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‘Fair enough. Come on, Victoria,’ he said, putting his arm around her mother’s shoulders. ‘Our guests are waiting.’
‘We’ll send you an invitation to the wedding,’ Rhys called out as he rearranged her on his shoulder.
There was another squawk from her mother’s direction, although this one had a distinct sound of triumph to it. ‘You shouldn’t tease her like that,’ Tasha said, giving Rhys a swat on his backside. ‘I’ll never hear the end of it!’
The next moment her head was spinning as Rhys hoisted her back upright, holding her around the waist so her feet dangled a couple of inches from the floor. ‘Who was teasing?’
‘But you can’t possibly still want to be with me after everything I’ve done!’ she protested.
Rhys carried her over to where his Range Rover blocked the bottom of the drive and plonked her none too gently down on the bonnet. He didn’t release her waist, using his knees to move her legs apart so their bodies were as close as humanly possible. ‘I found your phone. I read the emails you sent to that arsehole Willoughby.’
‘But how?’
‘Bonfire Night. Zero-five-one-one. I took a punt that you’d used Danni’s birthday as the password on both phones.’
Oh. She’d forgotten she’d given him the password after they’d had that parking issue at the campsite over Easter. If he’d read her emails then he knew every bit of the awful truth. ‘Then you know that I’ve been lying to you from the start.’
‘And that’s something we’re going to have to have a long, hard talk about, but I saw what you told him. Or rather how much you didn’t tell him. There was nothing in those emails Willoughby couldn’t have learned from reading our website. I also saw the way he spoke to you and if I ever cross paths with him, he’s going to wish he never heard of Juniper Meadows.’
‘That may be so, but I’m the one who told him about your grandfather owning the estate. I told him as soon as our interview was over. Simon would never have contacted him if it wasn’t for me.’
‘Wasn’t for me, you mean? I’m the one who mentioned him at the interview so it’s not like you used any underhand methods to find out about it. Monty confessed he’s been in negotiations with Willoughby since he first tracked him down at the end of February.’
‘End of February? But I’d only just arrived at the estate.’ She felt sick. ‘It’s like Atkinsons all over again.’
‘Atkinsons?’
She shook her head. That was a story for another day. ‘Never mind about that now. Tell me what’s going on with your grandfather. Is he going to accept the offer to sell?’
‘Granny read him the Riot Act. Threatened to leave him if he didn’t stop his nonsense.’ He shook his head, an admiring grin on his face. ‘I’ve never seen her so mad. Apparently, Monty lied and told her he was bringing her home so she could meet Ben and spend some time with all of us. And that’s what she’s decided to do. She told him he could rattle off wherever he wanted in his stupid bloody camper van – her words, not mine – but she’s staying put for the foreseeable future.’
Tasha slumped against him, relief flooding her body. ‘So the estate is safe? I haven’t ruined everything?’
Rhys pulled back to cup her face. ‘You haven’t ruined anything, my love. I promise. Unless you decide you don’t want to come home with me, that is.’
She flung her arms around his neck and hooked her heels behind his legs, holding him close in case this was all some crazy dream. ‘I don’t know how you can forgive me so easily. But I’ll take it. Oh God, I’ll take it!’
He kissed her then, his mouth claiming hers in a fierce possession she gave back to him tenfold. ‘Are you sure this is what you really want?’ he asked her between kisses. ‘I don’t want you coming back because you feel guilty, or because you think you have something to make up to me.’
Of course she felt guilty, and of course she had so much she needed to make up to him and the rest of his family too, but there was time for that. ‘I’ve never wanted anything more in my life than to come home with you. This is a chance for me, a chance for us. I’d spent so long trying to prove something to myself that I’d completely lost sight of what really mattered. I want to see the future the way you do. All those hopes and dreams you have for the estate, I want them too. I want to help you achieve all of it and more.’
‘You’ve already made my dreams come true, Tasha Blake, from the moment we met.’
