Читать книгу Newborn Under The Christmas Tree - Sophie Pembroke, Sophie Pembroke - Страница 10
ОглавлениеTHE MAN WAS impossible to read. Alice had always heard that Australians were open and honest, friendly but blunt. Clearly Liam had more of his father’s side in him than his upbringing would suggest, because he was giving nothing away. Every relaxed shrug or bland stare hid his thoughts all too effectively.
He’d nodded politely as she’d shown him around the bedrooms, barely even acknowledging the king’s room, where past monarchs had slept. She supposed that the history of the crown might not mean that much to him, but she’d expected at least a flicker of appreciation at the giant four-poster bed, or even just the place Thornwood held in the heart of the nation. Still, nothing.
‘And do the women ever stay over here?’ he asked as she shut another bedroom door.
‘Sometimes,’ Alice admitted. ‘Not often, because even with this many bedrooms if we started setting up some sort of bed and breakfast we’d be swamped in days. We simply don’t have the resources—and, to be honest, a lot of the bedrooms aren’t really in a suitable condition for guests.’
‘No beds?’
‘No heating. Or insulation. Or glass in the windows, in some cases.’ She shivered. ‘Thornwood in winter is not a warm place.’
‘Hence the cardigans.’ What was his obsession with knitwear? Alice wondered, as Liam strode off down the hallway. He had a good stride, she couldn’t help but notice. Strong, muscled legs under his trousers, a long step and a purposeful gait. He looked like a man who was there to get a job done.
Alice just wished she had some idea what the job at hand was, for him. Because obviously he had plans. A man like Liam Jenkins didn’t just show up at Thornwood Castle with a vague dream of medieval re-enactments or something.
‘So, which room is yours?’ Liam called back, and Alice scurried to catch him up.
‘Um, I have a box room on the ground floor.’ Near the boiler, and close to the kitchens. It was the warmest place in the castle, and Alice loved it—even if it wasn’t all that much bigger than her office. Small spaces were comforting. There was no space for anything—or anyone—to hide, there.
‘Rose had the master suite, along here, though,’ she added, taking a left turn in the corridor and leading him to a large oak door. ‘We’ve cleared it out already, and it’s made up fresh if you’d like to use it?’ She hoped so. Rose’s suite was one of the few bedrooms in a suitable condition for long-term accommodation. If he said no, Alice had a feeling it would somehow become her job to clear out and do up another room to suit him.
Somehow, a lot of things around Thornwood became Alice’s job, mostly just because it was quicker and easier to take care of things herself than expect anyone else to do it.
Actually, not just around Thornwood. Alice’s rule for living number two was: don’t expect anyone to do anything for you. She figured if they did it was a pleasant surprise. And at least she was never disappointed when they inevitably didn’t.
Technically, Rose had hired her as a fundraiser—to raise money to help keep Thornwood running, without having to open it up for tours. Alice had convinced her that the best way to keep the house open, useful and sort of private was to use it to help the local residents. Rose’s sense of duty had been tickled, and now here they were. Alice raised money—through begging phone calls to donors, or fundraising activities on site—but she also organised the seminars and classes they held, as well as took care of the women. Her salary—small as it was—was paid from the money she raised, so she rarely took more than her room and board, and money for essentials. She was all too aware of the other uses that money could be put to.
Everyone else on site was a volunteer—except for Maud, the cook-slash-housekeeper, who’d been in Rose’s service for decades. Even Heather, who practically ran the place when Alice was busy, did it for nothing. And she had quickly claimed responsibility for taking care of the women who came to them in real trouble, which Alice appreciated. They’d managed to put together a stockpile in the pantry, full of all the essentials women, children and babies might need—especially if they couldn’t go home again. Some just needed enough food to see them through until payday. Others needed clothes, toiletries, nappies, a pay-as-you-go phone with a number no one had—and a way out. Alice was proud that their work meant they could help all of them—or at least get them to the best place for them to find real long-term help. She’d built up great connections with refuges and charities nationwide, and the work they did at Thornwood was well respected. Women came to them now from across the county, not just the local villages.
She just hoped Liam’s sense of duty was as strong as his great-aunt’s.
