was in court yesterday."
Sebastian paused again, took a sip of his wine. "The thing is, with Jackson"s background, he"d know exactly how to start a fire and not leave any traces. The guards keep saying that if he did set it, he wouldn"t have told them that he"d called to the house, wouldn"t have admitted that he was anywhere near the place. But I reckon he"s cleverer than that. He told them he was in the pub for most of the evening," Sebastian shook his head, "he said he got a call from New York, so they remember him being there all right, and he ordered a steak...but, well, it"s all too neat. I don"t know I"ve just got a feeling. We"ve been having problems with a couple of journalists trying to dig the dirt on the company. I can"t help feeling it"s all connected somehow."
"But why? Why would he want to set the house on fire, to ruin your business?"
Sebastian went quiet for a moment, then said, "His father was killed in a fire. A fire at one of our factories." Staring at the foot of his gla.s.s, unfocused, Sebastian left the words hanging there.
"But he could have killed you. Us." Alex"s words came out as a whisper, "he might try again. He isn"t still working for you is he?"
Sebastian looked up at her sharply, shook his head. "He resigned before I could sack him. I wanted to knock him out to be honest but..."
Alex interrupted, "But you said he was in the Marines, he could have killed you."
Sebastian nodded, "That crossed my mind,"
"Can"t the guards do anything, arrest him?" Alex knew she sounded desperate.
Sebastian shrugged, "They need evidence for that. What do they say in the movies, "means, motive and opportunity", well he had it all, but whether they can prove it is an entirely different matter."
Sebastian knocked back the rest of his wine like the subject was closed; the whole business, like the wine, finished.
Alex watched him, speechless, even the demon had dropped his trident in surprise. Joss"s son? Having an affair with Caroline? Trying to burn down Kilfenora? Dear G.o.d.
Sebastian shook his head. "Let"s not talk about all that tonight. One way or another, the wedding"s off and Caroline"s history. Ancient history."
Alex took a deep breath. Ancient history?
As if he read her mind, Sebastian leaned forward, put his hand out across the table, linking his fingers through hers.
"I"m sorry, sorry for everything, the picture, well everything..." His hand was warm, strong. Alex shook her head it didn"t matter, after hearing about his grandfather, about Caroline, the picture was the last thing he should be worrying about. Giving her hand a squeeze, Sebastian said "your hands are cold, do you want to go inside?" He obviously wanted to change the subject.
Alex nodded, "Do you mind, it"s lovely out here but..."