Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 117740 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 589(@200wpm)___ 471(@250wpm)___ 392(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117740 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 589(@200wpm)___ 471(@250wpm)___ 392(@300wpm)
Who wasn’t? The tale of the beautiful woman who spurned a duke for a mere gardener was the stuff of legends around these parts.
I half expected someone to build a shrine to her one day.
“Oh, I know your mother, too, of course,” she added. “So, I am utterly unsurprised that my idiot son has such a fierce opponent in yourself.”
Was that a compliment?
Whatever it was, it was an insult to Oliver, so I’d roll with it.
Eleanor sighed. “I’m sure I don’t need to recount any tales of the de Havilland family drama with you, but you should know that I was the one person in my family who got along with Rupert. My husband and son were largely raised outside of Hanbury thanks to the family business being headquartered in London, and so, they don’t have the same attachment to Hanbury nor its community as the rest of us do.”
I glanced over at her. “Including yourself?”
“Indeed. My grandmother once had a plot on that allotment site, you know. I remember many afternoons as a child where I would join her to pick her strawberries and raspberries. Most left in my belly, of course.” She chuckled. “My dear, I suppose what I’m trying to tell you is that I’m on your side. I’ve opposed Oliver’s decision to sell that land from the very beginning, and that hasn’t changed. I know very well how that place is the heart of the village, and you’re doing wonderful things, what with your calendar and all that. Not to mention your delightful social media account. The Polyamorous Adventures of Pancake, is it?”
I coughed into my fist and quickly changed gear. “Waffles. Pancake is his first wife.”
“Ah, Waffles! Of course. My mistake.” She laughed again. “I’ve spent a shameful amount of time reading that particular saga on Instagram, and that’s how I found out about the calendar. Anyway, all of this is to say that my son is a bloody fool, and I cannot stand idly by while he makes such a stupid decision.”
“So… you’re on our side.”
“Exactly that!”
I pulled into the allotment car park and killed the engine. It was already bustling here, and the committee members were running around like blue-arse flies trying to organise everyone. Shaun was dressed in his uniform and trying to control the human traffic as part of the local police force, while Isa was handing out protest signs to those in line and glaring at him occasionally.
“Goodness,” Eleanor said, peering out of the window. “There are so many people here.”
I stared at the back of her head. Could I trust her? My interactions with the de Havilland family had never really been anything to write home about, but there was something niggling at me where she was concerned.
She felt… different.
As if she truly did care for this place.
And, ultimately, that was why all these people were gathered here today. If we could add a voice as notable as hers…
“All right. Get out and grab a box from the back,” I said, shoving open my door. “I assume you’re willing to work if you’re here.”
Eleanor’s face lit up. “Use me as you wish, Miss Matthews!”
“Rose.”
“Pardon me?”
“Call me Rose, Mrs de Havilland.” I smiled through the car at her. “And I’ll make you regret ever offering yourself to me like that.”
14
* * *
ROSE
Ever-Growing Shit List
“Ican’t believe you got yourself arrested.”
I stared through the little gap in the door at Oliver. “I didn’t get arrested.”
He blinked at me. “Rose, you’re sitting in a jail cell right now. We’re having this conversation through window bars. How can you say that?”
“That might be the case, but I still didn’t get arrested. No cuffs were used.” I wiggled my hands and looked from him to the other man present. “Tell him, Shaun.”
Shaun closed his eyes, and he looked as though he wanted to be anywhere but right here, right now, having this conversation.
Honestly, it was an expression I was all too familiar with.
“She’s right. She wasn’t arrested. She’s technically in there for a time-out,” he said.
I really hated the idea that this was a time-out.
What was I, a toddler?
No. I was a grown woman. I didn’t need a time out.
But it did always prove my point that I hadn’t been arrested, so I would continue to deal with it and use the phrase to my advantage.
I smiled and leant back against the cold stone wall, crossing my arms over my chest triumphantly. “I told you. Not. Arrested.”
Oliver frowned at me. “You’re far too smug for someone sitting in a jail cell.” He turned to Shaun. “How is it possible she wasn’t arrested? I just watched her run through the heart of the village wearing nothing but lettuce leaves over her most intimate areas. She even danced on the bloody fountain in the middle of the town square. I’m going to have nightmares for a week at least.”