Opening the door to the suite of rooms, she let Liam walk in first, ignoring the slight pang in her chest she always felt when she saw Rose’s space empty.
Alice couldn’t honestly say that she and Rose had been friends, but she had certainly developed a great deal of respect for the old woman in the time she’d been working at Thornwood. Rose’s beliefs and opinions might have been from a bygone age in lots of ways, but when it came down to the essentials she was practical and—to Alice’s great surprise—compassionate.
Rose could have sold Thornwood for millions twice over, or she could have hired a company to make it into a tourist attraction. But instead she’d hired Alice, and told her to ‘make Thornwood useful again.’ Not in a large, flashy, lucrative way. In a way that served the community, and filled a gap in society. In a way that helped people—women just like Alice had been four years ago. Desperate.
Leaning against the heavy door, she watched Rose’s great-nephew explore the room—running a hand over the antique dresser, sticking his head into the more modern bathroom. Then he crossed to the window and stared out at the gardens beyond.
‘What do you think?’ Alice asked when he didn’t turn back. ‘Will it suit?’
‘Hmm?’ Liam turned back, apparently startled out of his own thoughts. ‘Oh, definitely. The space out there will be perfect for—’ He cut himself off. ‘You meant the rooms. Yeah, they’ll be fine. I don’t imagine I’ll be spending much time in them, anyway.’
Which begged the question—where was he planning on spending his time? And doing what? Because he sure as hell hadn’t been thinking about the bedroom when he’d been looking out of that window. He’d been making plans—plans he clearly had no intention of sharing with her.
And that made Alice very nervous indeed.
‘Ready to show me downstairs?’ Liam flashed her a smile, as if the last few moments hadn’t happened at all.
Alice narrowed her eyes. He was hiding something, that much was clear. But what? And how much harm could it do to everything Alice had built up at Thornwood?
She supposed there was only one way to find out.
She took a deep breath and stretched her face into a bright and happy smile. ‘Absolutely.’
* * *
Liam followed Alice back down endless, labyrinthine corridors, still thinking about the large expanse of forest he’d seen from Rose’s window. It would be perfect for an outdoor pursuits centre. He could see go-karting and paintball, maybe a ropes course. Plenty to keep the kids entertained while the parents took high tea up at the castle, or whatever it was people wanted from a stately home. Regardless, there was plenty of potential there.
Once he’d dealt with the castle’s current residents, of course.
After one last sharp turn in the corridor, they were suddenly spat out into a wide-open landing, leading to a grand double staircase, which joined halfway down to provide steps wider than he was tall. The dark wooden bannisters had been twined with glossy dark green leaves and bright red berries. Below stood an enormous Christmas tree, already strung with lights and glass baubles, the angel on top almost reaching the very top of the stairs. Liam couldn’t imagine how they’d even got it in through the doors.
‘Impressive tree,’ he said, nodding towards it.
Alice gave him a small, tight smile. ‘We like to celebrate life every way we can here. Now, after you?’ She gestured towards the stairs.
Liam frowned. The staircase was clearly wide enough for both of them to descend at the same time, yet Alice hung back in a way she hadn’t before. She was the one who knew her way around, so she’d led the way for most of the tour. What was different now? Was this some sort of prank?
He took the first step gingerly, relieved when it felt perfectly solid and ordinary under his foot.
Behind him, he heard Alice let out a long breath of relief, and knew that this was just another puzzle he’d need to figure out before he could leave Thornwood.
Safely at the bottom, Liam turned to admire the staircase. It would be a grand welcome for guests, a great way to make them feel they really had bought a piece of the English aristocracy experience. Then he blinked, and realised he wasn’t looking at the staircase at all.
He was watching Alice.
She skipped down the stairs easily enough, one hand bouncing along the bannister in between the greenery. The tension he’d heard in her voice when she asked him to go first was gone, and instead she looked...what? Guarded, maybe? As if there was something here she was trying to hide—something more than leaky ceilings and missing windows. Something other than just Thornwood.
Something about her.
