Newborn Under The Christmas Tree

‘Impressive tree,’ he said, nodding towards it.

Alice gave him a small, tight smile. ‘We like to celebrate life every way we can here. Now, after you?’ She gestured towards the stairs.

Liam frowned. The staircase was clearly wide enough for both of them to descend at the same time, yet Alice hung back in a way she hadn’t before. She was the one who knew her way around, so she’d led the way for most of the tour. What was different now? Was this some sort of prank?

He took the first step gingerly, relieved when it felt perfectly solid and ordinary under his foot.

Behind him, he heard Alice let out a long breath of relief, and knew that this was just another puzzle he’d need to figure out before he could leave Thornwood.

Safely at the bottom, Liam turned to admire the staircase. It would be a grand welcome for guests, a great way to make them feel they really had bought a piece of the English aristocracy experience. Then he blinked, and realised he wasn’t looking at the staircase at all.

He was watching Alice.

She skipped down the stairs easily enough, one hand bouncing along the bannister in between the greenery. The tension he’d heard in her voice when she asked him to go first was gone, and instead she looked...what? Guarded, maybe? As if there was something here she was trying to hide—something more than leaky ceilings and missing windows. Something other than just Thornwood.

Something about her.

He frowned as she reached the ground floor and glided across to straighten an ornament on the tree. Why, exactly, had Alice Walters come to Thornwood in the first place? He’d assumed she’d just been an eccentric hire of Rose’s, but now he was wondering. Obviously she had to be good at her job, and have great organisational skills, if she was keeping all the courses and sessions running that she claimed—even if her office was a bomb site. And Rose had never had any patience for slackers, so she must be a hard worker. Not to mention good at eliciting donations, to pay for everything.

Those sorts of skills could command a significant wage in the business world—far higher than he could imagine Rose paying her. So what kept her at Thornwood? Was it just the desire to do good—and, if it was, what had instilled that need in her?

Or, and this seemed like more of a possibility than he’d previously considered, was Alice one of the women who had needed the safe haven of Thornwood?

For some reason the idea filled him with horror—far more than the usual pity or anger he’d expect at a women being caught in such a situation. The idea of Alice—fired up, determined, intense Alice—being diminished by someone, a man, he assumed... That was unacceptable.

She turned to him, her bright smile firmly back in place and her honey-blonde hair bouncing around her shoulders. Suddenly, she didn’t look like a victim to him any longer. She looked like a strong, capable woman—one he needed to negotiate with before he could move on with his plans.

He was here for business, not to save people. Besides, he’d never been any good at that, anyway. He hadn’t been able to save his mother, had he? And for every fight he’d got in the middle of, how many of the people he’d protected had just gone back and got beaten up again the next day? Probably most of them.

Better to focus on what he was good at—designing buildings and making them a success. That he knew how to do—even if Thornwood was a little different to his usual projects.

And Alice was a lot different to his usual challenges.

* * *

Relief settled over Alice as she saw that the river from that morning had been thoroughly mopped up and the main hall was looking its usual impressive self again, ready for its new owner. The Christmas tree appeared perfectly festive, as did the garlands on the banisters. And hopefully Liam hadn’t noticed anything odd about her behaviour by the stairs—although, given how observant he seemed about other things, she wouldn’t like to place a bet on it. Still, even if he had noticed, why would he care? He wasn’t likely to worry about it enough to ask questions and find out what her problem was.

People usually didn’t, in Alice’s experience. No one wanted the second-hand trauma and misery of another person when they were already dealing with their own.

‘Right, well, let’s start in the library,’ she said, forcing a bright smile. Hopefully someone might have even tidied up the knitting stuff by now, since a new session had been due to start ten minutes ago.

The library was one of Alice’s favourite spots in the whole castle. The walls were lined with books, as one might expect, but Alice had brought her own touches to the place since she’d arrived, with Rose’s blessing. While three walls still boasted shelves laden with dusty, oversized hardback tomes on subjects no one had experienced a need to research in decades, possibly centuries, the fourth wall had been transformed over the last year and a half. The dark wood shelves were now stuffed full of more modern books—self-help classics, career advice books, parenting and childcare publications, not to mention shelf after shelf of fiction. Alice had made sure to collect a good range, mostly from second-hand bookshops on her fundraising travels, so they had romance, detective stories, fantasy and sci-fi, thrillers, as well as a good selection of the classics and award-winners. Something for everybody, Alice liked to think.

