Christmas Weddings - Georgia Hill

Скачать книгу

He’s a devil for them. Worse than the kids.’

      Millie dunked half and crammed it into her mouth, ravenous. She gave Trevor a sneaky fragment while Tessa’s back was turned. ‘I still don’t understand why you ended up taking him,’ she said, with a full mouth. ‘Back in the summer Jed said he was happy to look after him until I got back. So, he and his brother are living at The Lord of the Manor now? What’s the deal with that?’

      ‘Alex has bought it. Taking a sabbatical or something from hedge-fund managing, or whatever he does in the city.’ Tessa made a face.

      ‘Blimey,’ Millie said, impressed. ‘How much money must he have? What are the plans for it?’

      ‘Don’t know, kiddo. He and Jed are living there while he decides what to do. Reckon it’ll be another swanky-wanky place with scraps of food and hot and cold running helipads.’

      ‘Plenty of room for a dog, though,’ Millie said thoughtfully. ‘Not that I’m not very grateful that you took Trevor in,’ she added hastily. She hid her nose in the dog’s fur and received rapturous licks in return. ‘I know he adores it here.’

      ‘The boys have loved having him. It was no bother. In fact, Trevor can stay and I’ll boot Roland out. Trev makes a lot less mess than my youngest.’

      ‘I hope you weren’t put out that Jed had him. It’s just that he offered and it all happened so quickly.’

      ‘We’ve loved having him, Millie.’ Tessa’s voice was firm.

      ‘So, why did Jed not keep him all autumn? Poor Trev, he must have been so confused,’ Millie said indignantly.

      ‘Think he’s working long hours. Didn’t want to leave the dog on his own.’

      ‘I suppose that makes sense. What’s this new job of Jed’s, then? You mentioned something when I rang but I was too knackered to take anything in.’

      Tessa concentrated on drinking her tea. ‘Dunno. I’m sure he’ll tell you all about it when he sees you.’ She put the mug down. ‘Now come on, I don’t want to talk about Jed, I need to hear what you’ve been up to. It’s been a miserable, wet autumn in Berecombe and I need to hear about sunshine and hot men.’

      Millie could tell that Tessa was holding back, but there was no point pressing her. She took another life-affirming slug of tea and launched in.

       Chapter 3

      ‘So you stayed at Dora’s villa? What was that like?’

      ‘Oh, Tes, it was amazing. In the hills just outside Siena, swimming pool and everything. The most wonderful views across the olive orchards. I had the use of a tiny Fiat and there was a family-run trattoria nearby that did the most gorgeous food. I’ve come back with a notebook stuffed full of recipes. You’ll have to try the lemon polenta cake, it’s heaven on a plate.’

      ‘Can’t wait. No equally heavenly men?’

      ‘Well, there was Savio. He took me out and about a few times.’ Millie got out her phone and flicked through some pictures. ‘Here he is.’

      Tessa’s eyes widened. ‘Well, he’s a spunk on a stick, isn’t he?’

      Millie took the phone back. ‘Not bad,’ she said airily. ‘Very charming and quite wealthy too.’ She caught Tessa’s look and giggled. ‘Purely platonic, Tes, at least on my part.’

      ‘Whatevs, bab. And you left all that and came back to Berecombe?’ Tessa pulled a disbelieving face.

      Millie hugged Trevor. ‘Well, I had one or two things to come back for.’

      ‘Fair enough. So why did you go onto Thailand?’

      ‘Eleri got in touch with me.’

      ‘Elle-Lairi,’ said Tessa, pronouncing it with difficulty. ‘Who’s she, when she’s at home?’

      ‘Maybe you don’t know her? Old Davey’s granddaughter? She hasn’t been to see him since she was a kid. She’s changed a lot since then. She’d heard from Davey that I was doing a bit of travelling and said she was on this fantastic island in Thailand. Koh Phangan. Would I like to go over and join her?’ Millie put Trevor down as he was wriggling and obviously wanted a drink. She watched as he slurped noisily from his bowl. ‘I’ve always wanted to go to Thailand.’ She made a face. ‘To be honest, Savio was getting a bit keen so I needed an escape. It was cooling down, too, so I thought I might as well head for some sun.’

      ‘Yeah well,’ Tessa put in drily. ‘That’s the problem with gorgeous Italian millionaires. You just have to get away from them.’

      ‘He wasn’t a millionaire, Tes.’ She reconsidered. ‘Actually, he might have been, he did have a Maserati.’

      ‘Oh well, in that case, you did the right thing, bab. Run. Run away as fast as you can.’ Trevor put a nose on Tessa’s knee, soaking her jeans with his wet whiskers. She pulled a face at him. ‘Your Millie needs her head examined, Trev, my boy. So what did you do in Thailand once you’d got away from this Maserati-driving monster of an Italian hunk?’

      ‘Had a good time. Sunbathed, swam in the sea, helped out in the bar that Ri, that’s what Eleri likes to be called, was working in. I played with the baby monkey that the bar owners had as a pet, went to some pretty wild beach parties. It was cool.’

      Tessa stared at her friend. ‘It’s done you good too. You’ve changed, Mil. The suntan suits you.’

      ‘I’ve got some incredible Thai recipes.’

      ‘Not changed that much, then.’

      Millie laughed and finished her tea. ‘Maybe not. And I don’t think I’ll try out the chicken-feet stew on Arthur and Biddy.’

      ‘Has it got something out of your system?’ Tessa asked curiously.

      ‘Ah Tes, that I’m not too sure about.’ Millie traced a finger over the pattern on her mug. ‘Now I’ve seen what the world outside Berecombe can offer,’ she added. ‘I’d quite like to see some more.’

      ‘What’s the plan now, then?’

      Millie broke off another bit of biscuit and crunched thoughtfully. ‘I suppose the first call has to be to Jed,’ she answered eventually.

      ‘And what you going to say to him, kiddo?’

      ‘Ah. That’s the problem, Tes. I have absolutely no idea.’

       Chapter 4

      Millie strode into the hall of The Lord of the Manor hotel two days later. She hadn’t been for years. There had been no need. Nothing, as far as she could see, had changed. The massive mahogany desk was still dominating the space, with the moth-eaten stag’s head above. The ancient Persian rug remained to trip you up as you entered and there was still an enormous chipped blue and white vase acting as an impromptu umbrella stand by the door.

      There was no one around. And it was freezing cold. Millie, in four layers and her father’s overcoat, shivered. She knew Jed was here as his Golf was parked up outside. Spying an old-fashioned brass bell on the desk, she rang it.

      Somewhere high above her a door slammed and there came the sound of feet running down the stairs. Jed came into view. He stopped dead when he saw her.

      Millie stared back, her heart thumping uncomfortably under all the layers. He looked paler than she remembered, but that could be in comparison to Savio. He also looked thin and tired and far less glamorous.

      He came to her, his hands stretched out to take hers. ‘Millie,’ he said, on a long breath.

Скачать книгу