He frowned as she reached the ground floor and glided across to straighten an ornament on the tree. Why, exactly, had Alice Walters come to Thornwood in the first place? He’d assumed she’d just been an eccentric hire of Rose’s, but now he was wondering. Obviously she had to be good at her job, and have great organisational skills, if she was keeping all the courses and sessions running that she claimed—even if her office was a bomb site. And Rose had never had any patience for slackers, so she must be a hard worker. Not to mention good at eliciting donations, to pay for everything.
Those sorts of skills could command a significant wage in the business world—far higher than he could imagine Rose paying her. So what kept her at Thornwood? Was it just the desire to do good—and, if it was, what had instilled that need in her?
Or, and this seemed like more of a possibility than he’d previously considered, was Alice one of the women who had needed the safe haven of Thornwood?
For some reason the idea filled him with horror—far more than the usual pity or anger he’d expect at a women being caught in such a situation. The idea of Alice—fired up, determined, intense Alice—being diminished by someone, a man, he assumed... That was unacceptable.
She turned to him, her bright smile firmly back in place and her honey-blonde hair bouncing around her shoulders. Suddenly, she didn’t look like a victim to him any longer. She looked like a strong, capable woman—one he needed to negotiate with before he could move on with his plans.
He was here for business, not to save people. Besides, he’d never been any good at that, anyway. He hadn’t been able to save his mother, had he? And for every fight he’d got in the middle of, how many of the people he’d protected had just gone back and got beaten up again the next day? Probably most of them.
Better to focus on what he was good at—designing buildings and making them a success. That he knew how to do—even if Thornwood was a little different to his usual projects.
And Alice was a lot different to his usual challenges.
* * *
Relief settled over Alice as she saw that the river from that morning had been thoroughly mopped up and the main hall was looking its usual impressive self again, ready for its new owner. The Christmas tree appeared perfectly festive, as did the garlands on the banisters. And hopefully Liam hadn’t noticed anything odd about her behaviour by the stairs—although, given how observant he seemed about other things, she wouldn’t like to place a bet on it. Still, even if he had noticed, why would he care? He wasn’t likely to worry about it enough to ask questions and find out what her problem was.
People usually didn’t, in Alice’s experience. No one wanted the second-hand trauma and misery of another person when they were already dealing with their own.
‘Right, well, let’s start in the library,’ she said, forcing a bright smile. Hopefully someone might have even tidied up the knitting stuff by now, since a new session had been due to start ten minutes ago.
The library was one of Alice’s favourite spots in the whole castle. The walls were lined with books, as one might expect, but Alice had brought her own touches to the place since she’d arrived, with Rose’s blessing. While three walls still boasted shelves laden with dusty, oversized hardback tomes on subjects no one had experienced a need to research in decades, possibly centuries, the fourth wall had been transformed over the last year and a half. The dark wood shelves were now stuffed full of more modern books—self-help classics, career advice books, parenting and childcare publications, not to mention shelf after shelf of fiction. Alice had made sure to collect a good range, mostly from second-hand bookshops on her fundraising travels, so they had romance, detective stories, fantasy and sci-fi, thrillers, as well as a good selection of the classics and award-winners. Something for everybody, Alice liked to think.
Today, now that the knitting class had finished, there was a group huddled around the central tables discussing interview techniques. Alice and Liam hung back at the door rather than interrupt, and listened to the questions the women were posing.
‘But what do I say when they ask why I’ve been out of work for so long?’ one woman asked, leaning across the table.
Melanie, the careers adviser Alice had persuaded to come in and run the session for free, leaned back slightly. ‘Well, I think the best plan is to be honest. Explain what you’ve been doing instead.’
‘What? Changing nappies and mopping up spit-up?’ The woman laughed. ‘Why would they care about that?’
‘Because everything you do, every day, is what shapes you.’ Alice startled as Liam spoke, and the whole room turned towards him. Men at Thornwood were a rarity these days, for obvious reasons. One or two of the women looked a little anxious. Several more looked appreciative—Alice decided not to speculate if that was because of his advice or his appearance.
Liam stepped forward into the room, placing his hands on the back of an empty chair as he spoke. ‘Any company worth working for knows that previous experience isn’t the most important thing for a potential employee to have.’
‘Then why do they all ask for it?’ Jess, one of the younger women, asked.
