Sensing her giving way, he softened his tone. “Tell me why, please don’t be afraid. I won’t tease you, whatever you say.”
Her eyes flashed shut. “Because I wanted you.” Her voice was scarcely above a whisper. “I didn’t realize how much, at first, but I came here because I’ve always wanted you.”
Rex had been holding his breath, and his chest felt tight and restricted.
He let go of the key chain, throwing it down on the floor, and clicked his fingers. “Then come to my side.”
She moved fast, kneeling up at his feet, her arms wrapping around his thighs. The key and its chain lay abandoned on the floor. Rex stared down at it, assuring himself of what had occurred.
She clung to him, and he felt damp tears against his skin. “Please don’t tease me about it.”
Rex let his head drop back, relief barreling through him.
Grateful, and empowered, he stroked her head possessively, admitting to himself that a month would never be enough.
Never enough.
He never wanted to break with this woman.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
REX NOTICED HOW different the country air was when he was out on his Sunday jog the following day. He’d risen early with the birds and was making his way around the lake. The air was so much more invigorating than back at his regular haunt, a busy park in South London. Something about it really highlighted his connection to the place. He felt more engaged. That wasn’t something he normally thought about, being very much a city man these days. Though he’d grown up here in the countryside he’d suffered what most young people did, a longing for the action of cities. He’d been happy to shelve the country life.
As he made his way back to the house he looked up at Carmen’s window. They’d reached some sort of plateau the morning before. An impasse, perhaps. She knew he’d always wanted her, and she’d admitted—finally, and very reluctantly—that she had wanted him, as well as the house. That was part of why she’d joined him there.
The whole thing had been emotionally exhausting, and at the end of it they’d been quieter, but closer. It was as if enough had been said about the past, for the time being.
He couldn’t let her leave that way, though. No, before they parted and returned to London, he wanted more level ground.
When he got to the kitchen, he chatted with Mrs. Summerfield while he waited for Carmen to appear.
“So, tell me, what’s your opinion of the newer members of staff?” Rex was aware that Mrs. Amery would have been responsible for employing them, but Mrs. Summerfield had always been more generous with her opinions and didn’t stand on ceremony quite as much as the housekeeper.
“Not a bad bunch. I miss the old ones who’ve gone, though. Leanne is a good girl, throws herself at things a bit too much but she’ll slow down as she gets used to it.”
Rex nodded. “She seemed to enjoy the party.”
Mrs. Summerfield chuckled. “She did.”
“What about the others?”
“The lads who help Bill seem to be reliable enough. I don’t see a lot of them because they’re only part-timers. They come up for a mug of tea midmorning, but they don’t say a lot. There’s also a chap called Jack Formby. He does a lot of odd jobs around the place but he’s not a member of staff as such. Jack runs his own business in the village but whenever it’s something that Bill doesn’t have time for Mrs. Amery will call him in. He gets paid by the hour.”
She seemed pleased that he was asking and smiled his way as she chatted. “When you first came back, you said you didn’t know what the long-term plans for the place were. Now that you’ve had time to talk with Carmen, has that changed at all?”
She dried her hands on a towel, and rested her hip up against the range, an action that he seemed to remember. It was something about the heat helping her arthritis, even though it was a warm day. It was odd, the sudden redemption of long-lost memories, but it kept happening while he spent time there. Little quirks about the people and the place kept coming back to him, like remembering exactly where to put
his hand in a drawer in his bedroom to find the secret compartment, without even having to look.
“I think it’s going to take us a bit more time,” he responded. “It’s not something that can be done easily. Carmen is set on keeping the place, but I want to make sure that’s the right thing for her. It’s a big commitment for anyone to take on, on their own, and she’s got a lot of business responsibilities in London to manage, as well.”
Rex answered without thinking it through, and yet it was how he felt. If Carmen wanted the place, so be it. She was a grown woman and she could afford to run it. However, he wanted to make sure it wasn’t simply some misguided sense of obligation on her part, and that she could cope with it. God knows it wasn’t the easiest place in the world to run. “Not much of an answer for you as yet, I’m afraid, but we both want the best for the place.”
Mrs. Summerfield looked at him, smiled and nodded. “I’m sure you do, and that will be the outcome.” She paused. “Now, you said you’d be returning to London before dinner this evening, would you like me to prepare something special for lunch, for you and Carmen?”
Rex noticed that she seemed satisfied with his responses. Yet he hadn’t given her a real answer. It made him wonder how much the staff were speculating, above and beyond the future of the house, but about them, the two that had inherited it. Perhaps they always had. A woman like Mrs. Summerfield had probably noticed the standing attraction between them and would be intrigued to see where it might go while they were reunited at the manor. It was like watching a live soap opera. “What do you suggest?” he asked.
Mrs. Summerfield beamed and clutched her towel between her hands as she spoke. “Why don’t you take Carmen down to the village for a nice pub lunch? Not that I mind cooking for you. Quite the contrary. But I think she would enjoy that and I’m sure you would, too. Get away from the house for a while, be on your own without the big decisions hanging over you.”