Christmas at the Little Clock House on the Green. Eve Devon

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СКАЧАТЬ man with zero interest in what I’m trying to do here.’

      ‘But maybe a little hard work would make him see sense.’

      ‘No.’

      ‘Is that a, “No”, no or a—’

      Jake simply stared at his sister.

      ‘Okay so that’s a real and actual no.’

      Elton chose that moment to chase Bingley around the table with a marker in his hands. As Jake reached out to grab the marker, Sarah took her son in her arms and settled him on her lap. ‘So, what’s all this, then?’ she asked, indicating the plans that had been spread out on the large kitchen table.

      ‘I found them in the library last night.’

      Jake watched her turn her head to look at the plans and found himself holding his breath for her reaction.

      ‘It’s the rose garden you’ve been working on, right?’

      Jake nodded. ‘Notice anything unusual?’

      Sarah leant forward to stare at the plans, making sure she captured Elton’s sticky hands in her own so that they couldn’t reach the age-spotted foolscap drawings. ‘This looks bigger somehow.’

      ‘I know. I don’t know why this area was never finished, but finally I’ve found the missing part of the puzzle.’

      ‘All this time there’s been a missing part of the garden?’

      ‘Mmmn. Every time I’ve worked in that area I’ve kept feeling as if the perspective was off. And I was right. Look,’ Jake said, pulling out a kitchen chair and shoving his mug down on the end of the plan to stop it rolling back up. ‘This looks like the same wall that divides the kitchen garden from the rose garden, but it isn’t. There’s another small private garden that extends down from a doorway that’s been bricked up.’

      ‘You mean, like a …’ her nose scrunched up. ‘Secret garden?’

      ‘Exactly. A secret garden.’ Jake grinned, trying and failing to keep the excitement from showing in his voice. ‘Yesterday I broke through that part of the wall. Next step is to dig out some of the foundations and see what I unearth.’ At least he would, as soon as he had the time. ‘Actually, can you tell me what you think of this?’ Getting up from the table he walked over to the dresser, pulled out a drawer and took out some sketches. ‘I drew them up last night. It’s how I think it should look when finished.’

      Sarah stared at the watercolour sketches. ‘Oh, I love these. You’ve made it into a sort of garden chapel.’

      ‘Actually, that’s not a bad description.’

      ‘It’s stunning. A private oasis beyond the rose garden.’

      ‘So you can see how it should look in bloom?’

      Sarah nodded. ‘It’s a shame you can’t finish it straight away. With The Clock House opening up in a few weeks, Crispin’s going to start bringing up your plans at the village meetings.’

      ‘If Crispin wants me to open earlier, then he can raise the tens of thousands of pounds needed to finish this project off.’ Jake wasn’t rushing anything. If it was worth doing, it was worth doing well.

      ‘Maybe if you did Gloria’s charity calendar – joking,’ Sarah added, as soon as she saw his trademark scowl hit his face. ‘You know if you’re going for the chapel look, you could hold weddings here.’ She pointed to his sketches and the plans. ‘Set up a marquee on the back terrace, or have a picnic down by the lake, but the ceremony should be here under this main connecting arbour. Can you imagine the scent? So romantic.’

      Jake winced.

      Yes, okay, the thought had trickled in, along with the puzzle of why his great-great grandfather, George, had added a plan for this area but never had it made.

      George Knightley had started his career in theatre construction so it wasn’t that surprising to Jake he’d shown a true gift for design. What was surprising was why something that would have worked so well on the estate had been bricked up?

      George’s designs had been fascinating Jake since he’d stumbled across them while poking about in one of the potting sheds, looking for a bottle of beer or a cigarette when he was fourteen.

      After overhearing yet another conversation about money between his parents, he’d been in need of a distraction. They’d all found ways to deal with the stress and reality growing up on an estate the size of Knightley Hall but he’d been the only one to put that energy back into the land and that had been down to Sid, the head gardener at the time, taking him under his wing. Showing him a different way of dealing with pressure and showing him George’s designs so that his passion for restoring the gardens had sparked.

      Years later and Jake knew his plans to get the place to pay for itself were going to work. He just needed to be done with winter and for spring, summer and autumn to last about twice as long as it usually did.

      ‘Sorry. Shouldn’t have mentioned the “R” word,’ Sarah said, getting up to plonk her mug into the cheap-as-chips stainless steel sink before turning around to walk back over to the table and switch on her laptop. ‘So, about what I brought to show you … the thing is, I kind of wanted you to see it first so that when you receive your invite, you’re not too shocked.’

      ‘Invite?’

      ‘Mmmn. It’s for the opening of The Clock House.’ She brought up the gif she’d been designing and said, ‘Okay, press “Play” and tell me what you think.’

      Intrigued, Jake reached forward and set the gif in motion. As the envelope opened up on screen, he grinned. ‘Now this is what I call an invitation to a grand party.’

      ‘You like it?’

      ‘I do. More to the point, I think Kate, Daniel and Juliet are going to love it.’

      ‘I thought it was good. I mean, you know what I mean.’

      Jake’s gaze snagged on the date of the party as it flashed up on screen.

      Sarah bit her lip. ‘And now I’m guessing you’ve realised the date of the opening was going to be your—’

      ‘It’s fine,’ Jake said, cutting her off.

      ‘Is it?’

      ‘Is this really why you came here, to tell me about the date?’

      Sarah looked at him with what looked suspiciously like sympathy. He tried a warning scowl and the sympathy in her eyes only deepened. Damn siblings. They saw you running around in a pair of dungarees made from curtains when you were younger and there was just no way they could ever be scared of you again. Gentling his voice anyway, he ran a hand absent-mindedly over his hair. ‘I don’t have dibs on dates, Sarah.’

      ‘Well, no but—’

      ‘Like I said, it’s fine. But I won’t be able to babysit Elton for you that night.’

      ‘Of course you won’t. You’ll be at СКАЧАТЬ