Page 76 of Love like the (Real) Reel Thing
“– thanks to negligence by that fancy hotel you work for. There were dead fish found all the way down in Ballygobbin, did you know that?”
Jess resisted the temptation to point out how improbable that was.
“God only knows the amount of damage it’s caused or how long it’s going to take to sort it out.”
“I hear you,” Jess said patiently, “but I can promise you that the group is investigating, and no matter how it happened we’ll make sure the river’s cleaned properly. We’ve already done a lot.”
The bell over the shop door chimed and a group of teenagers came in, making a beeline for the drinks fridges.
Ted folded his arms. “Tell me now, are you here in an official capacity for the Charleston Group?”
She felt herself go red. “Not exactly, no. I just thought, with you being chairperson of –”
“You thought you’d come into my place of business and bat your eyelashes, and I’d roll over and promise to drop the lawsuit.” He put his hands on the counter and leaned closer, forcing her to step backwards. “Well, you’re barking up the wrong tree, girly! If the Charleston Group wants to deal with the residents’ association, they’ll ask for a meeting with us. And not in that bloody hotel, either. They can meet us in the community hall at the back of the church.” He straightened. “If that’s everything, I have other customers waiting.”
Scarlet now, Jess took the sandwich and juice, and with as much dignity as she muster, left the shop.
“Fuck!”
An old man nearby shot her a startled look.
She sighed. “Sorry.”
The man muttered something about young people.
As Jess started to walk back to the castle, she wished she hadn’t bothered trying to talk to Ted. For some reason, his anger had felt personal. Only he couldn’t be angry at her – he barely knew her. But he was definitely angry at Linford Castle. And she’d be willing to lay a bet that the reason, whatever it was, predated the river incident.
Holly was walking through the grounds when Jess got back.
“Hi, Holly. Do you have a few minutes to talk?”
“Here?” She gestured around the grounds which were busy with the cast and crew having lunch.
“I just wanted to ask you if you know who’s on the residents’ association committee? All I know is that Ted’s the chairperson.”
Holly shifted, looking a bit uncomfortable. “It’s mainly the shop owners who are on the committee,” she said. “My mam’s on it too. But she wouldn’t be wanting to sue the hotel, Jess, she’s not like that.”
“I know she isn’t.” Jess resisted the urge to ask Holly if she knew why Ted seemed to have some sort of personal vendetta against the group. “Thanks, Holly. I’m sure we’ll be able to meet with them and get this sorted.”
CHAPTER 39
Jess met Robert after work to go for drinks with Emily and Dermot.
“Are you sure Emily wants us crashing her date tonight?” Robert had said when Jess had asked him to come.
She’d decided to be honest. “It’s not a date-date. And I told her we’d go for one or two drinks, and then leave them to it.”
He’d considered it for a few moments. “Fair enough. Look, why don’t you come back to mine afterwards and stay the night?”
Jess had hesitated, before dismissing the brief, uneasy notion that they were trading favours. Still, they’d planned to go riding up at the castle early the following morning, so it made sense to spend the night together. And with such a short time left here at Linford, it was wrong to stress about stuff like that. She needed to relax and go with the flow.
The pub was busy when they went in, but there was no sign of Emily or Dermot. “We should try to find somewhere for the four of us.” Jess was scanning the room slowly, looking for an empty table, when her eyes locked with Adam. Shit, why was he here?He was with his girlfriend, whom he was completely ignoring right now because he was staring at her!Look away, Jess. If you look away now –shit, he’d looked away first.
Two people stood up and headed towards the door, and Jess grabbed their table and sat down, carefully positioning her back to Adam.
“Wine?” Robert said.
“Corona with lime, please.” As soon as he left, she took out her phone and scrolled absently through her social media. If she looked, would she find pictures of Adam and new girlfriend together? Why would she bother checking though? It wasn’t like she needed to know. She was better off not knowing. Nope, she was doing this. She searched for his account, careful not to click on his story so he’d know if she viewed it. Instead, she scrolled quickly through his posts, a bit surprised that he’d posted nothing about his new girlfriend. In fact, nothing at all since their break-up.