‘Oh, they’d like it, sure,’ Liam acknowledged. ‘But what they really need is someone who can learn. Someone who can walk into an interview and show them that they’re bright, they’re willing and, most importantly, they’re enthusiastic. If you can make them believe that you’ll work well with their team, listen and learn what you need to know, then go on to make the most of every opportunity they give you—and benefit their company along the way—then they’d be fools not to hire you.’
‘So...you’re saying it’s all about the right attitude?’ Jess said, frowning. ‘Not qualifications and stuff?’
‘Ninety per cent of the time, yes.’ Liam shrugged. ‘Yes, there are some roles that require specific qualifications, but they’re fewer than you might think. And a lot of companies will train you up and help you get those qualifications, if they like you, and if they believe you’ll make the most of the opportunity.’
‘Huh.’ Jess’s frown transformed into a wide smile that lit up her whole face. Alice didn’t think she’d ever seen that expression on Jess’s face before. She rather suspected that it might be hope.
Suddenly, she felt considerably warmer towards Liam Jenkins. Anyone who could put that expression on the face of someone who’d been through as much as Jess had, well, he had to be worth keeping around.
Melanie thanked Liam for his input, and Alice hoped her feathers weren’t too ruffled. It was hard enough finding people willing to give up their free time to run the sessions at Thornwood, especially since she could rarely offer them more than lunch as payment.
‘Shall we carry on?’ Alice asked, and Liam nodded.
‘I hope I didn’t overstep my place there,’ he said as they made their way down the echoing stone corridor.
Alice gave him a lopsided smile. ‘The whole estate is sort of your place,’ she pointed out. ‘You’d have to step a long way to get over your boundaries.’
From the stunned look on his face, Alice guessed he hadn’t thought of it like that before. Maybe Liam was going to find this adjustment as odd as the rest of them.
‘Well, when you put it like that...’ He shook his head. ‘I guess it’s still sinking in. I never expected to inherit Thornwood. Not in a million years. The idea that I own all this, that it’s all mine, as far as you can see from those replica battlements... That’s going to take some getting used to.’
‘Rose never spoke to you about her will?’ Alice asked, surprised.
Liam shrugged. ‘I hadn’t seen her in fifteen years. And I hadn’t been near Thornwood for a decade before that. And when we did meet...let’s just say there were other things to discuss.’
What other things? Alice was desperate to know, but the way Liam looked away, his expression closing up, she knew better than to ask. Not yet, anyway. Maybe when she got to know the new lord of the manor a little better she’d feel more confident about such questions.
Maybe she’d understand what it was about him that made her need to know the answers too.
Still, for him to not even know he stood to inherit Thornwood...that was strange. Rose had wanted everything settled in the last year or two of her life—that was one of the reasons she’d hired Alice when she did. Everything had been arranged for months before she died. So why wouldn’t she have told him? And even before that...
‘But you were her only living relative. You must have known that Thornwood would naturally come to you,’ Alice said, knowing she was pushing but unable to stop herself.
‘Why?’ Liam’s voice grew hard. ‘She’d never given me anything else I was entitled to, so the idea of her starting with Thornwood was kind of ludicrous.’
Alice stumbled slightly as she processed his words and, fast as a shot, Liam’s hand caught her arm, steadying her. ‘Sorry,’ she gasped, trying not to react to the sudden flare of heat that ran through her at his touch. She was absolutely not going to develop anything approaching a crush on this man. That way lay madness, frustration and probably a whole load of embarrassment.
‘Uneven floor,’ Liam said, peering down at the stone under their feet. ‘I’ll have to get that fixed before—’ He broke off.
‘Before?’ Alice asked, curious. What exactly did he have planned for Thornwood, anyway? Whatever it was, she got the distinct impression it wouldn’t involve knitting groups.
‘Before someone hurts themselves more seriously.’ Liam dropped his hand from her arm and kept walking.
Alice studied him as she followed, rubbing the spot where he’d held her arm. It was a neat enough cover, but Alice had plenty of experience with dishonest men.
And Liam Jenkins was most definitely hiding something.
* * *
‘So, where’s next?’ Liam asked, changing the subject quickly.
‘Um...the kitchens?’
