Once Upon A Christmas Night.... Annie Claydon
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‘You, actually.’
‘Me! We didn’t… .’
He leaned across the table towards her. ‘You don’t need to. It only takes a touch.’ He ran one finger down the back of her hand and Jess gulped, pulling her arm away.
‘So what about my foibles, then?’ Time to change the subject.
‘Your what?’ His gaze slid across her body, making her shiver.
‘Foibles. Pay attention.’
‘I am paying attention.’ He pushed the teacups and the plate that stood between them on the table out of the way. ‘Okay, so your eyes look as if they have flecks of gold in them. That’s not contacts, is it?’
‘Of course not.’ She nudged her leg against his under the table. ‘Foibles, I said.’
‘I heard. Well, you’re resourceful, talented, generally a force to be reckoned with. Only you don’t much like being out of your comfort zone.’
Yes, okay, he might have a point. There were good reasons for her to feel that way. ‘Maybe.’
He leaned forward, and Jess couldn’t help but move towards him. She felt his lips brush her ear. ‘It’s a rather nice comfort zone, though.’
‘Stop it.’ She was feeling better now. As if the weekend wasn’t so much of a trial to be got through. Jess almost wished that it was more than two days.
He drew back. From the look in his eyes there was no question that the dialogue was still continuing somewhere in the back of his mind.
‘Do you want to drive?’
‘What for?’
‘Sometimes driving can help if you’re feeling a bit queasy.’
She stared at him. He knew just as well as she did that this was an excuse. That somehow, indefinably, she would feel a bit more in charge of her own destiny if she was in the driving seat. He was good. Good at putting her at her ease. Very, very good at making her want him.
‘Okay. If you don’t mind.’
He shrugged. ‘Why would I mind?’
His car was a pleasure to drive. When she put her foot down on the motorway, it responded with a purr, rather than the laboured growl that her own car would have emitted. Greg pushed the passenger seat back so he could stretch his legs, and confined himself to giving directions. An hour later they turned into a long, gated drive and drew up outside the house.
‘It’s big.’ Jess scanned the complex roof structure, which accommodated an elaborate arrangement of mock crenellations beneath it. There was even a circular tower, tacked onto one side of the building, with a set of battlements and a flagpole at its top.
He grinned. ‘Yeah. Not the prettiest of places.’
‘It’s not meant to be. Victorian, right?’
‘Yes, that’s right.’
‘Then the architecture’s not about welcoming visitors, eh?’
He looked again. Leaned back to study the red-brick patterns over the windows and the heavy portico, as if this was the first time he’d seen the place. ‘Never really thought about it. So what is it all about, then?’
‘It’s a statement. This house is all about the people who live here being different from the people who live down in the village. They wanted to impress with their power, not their good taste.’
He nodded. ‘You think so?’
Yes, she knew so. The girl from a two-up, two-down felt confronted and challenged by this place and Jess imagined that was exactly how she was meant to feel. ‘It’s one way of looking at it.’
He nodded, obviously turning the idea over in his head. ‘Well, come inside. It’s a bit more homely there.’
Not so you’d notice. The large hallway was big enough to contain her whole flat, with height to spare, and the sweeping stone staircase continued the theme of a fortified castle. Leading up to a wide half-landing that was illuminated by a large, stained-glass window, the whole thing reminded her of a film set for a medieval saga.
‘Here you are!’
A woman’s voice sounded, and for a moment Jess couldn’t work out which direction it had come from. Greg turned and made his way towards the back of the hallway.
‘We stopped for breakfast.’ He spared Jess the indignity of mentioning why. ‘What are you doing here?’
A laugh. The first piece of warmth that Jess had met in this place. A figure emerged from the gloom, walking towards her. Mid-fifties, tall and slim. One of those women that made style look like a fortuitous accident.
‘I popped in to turn the heating on and put some food in the fridge.’ The woman ducked around Greg and made straight for Jess. ‘You must be Greg’s friend. I’m Rosa.’
‘My mother.’ Greg was grinning. ‘Who never misses a chance to check out who I’m associating with.’
Rosa dismissed him with a casual movement of her fingers. ‘Don’t be so parochial, darling. Your friends might want to check me out.’ She grasped Jess’s hand, holding it in both of hers, and leaned in to kiss her. ‘There. Both cheeks.’
‘The Italian way.’ Greg was leaning against the heavy stone balustrade which enclosed the stairs, his hands shoved into his pockets.
‘Don’t listen to my son. I hope you’ll come over to my home for something to eat.’
‘You live near here?’ This was Greg’s father’s house. He’d said that his mother and father had divorced when he’d been a child, but she seemed very much at home here.
‘Two miles in that direction.’ Rosa flicked her fingers towards the dark recesses at the back of the hallway. ‘You can walk across the fields, it’s a nice day.’
Jess shot a questioning look at Greg. Perhaps this wasn’t in his plan for the weekend.
‘Have you made cannoli?’ Greg was smiling at his mother.
‘Of course.’ Rosa turned to Jess. ‘Did he think to tell you to bring any walking shoes?’
No, he hadn’t. Jess wasn’t sure how well her own shoes would stand up to a cross-country walk. ‘Perhaps we can go by road.’
‘If you want. Or I think there may be a pair of wellingtons in the cloakroom. If they’re too big I’m sure that a couple of pairs of socks… ’
‘We’ll manage.’ Greg looked at his watch. ‘When do you want us?’
His mother shrugged. ‘Whenever you’re hungry.’
‘How does one o’clock suit you?’
‘Perfect. Make it one-ish. Don’t worry about being a little late.’
Greg rolled his eyes and kissed his mother, helped her into the waterproof coat that was slung on a low settle in one corner of the hallway and bade her goodbye. Alone again with him, the temperature in the cavernous, empty space seemed to drop a couple of degrees and Jess drew her jacket around her.
‘Sorry, Jess. My mother wasn’t really checking you out, she’s not like that.’
‘It was nice of her to come by, this place could do with warming up a bit. I didn’t realise that your mother lived so close to your father.’
‘My father wasn’t here much.’ Greg’s mouth twitched downwards and he turned away, moving to the door at the back of the hallway where his mother had appeared from. ‘He lived mostly in the States, but he came over here three or four times a year to take care of his business interests in Europe.’
‘He kept this place