Page 88 of Love like the (Real) Reel Thing
“Close enough.” He handed her a pair of Wellingtons. “Hang your jacket in here and I’ll give you some overalls. They’ll be a bit big, but they’ll do the job.”
“Thanks, Noah.” Jess took off her jacket and hung it on a hook. Already, she was starting to feel a bit better.
Three-quarters of an hour later, Jess had worked up a sweat, but one stable had been mucked out, swept and restocked with clean hay. Noah wandered over as she closed the half-door and gave the gelding a gentle pat.
“You came the right day,” he said. “We normally have them all fielded from early morning but, if there’s a lot of outdoor filming happening, we can’t always do that.”
Jess nodded. “Have you enough stable hands?”
“Plenty. Don’t feel you have to do this.” Noah rubbed his nose. “Not that I’ve any objection to you being here, you’re always welcome.”
“Have any of the film people taken the horses out while they’ve been here?” Jess asked.
He thought for a moment. “Spencer Torres rides well. And that English pal of his, Ben. Hasn’t he gone off back to England now? They were both able to handle Zeffre, not a bother on them.” Jess guessed that was a subtle dig at Robert.
When she said nothing, he added, “Afric’s a good horsewoman too, but I haven’t seen her since herannouncement. She and that fellah from Donegal went out riding together a few times.”
“Dermot?” Jess looked at him.
Noah shrugged. “Don’t remember his name. About your age. Tall, longish dark hair.”
“Sounds like Dermot.” Jess paused. Hadn’t he said that he didn’t really ride? “Does he ride out a lot?”
“Come to think of it, he stopped coming when Afric Brooks did. ’Tis a pity because these beauties really need to be exercised.” He sighed. “Mr Neary and I had a sit-down before the film people arrived and talked about the possibility of lending four of the horses to public stables for the duration, but then we were told that a lot of the cast and crew ride and asked to keep our six horses here.”
“And they haven’t been riding?” Jess frowned.
“Ah, they have, I suppose – just not as much as I’d expected.” He shot her a wry look. “But a lot’s been going on that none of us expected.”
A couple of teenagers, wearing old clothes and riding boots, came in, and Noah greeted them.
“Brandy Boy’s stall is finished. Get started on the others.” He turned to Jess. “I’m sure I’ve kept you long enough.”
She hid a smile, suspecting that Noah was talked out for the day, and went into the tack room to change back into her jacket and shoes.
Why hadn’t Dermot mentioned that he and Afric had gone riding together, she wondered, as she headed back up to the hotel. In fact, why had he said he didn’t really ride at all? What exactly was he keeping a secret? The fact that he could ride? Hardly. It was more likely the fact that he and Afric were close. And she hadn’t questioned his reluctance to talk about Afric that evening. Should she say anything to Emily? She knew how Emilyfelt about Dermot and she didn’t want her jumping to the wrong conclusion.
Except that Dermot and Africhadknown each other a long time. Afric had even managed to get him onto the crew for two big Hollywood movies. What if Dermot was the guy Afric had got involved with towards the end of their last movie? And she and Spencer were just … what? Pretending?
She broke into a cold sweat as the possibilities of that unravelled in her head. Dermot had been on set in the States while they’d been shooting the early scenes ofAn Irish Inheritance. Which was when Afric had to have become pregnant.
But that didn’t make any sense. Both of them were single, so why would they keep it a secret from everyone?
Dermot seemed like a nice guy – a sort of what-you-see-is-what-you-get kind of person.. But now she thought about it, she had the distinct impression that Dermot was keeping something to himself. She just hoped that Emily wouldn’t get hurt.
CHAPTER 44
“I don’t know what happened, Mr Rourke. I’d just brought him back from his walk and –”
“How much did he eat, Gerry?”
Jess jumped when she heard Adam’s voice just outside her office door. She sighed and slipped on some noise-cancelling headphones, hoping he’d forget she was here and not involve her in whatever the hell was going on.
The cast and crew had left early that morning for two days’ filming on Achill Island and, as the staff enjoyed a little downtime, Jess was also relishing some peace and quiet.
Now there was a loud barking that sounded suspiciously like Snuggles.
She put her head in her hands. Why did they have to do this in the foyer? And why was Adam involved?