‘Sounds great.’ Liam started walking. He wasn’t entirely sure where the kitchens were, but the fantastic scents wafting towards him suggested he was going the right way. And at least if he kept moving Alice would hopefully be distracted enough not to notice his less than smooth cover-up.
Obviously he’d need to explain his plans to her, and everyone else, eventually—making a big splash and putting the English establishment up in arms was part of the reason he was doing it in the first place—the rest, of course, being money. But he wanted to do it in his own time, and in a way that would have maximum impact. Alice gossiping about it to the locals in the village was definitely not that.
He frowned as Alice caught him up and said, ‘This way,’ as she took a sharp left turn. She didn’t seem like the gossipy sort, he had to admit. In fact, she seemed like the sort of woman who could keep others’ secrets as well as her own—and, even on an hour or two’s acquaintance, Liam was sure she had plenty of those. But then, so did he. And if he wasn’t planning on sharing, there was no reason she should.
If he handled this right, Alice wouldn’t be around long enough for him to worry about her secrets, anyway.
‘Here we are.’ Alice stopped in front of a giant wooden door, arched at the top, and reached for the huge iron ring that served as a doorknob. As she turned it and pushed open the door, the wonderful aromas Liam had been enjoying hit him at full strength, along with a heat that was sorely absent from the rest of the castle. Roasting meat and onions and deep savoury smells that made his stomach growl with hunger. He half expected to see a roast pig on a spit over a roaring fire.
But when he looked past Alice, instead of the rustic brick and wood kitchen he was expecting, Liam found a shining modern one, complete with range cooker and a very efficient-looking woman in an apron. In fact, it looked set up to cater for the masses.
‘Liam, this is Maud,’ Alice said, motioning towards the cook. ‘She was Rose’s cook and housekeeper for twenty years, and she’s very kindly stayed on to help us keep the place up and running. Maud, this is the new owner of Thornwood, Liam Jenkins.’
Maud wiped her hand on her apron before holding it out for him to shake. ‘Pleasure, I’m sure.’ Something in her tone told him that she wasn’t at all sure, actually, but he appreciated the attempt at civility all the same. She turned away again, back to the pot on her hob.
‘This is an impressive kitchen,’ he said appreciatively. It was always good to get in with the person who was in charge of the food, he’d found.
‘It’s functional,’ Maud said without looking at him. ‘But to be honest, I prefer the Old Kitchen.’
‘Old Kitchen?’ Liam asked. ‘I know this place is huge, but how many kitchens does it really need? This one looks like it could cater for pretty much any function you wanted to hold here.’
Alice laughed, the sound high and bright—but nervous, somehow. ‘The Old Kitchen is really old. Like a period piece. We use it when we do family days, to show the kids how they used to make different food and drinks here in the past. We’ve done medieval days, Victorian days, all sorts. It’s much more atmospheric than using the new kitchen, but this is better for when we have lots of people to feed.’
‘Which seems like most of the time,’ he observed.
‘The Old Kitchen wouldn’t be any good for all those fiddly canapés and such you like for your fundraisers, anyway,’ Maud grumbled as she placed two plates of food on the counter before them. ‘I’m going to be wrapping Parma ham around asparagus for days, I know it, to be ready for next Thursday.’
Beside him, Liam saw Alice wince. ‘Next Thursday?’
‘I was...going to mention that. We had planned a fundraiser for next week. It’s been in everyone’s diaries for months, long before we knew Rose wouldn’t be here to host it. We have some great pledges of support already. It would be such a shame to cancel it now...’
The question she wasn’t asking hung in the heavily scented air between them. Would the fundraiser still be able to go ahead, now he was in charge?
Liam considered. On the one hand, what was the point? Things were going to change around here, and he might as well start now. On the other, for his first act as the new owner of Thornwood to be cancelling a fundraiser for local women and children in need... That didn’t send a great message.
‘Fine. You can have your fundraiser,’ he said, and Alice clapped her hands and grinned.
‘Fantastic! I just know you’ll be a great host. You did bring your dinner jacket, right?’
Wait. What? Liam had a sinking feeling that he’d just signed up for far more than he’d intended to—and that getting Alice Walters out of his castle might not be as easy as he’d hoped.
