Spring Blossoms at Mill Grange by Jenny Kane (fiction books to read .txt) 📕

of the walled garden. Guilt hung heavily on his shoulders throughout lunch, as he watched his mum and Tina chat about the house in general. He hadn’t had a chance to talk to Tina about his father’s reaction to them marrying at home, which, he thought, was perhaps just as well.

As Tina finished expounding the virtues of the manor’s interior, Sam piled their soup bowls onto the tray.

‘Would you like to see inside, Father?’

‘As we’re here, I suppose that would be sensible.’

‘Honestly, Charles, try and sound a little bit enthusiastic!’ Bea rolled her eyes. ‘Come on.’ She got to her feet, picking up some empty coffee cups as she did so. ‘I’ve only seen the kitchen properly so far. I’d love to explore the rest of the house.’

Giving his wife an indulgent look, Charles got to his feet. ‘What will you do while we look inside, Sam?’

‘I’ll come with you, downstairs anyway. Tina will have to take you upstairs though.’

Tina enjoyed watching Lord Malvern’s eyes widen. ‘You can come inside, and stay inside, now, Sam?’

‘Yes.’

Tina slipped a hand in Sam’s. ‘I told your mum about the efforts you and Bert have been making, and how they’ve been paying off.’

‘Good for you, Sam.’ Charles’s smile returned, lingering at the corners of his mouth. ‘Shall we go in?’

Leading the way, Tina could hear Bea behind her, telling her husband what a treasure Mabel was.

‘Mabel will have gone home to check on Bert, I’m afraid, but I’m sure she’ll be back later if you’d like to meet her.’

Bea placed the cups on the table as Charles surveyed his surroundings, his expression unreadable, although Tina couldn’t help but notice he spent as much time observing his son in an indoor setting as the setting itself.

‘Charles, I think I must visit Mr Hastings before we go home. He has done so much for Sam. He’ll be giving Tina away at the wedding.’

‘Will he now.’ Charles head titled upwards. ‘Then indeed he must be visited.’

Seeing his mother rolling up her sleeves, looking like a woman who had every intention of washing up, Sam tugged Tina gently to one side and whispered, ‘Should we ask them to stay for dinner? It’s almost three. Thea and Shaun will be here soon.’

Opening the large china cupboards doors, so their faces were hidden while in hushed conversation, Tina said, ‘I think your mother’s already assumed they’re staying. She made a big fuss over the lasagne earlier.’

‘Right.’ Sam nodded. ‘My father was a bit prickly about the venue thing when we were in the garden. How’s it going with Mum?’

‘Hard to tell. She’s thrilled that you’re able to come inside. She got quite chocked when she realised how much progress you’d made. We’ve talked about the wedding, but not where it’ll happen.’ Tina grimaced. ‘They seem to love the house. We can win them round, can’t we?’

‘Miracles do happen.’ Sam winked before closing the cupboard again.

*

Tom pushed a chair under the desk and stood back to examine the affect. ‘What do you think?’

‘I think it’s a good job you two sharing one room is a short-term thing.’ Helen felt awkward. She knew that if they’d told Sam and Tina they were a couple when they’d originally planned to, then Dylan would have this room to himself already. And although Tina had guessed, she’d promised not to tell Sam until Dylan knew.

‘At least I won’t have many of his belongings to store until I find somewhere to rent. Sue’s only bringing the essentials over with Dylan tomorrow.’

Helen pointed to the deep windowsill. ‘Dylan could use that as his shelf for a while.’

‘His shelf?’

‘He’s bound to have books and cuddly toys that he views as essentials, even if they’re only weekend essentials.’

‘You’re right. I hadn’t thought of that.’ Moving forward to swipe a jumble of books and papers off the window sill, Tom peered into the garden. ‘Sam and Tina aren’t at the picnic table by the kitchen anymore. I hope it’s going alright for them.’

‘They spent long enough having lunch. The lack of raised voices has to be a good sign.’ Glad they’d had the foresight to bring their own lunch up to her room, Helen said, ‘Tina was hoping to do a tour of the house after they’d eaten. Perhaps we should slip outside and leave them undisturbed in case the attics are included in the itinerary?’

‘Good idea.’ Tom pushed his armful of possessions under the bed. ‘There’s nothing else we could do now until Dylan is here. Let’s go and see the fortlet.’

*

Face to face with the fortlet, the weight of their unspoken conversation about her immediate future rested on Helen’s shoulders.

‘I want to get it under a few layers of protection before the public come in for the Easter egg hunt. We could get the covers ready to put it into sleep mode.’

‘I’ll help you put them on now if you like.’ Tom bent down to lift a few blown in branches from the floor of, what was once, a Roman walkway.

‘I wasn’t sure if Sam would want to show his parents.’ Helen’s eyes flicked towards the house. ‘I hope they can win them over. It would be so wrong for Sam and Tina to marry anywhere but here.’

‘Yes.’ Tom paused, sensing Helen’s growing discomfort. They couldn’t avoid the elephant in the room any longer. ‘When you’re back in Bath, you will visit won’t you, when you can, I mean? Dylan will miss you. And I will too, obviously.’

Helen’s heart thudded faster as she risked a glimpse at Tom’s face. He was staring at his feet, his expression torn between hope and fear.

She found her mind zipping back to the earlier part of that day, when he’d made love to her as if she was the most precious creature that had ever lived. Her thoughts rewound across the weeks they’d worked side by side, helping others to learn to love their heritage as they strove to improve their personal futures. She thought on, picturing Dylan, who’d lightened