Page 30 of A Colourful Country Escape
Lexie jumped out of her seat with an overwhelming urge to hide. It was Mrs Carrington-Noble’s voice barking through her door. Damn it! She’d thought she was safe here, but the insistent knocking warned her otherwise.
‘Ermmm.’ Oh help. What was she meant to do about her creativity corner? Not that she was doing anything wrong just yet, but if idle minds could be read …
Before Lexie had time to stash anything, her uninvited guest burst into the room. She was holding a wodge of papers to her chest like an inspector with a clipboard.
‘A-lex-is.’ Mrs Carrington-Noble stamped out the beat like a huffy horse as she moved towards Lexie.
Alexis wasn’t even her name. It seemed she had a thing about getting it wrong on purpose, and wouldn’t be persuaded that Lexie wasn’t short for anything.
Lexie gritted her teeth and ignored it, to save her precious breath. ‘Can I … help you?’
Mrs Carrington-Noble stopped and looked around the room, blinking. ‘Just keeping a check on my grounds, as a landlady is entitled to do. What are you up to in here? What’s different?’ Her foxy grey eyes squinted around. ‘You know you’re not allowed to redecorate or change anything?’
Get off my land or I’ll wee on you, was clearly what the woman wanted to say. Lexie hovered in front of her multi-coloured desk of sin, hoping she could save it.
‘I don’t think you’re meant to be in here,’ Lexie said with a sigh, although she’d come to learn that arguing didn’t get her very far.
‘What’s all this about?’ asked Mrs Carrington-Noble, making a move towards the desk. ‘Is that my paint catalogue?’
Tick-tock-tuuuut.The grandmother clock spat out one of its unexplained, impromptu warnings which seemed to surprise the older woman. She took a step backwards.
‘Anyway, I was looking for Benedict.’ Mrs Carrington-Noble sniffed the air, as though searching for traces. Lexie wondered how she could smell anything over the richly overpowering layers of Chanel No. 5 she must have bathed in. No wonder she was always coughing.
‘Well, you won’t find him in here. But I’m due in a meeting with him now, so if you’ll excuse me.’ Lexie turned around and grabbed her laptop and paperwork. As she made her way towards the still open door, praying her intruder would follow, Mrs Moon and Cory appeared in the doorway.
Mrs Moon made some excuse about inviting Lexie to elevenses, but Lexie was sure they’d come to the rescue. Lexie just wanted to escape.
‘Can I, er … ’ Lexie was pointing to her exit, but her new visitors were too busy looking over her shoulder to see what Mrs Carrington-Noble was up to. And before Lexie knew it, she was hustled back into the room.
Mrs Carrington-Noble had installed herself on a thronelike Queen Anne chair, and was looking out of puff. Lexie still hadn’t decided if this was an act she put on for sympathy, because it certainly seemed to work. Mrs Moon fussed over her and even Cory poured her a glass of water from the jug on the coffee table. Mrs Carrington-Noble placed her papers down to take a sip.
What were they? They looked like a pile of letters with photographs attached. Photos of well-heeled-looking ladies. Were they part of her strange matchmaking shenanigans? Lexie tried not to roll her eyes as she wondered if Mrs Carrington-Noble was flaunting them on purpose. She peered nervously at the clock. She was late for her meeting with Ben, but she dared not leave this mob here, as much as she trusted two of them.
Just as she was wondering if she should text Ben, he appeared in the doorway too. Of course. Why did she ever expect anything less than the full circus in this surreal place?
‘Do come in,’ Lexie said to him, through sarcastic lips. ‘You may as well join us.’
Ben stood awkwardly in his smart navy suit, like he’d never been invited into a girl’s room before. But when he caught sight of his mother holding court, his brother lounging like a jester in his seal-sanctuary T-shirt and the housekeeper pretending to dust the sideboard, he cleared his throat and stepped into the show.
Chapter 16
‘Mother. What on earth are you doing in Lexie’s private quarters?’
Mrs Carrington-Noble looked squarely back at Ben. ‘I could ask you the same thing.’
‘We had a scheduled meeting,’ he answered.
‘In her bedroom?’
Ben’s jaw was set, like he had no intention of lowering himself to this conversation.
‘Anyway, I was looking for you. I have a selection of suitable matches for you and I want to hear your thoughts.’ Mrs Carrington-Noble spread out her bounty across the coffee table.
So much for trying to stay out of their curious business, thought Lexie, feeling an odd heaviness pull down inside her chest. She couldn’t help but notice one of the glamorous faces pouting out from a photograph, looking airbrushed to perfection. Cascades of chocolate brown hair slinked over one shoulder and her golden skin shimmered like an oasis.
She was so flawless, Lexie could barely look. It made sense, she supposed. Lexie couldn’t always vouch for Ben in the manners department, but she had to admit he was a treat for the eyes. When he bothered to crack a smile.
‘I’m not interested,’ Ben told his mother. ‘You can sort it out.’
