Page 68 of Duke It Out
“Mmm.” Kate gives a slow nod. “I’ve had friends like that.”
I hold out my hand and one of the foals bravely stretches out to sniff my fingers. I look across the little herd of ponies to the sweep of green paddock fenced with neat wooden posts and rails. There’s something about this place, the way time seems to slow down. It’s the light over the loch in the morning and the way the mist hangs in the pinewoods. I ran away from Scotland when I left university and never looked back, but this place feels like home.
It’s just a shame it’s someone else’s.
We eatdinner together in the kitchen. Halfway down a bottle of red, Anna gets up between courses and wanders over to the window, looking out at the kitchen garden. Riots of sweet peas tangle on willow arches between raised beds nearly planted with rows of vegetables.
“This is all very nice, isn’t it?” She folds her arms behind her back and stretches her back. “Just what I needed.”
I line up the crumbs on my bread plate with a finger. Gregor’s left us to it, with instructions to leave everything for the morning. I get up and put our plates in the dishwasher, taking the minted strawberries from the side and carrying them back over to the table.
“He said leave it,” Anna says, turning back to me.
“He always says that,” I say, passing her a bowl. “And I clear up every time.”
Anna shrugs. “Well, I’m on holiday, so…”
I frown at her for a second. “About that…”
She raises her chin slightly and gives me a bright smile. “Oh, you know how toxic the paper was. Let’s just say I’m on gardening leave.” She pours some wine into her glass. “I’ve got something completely new lined up, anyway. Journalism is dead.”
There’s no sign of Rory for the next couple of days. Meetings in town, Janey mentions, in passing. I try not to look interested and instead take Anna on a tour of the world I’ve been pretending to be part of for the last two months.
The little coffee shop is strung with pink gingham bunting.
“Thought we’d push the boat out,” Ginny says from behind the counter, reaching up and adjusting one of theflags. “Now the weather’s getting nice the tourists are coming back again, so I thought we’d give the place a bit of a makeover.”
“Well, it’s a look,” says Anna, not quietly enough. She scans the menu. “No matcha? Not even a turmeric latte?”
I tug her by the arm over to the table in the window, hoping Ginny hasn’t heard.
“They do a very nice flat white.”
“2010 called,” says Anna rolling her eyes, “it wants its coffee order back. And its bunting. It looks like Cath Kidston threw up in here.”
“Stop it,” I mutter through gritted teeth. “I’ve got to live here.”
Anna shrugs. “Not for long. Christ, Edie, I bet you’re gagging to get back to actual civilisation.”
She takes out her phone and stares at the screen for a moment. “There’s no mobile service?”
I point to the Wi-Fi password written in Ginny’s neat writing on a little card on the table.
“Too cute,” says Anna, rolling her eyes again. “Like I said, not long to go.”
“I’m fine,” I say, firmly. Because I am. I like this place with its out-of-fashion bunting and three types of coffee and paninis with brie and cranberry sauce. “You have to try the Swedish cardamom buns, they’re literally the best thing ever.”
In an attempt to make up for Anna’s rudeness I order six of them to take away as well as some to eat at the table, pay a five-pound donation for some raffle tickets, and effusively praise Ginny’s bunting while I’m standing at the counter making my order.
“Excited for the ball?” Ginny beams, handing over a sheaf of raffle tickets.
“I’m not sure excited is the word,” I say, selecting a couple of sugar sachets. “Intrigued might be more like it. I’ve heard… a lot of stories.”
Ginny giggles. “The ice penis.”
Anna turns to look at us, her face a picture.
“Long story,” I say, laughing, as I carry our drinks over to the table. And then I stop, because stepping in through the door with wind-ruffled hair and a suit that looks completely out of place in the cramped, cosy café, is Rory. His gaze catches mine for a second too long and my heart flips over in my chest. He flicks a glance over towards Anna and his expression sets like granite. He gives a brief nod and heads past me to the counter.
