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“What are you talking about?” Eleanor stopped and put a hand on Sam’s flank.

Elizabeth growled. Actually growled. “I… I can’t say a damn thing right now and it’s driving me absolutely mad, so I suggest that you don’t push things. Just get over here and… and I’ll tell you exactly what happened with the investor and Marren and the offer to buy the estate being withdrawn.”

Eleanor hesitated. “You know what happened?”

“I do. And I’ll tell you. Or, if I don’t, somebody else will. Either way, you’ll know. Alright?”

Eleanor exhaled slowly. She wanted answers. But more than that, she wanted to understand why everything felt like it was slipping through her fingers. “Fine,” she said eventually. “Where?”

There was a faint hesitation on the line. “The Fox and Hounds.”

Eleanor scowled. “Absolutely not—”

But the call had already disconnected.

Eleanor glared at her phone, resisting the urge to throw it across the stable. The pub, of all places. The very idea of going in there, of walking into a room full of curious eyes and whispers, made her stomach churn. What the hell was Elizabeth up to?

She turned back to Sam, running a hand down his nose. “What do you think? Pub or home?”

Sam, thoroughly unbothered by her existential crisis, nudged at her ear with his muzzle.

Eleanor sighed. “Of course you’d say that.”

She took one last look around the stable, a pang of melancholy hitting her. She’d spent a long time trying to convince herself that all of this meant nothing. Now she could see that it meant everything.

Standing here now, surrounded by the scent of hay and horses, she realized exactly why she’d been willing to sell the house. She didn’t just want Danni, she wanted the life they could have had together.

But how was she supposed to get that if she couldn’t find Danni? What was she supposed to do? She’d give anything for a second chance, a moment to explain things, to apologize, just to see her.

With a sigh, she squared her shoulders and turned toward her car.

She’d give Elizabeth five minutes at the pub. But then she was going home and burying herself in her bed and perhaps never coming back out again.

Chapter Thirty Five

She knew from the second she walked into the pub that she had been set up. The place was buzzing, half the damn village seemed to be there, and it smelled of beer and food and people and Eleanor saw and smelled none of it. From the moment she saw Danni sitting at the bar, she was the only thing in the entire world that Eleanor could see.

Until she took a step closer and saw Elizabeth leaning against the bar, her arms folded and a look of complete satisfaction on her face.

Eleanor narrowed her eyes. “What the hell is going on?” she said to herself.

She marched across the room, heels clicking, ignoring the curious looks from the villagers who had picked up on the tension in the small pub. Elizabeth looked utterly composed and Danni, Danni looked…

Eleanor had to take a second to get her breath. Danni looked as comfortable and familiar as home, as exotic and unattainable as a rare bird, and… confused. Danni looked confused.

Fully intending to demand an explanation, Eleanor walked up to the two other women. But before she could say anything, Elizabeth brandished two sheets of paper, slapping one down in front of Danni, and handing Eleanor the other.

“Sign these,” she said briskly.

Danni frowned, picking up the document. “What is it?”

Elizabeth exhaled slowly as though she was hanging on to her very last shred of patience. “This is a legal agreement that waives client confidentiality in the specific cases outlined in the document. You will both sign it or, I swear to all the gods, I will walk out of here and never speak to either one of you again.”

Eleanor folded her arms. “Why should I sign this?”

“Because I’m going to explain exactly what is going on and we’re going to end this ridiculous miscommunication once and for all. Now sign the damn agreement, Lady Eleanor, or I’ll be forced to withdraw my legal services.”

“Why can’t you just tell us?” Danni asked.