Page 12 of Oleander

“Yeah, Beth’s pregnant,” Luke said, face undeniably filled with joy and happiness.

“You’re going to be a dad?” Caspien said, eyebrows raising. “That’s amazing, Mr. Green. Congratulations! You’ll be smashing.”

Smashing.I almost snorted. Who said ‘smashing’ like that? What was he, fifty?

“Ah, thanks, thanks. We’re excited.” Luke glanced at me. “Means we have to move, but it’s time we got a bigger place anyway.”

Caspien frowned. “You’re moving?”

“Well, not yet. But we’ve been looking. We’ll have to go a bit out of town to get something for our budget, but we’ll make it work.” He was smiling wide, but I felt guilty all over again. For taking the room that should have been a nursery. For existing.

Caspien was biting his lip thoughtfully. “Will that mean you can’t work for Uncle Gideon anymore?”

“God, no, ‘course not. Just means we have to drive a bit longer in the mornings. Which is no bad thing, Judey is great company first thing.”

My head snapped towards Luke, who winked at me.

“Judey,” Caspien repeated, eyes darkening with something I didn’t like. “Is he now?”

“Nah, he’s a bit of a grump first thing, truth be told. Takes him at least an hour to wake up.”

My cheeks felt hot. From the fact that Caspien knew anything about how I woke up, that he knew Luke called me Judey. That we had to move a little out of town because Luke couldn’t afford a bigger house in Gorey.

I slid a weird half-smile at Luke and stood. “Need the toilet,” I said and tried not to run as I put distance between me and the pony-tailed boy at my back.

The moment Beth got through the door, Luke had told her. Beth listened intently, confusion growing with each word.

“I don’t understand,” Beth exclaimed a little breathless.

Luke was grinning wide. “It’s crazy, right? But it’s perfect, babe. Wait until you see it.”

“He’s just…giving it to you, rent-free?”

“To us.” Luke seemed to remember I was there and turned to where I sat on the sofa, gripping the second-hand copy of1984in my lap. “I mean, it needs some work, but nothing I can’t do myself. He said if we accept it, he’d get contractors in straight away to check the essentials: electrics, water, heating. The decoration I can do when I’m not working. It’s perfect, Beth. You’ll love it.”

“Why would he do this?” Beth shook her head, genuinely confused.

I couldn’t blame her. I was, too. I’d seen the cottage, and it was in fine condition. It would rent for a fortune if he’d wanted to do that. Four bedrooms, a large living room, a generous garden at the front, an even bigger one at the back that looked out onto a lake. A lake. And Lord Sir Gideon Deveraux was offering it to Luke and Beth, and me, to help us out.

It made no sense. But it was happening. It had happened.

Before we’d finished up for the day, Gideon called Luke in for a chat about the contract while we waited in the vans. I half wanted Luke to come back and tell us Gideon was unhappy with our work and that we should finish up at the end of the week. That way, I’d never have to look at Caspien Deveraux again. Of course, that would be a disaster for Luke, Beth and the baby, and I didn’t want that.

Not really.

As we drove back, Luke told me what Gideon had said. He was offering Luke a job, and it wasn’t the one we’d come here to do. He was offering Luke the job of head groundsman at Deveraux House.

He said there hadn’t been a live-in groundsman at Deveraux House for almost twenty years. Luke had told him that he owned Green’s Gardening Group and that he’d not want to give up his own business. Gideon had an answer for that, too. He’d invest in Green’s to allow Luke to hire a regional manager if he wished. Maybe they could even set up a satellite branch on the mainland.

Then Luke could help restore Deveraux, which would look great on the company testimonial page while keeping Green’s running, too. The icing on the cake was that it was a live-in position. It came with a four-bedroom, two-storey stone cottage about a mile from Deveraux on the eastern side of the estate. This was all incredibly fortuitous and completely unbelievable to me as I sat there, stunned. But the most incredible part was still to come: Gideon had said that my living on the estate meant I could be of some company to Caspien. Caspien, who didn’t really have any friends in this country and who could benefit from hanging out with someone his own age.

“No way. I hate him,” I told Luke when I finally lifted my jaw from the van’s footbed.

“Oh, come on. He’s a little posh, sure, but he’s got a good heart.”

I glowered at Luke. “Actually, I’m not sure he has one at all, Luke.”

“Judey,” he chided. “You know, I’m sure it was his idea.”