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

buzz as she tried to make sense of what she was hearing. She’d been so sure it was Sue. ‘But what about what Sue said to Dylan about wanting him to be part of a family?’

‘Wishful thinking on her part maybe, or perhaps Dylan misunderstood. He’s only five.’

Helen didn’t know what to say and she looked around her office; her safe space. Somewhere she had intended to recover from her broken heart in private, without anyone knowing she was in pain.

‘You must have known I’d come after you.’ Tom wrapped a ringlet around his finger.

Not moving, Helen watched as a tiny strand of her hair coiled in his touch. ‘I thought I was doing the right thing. Making it easier for all three of you.’

‘Easier?’ His hand stopped moving, but he didn’t release the curl. ‘You know how hard it was for me to admit my feelings for you, how much I worried that I was letting you down? If you think having you walk away without explanation was easy…’

‘No, I meant…’ Helen threw up her hands. ‘I have no idea what I mean anymore.’

Reluctantly letting go of her hair, Tom looked at his watch. ‘I need to check on Dylan.’

Any reply Helen might have made was cancelled out by a loud unladylike growl from her belly.

While Tom waited for his phone to connect, he gestured to the open packet of biscuits on her desk. ‘When was the last time you ate anything that wasn’t a cookie?’

‘I had some fish fingers last night.’

‘Last night?’

‘More like just before dawn.’ She pointed to her shopping. ‘Would you like a biscuit?’

*

Thea had been relieved when Tina asked if she’d mind making up a batch of soup for the following day’s lunch. It had been good to get lost in the unthinking task of peeling, chopping and slicing vegetables.

The stock was beginning to soften the potatoes, carrots and leeks, and a handful of pearl barley and mixed herbs had been thrown in when she became aware of someone watching her. She knew it was Shaun without looking. Her nervous system went into overdrive before either of them had spoken.

‘Why do you think I was the one who came to see where you were in the laundry when you went to fetch the bath towels?’

Shaun’s opening line had not been the one Thea expected. ‘I don’t know.’

‘Because I wanted to see you. Be alone with you. I wanted to say something to make us better. But when I got there…’ Shaun paused, his forehead crinkling as he tried to frame his words, ‘… you were so closed off. I didn’t know how to begin. And Dylan was waiting.’

Thea shuffled her feet against the kitchen floor. ‘He really enjoyed being a bubble zombie.’

‘Apparently he can’t wait to tell Tom, but won’t be telling his mum.’

‘Really?’

‘He said something about Mummy not liking messy games.’

Thea raised her eyebrows. ‘Helen wouldn’t have minded.’

Shaun gave a half smile. ‘Helen would have joined in.’

Taking her phone from her pocket, Thea checked the screen. ‘I’ve sent lots of messages, but I haven’t heard anything from her. Have you?’

‘Nothing.’ Shaun picked an out of date newspaper up off the table and flicked the pages through his fingers without noticing what was written on them. ‘I’ve had an email from Julian though.’

‘Oh God.’ Thea’s entire body went cold. ‘What did he want?’

Not missing the level of panic in her voice, Shaun stepped towards her as if to give her a hug, but then stopped, the paper forming a flimsy barrier between them. ‘To talk to me when I get back.’

‘Oh.’

‘The email didn’t mention the rest of the team. Just me. As production meetings are a group affair, I have to assume this isn’t one.’

‘Oh.’

‘Have you had any more messages from him?’

‘No.’ Thea stirred the soup a little faster. ‘And nor have I replied to the last email.’

‘Why not?’

‘You mean, apart from the fact it has split us up?’

‘You see us as separated?’ Shaun laid down the paper, his voice like lead.

Thea grasped the wooden spoon’s handle tighter. ‘No. Yes. I don’t know. I hope not, but well… I did spend the rest of the night in Helen’s room after you turned away. Am I staying there?’

‘Depends if you’re intending to meet Julian, I suppose.’

Battling hard not to snap, Thea said, ‘I’m not.’

Shaun licked his lips. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to hug her or shout at her. Instead he tiptoed around the issue, asking, ‘To be clear, you aren’t meeting Julian because you don’t want a career in television?’

‘No!’ This time Thea’s groan escaped as a growl as she repeated what she was sure she’d already said a hundred times. ‘I never did. And even if I had, I’d never pursue one with Julian. Didn’t you listen to anything I said in the garden? I hate to think what the price tag would be for his help.’ Thea kept her eyes on the soup. Its comforting aroma was the only thing stopping her from screaming in frustration at going around in conversational circles.

‘With Julian, the cost would be very high I imagine.’ Shaun swallowed carefully. ‘You were on the receiving end of a text, an email and overheard an out of context phone call.’

‘And I was foolish not to tell you. We’ve done this conversation. A lot.’ Turning the heat down under the soup, Thea asked, ‘Have you heard from Ajay or Andy?’

‘Only to confirm they’ll see us on the fourteenth of April.’

‘Us?’ Thea held her breath. She could feel Shaun’s breath on the back of her neck, and silently willed him to put his arms around her.

‘You are coming back to the Cotswolds, Thea, aren’t you?’

‘I don’t see that I have much choice. We can’t leave the last bits of filming undone.’ Thea kept talking. She hated the sound of the brittle practicality in her voice. ‘It’s as well we have individual campervans. I’ll understand if you want me to move mine to the other side of the car park.’

Shaun suddenly