Today, now that the knitting class had finished, there was a group huddled around the central tables discussing interview techniques. Alice and Liam hung back at the door rather than interrupt, and listened to the questions the women were posing.

‘But what do I say when they ask why I’ve been out of work for so long?’ one woman asked, leaning across the table.

Melanie, the careers adviser Alice had persuaded to come in and run the session for free, leaned back slightly. ‘Well, I think the best plan is to be honest. Explain what you’ve been doing instead.’

‘What? Changing nappies and mopping up spit-up?’ The woman laughed. ‘Why would they care about that?’

‘Because everything you do, every day, is what shapes you.’ Alice startled as Liam spoke, and the whole room turned towards him. Men at Thornwood were a rarity these days, for obvious reasons. One or two of the women looked a little anxious. Several more looked appreciative—Alice decided not to speculate if that was because of his advice or his appearance.

Liam stepped forward into the room, placing his hands on the back of an empty chair as he spoke. ‘Any company worth working for knows that previous experience isn’t the most important thing for a potential employee to have.’

‘Then why do they all ask for it?’ Jess, one of the younger women, asked.

‘Oh, they’d like it, sure,’ Liam acknowledged. ‘But what they really need is someone who can learn. Someone who can walk into an interview and show them that they’re bright, they’re willing and, most importantly, they’re enthusiastic. If you can make them believe that you’ll work well with their team, listen and learn what you need to know, then go on to make the most of every opportunity they give you—and benefit their company along the way—then they’d be fools not to hire you.’

‘So...you’re saying it’s all about the right attitude?’ Jess said, frowning. ‘Not qualifications and stuff?’

‘Ninety per cent of the time, yes.’ Liam shrugged. ‘Yes, there are some roles that require specific qualifications, but they’re fewer than you might think. And a lot of companies will train you up and help you get those qualifications, if they like you, and if they believe you’ll make the most of the opportunity.’

‘Huh.’ Jess’s frown transformed into a wide smile that lit up her whole face. Alice didn’t think she’d ever seen that expression on Jess’s face before. She rather suspected that it might be hope.

Suddenly, she felt considerably warmer towards Liam Jenkins. Anyone who could put that expression on the face of someone who’d been through as much as Jess had, well, he had to be worth keeping around.

Melanie thanked Liam for his input, and Alice hoped her feathers weren’t too ruffled. It was hard enough finding people willing to give up their free time to run the sessions at Thornwood, especially since she could rarely offer them more than lunch as payment.

‘Shall we carry on?’ Alice asked, and Liam nodded.

‘I hope I didn’t overstep my place there,’ he said as they made their way down the echoing stone corridor.

Alice gave him a lopsided smile. ‘The whole estate is sort of your place,’ she pointed out. ‘You’d have to step a long way to get over your boundaries.’

From the stunned look on his face, Alice guessed he hadn’t thought of it like that before. Maybe Liam was going to find this adjustment as odd as the rest of them.

‘Well, when you put it like that...’ He shook his head. ‘I guess it’s still sinking in. I never expected to inherit Thornwood. Not in a million years. The idea that I own all this, that it’s all mine, as far as you can see from those replica battlements... That’s going to take some getting used to.’

‘Rose never spoke to you about her will?’ Alice asked, surprised.

Liam shrugged. ‘I hadn’t seen her in fifteen years. And I hadn’t been near Thornwood for a decade before that. And when we did meet...let’s just say there were other things to discuss.’

What other things? Alice was desperate to know, but the way Liam looked away, his expression closing up, she knew better than to ask. Not yet, anyway. Maybe when she got to know the new lord of the manor a little better she’d feel more confident about such questions.

Maybe she’d understand what it was about him that made her need to know the answers too.

Still, for him to not even know he stood to inherit Thornwood...that was strange. Rose had wanted everything settled in the last year or two of her life—that was one of the reasons she’d hired Alice when she did. Everything had been arranged for months before she died. So why wouldn’t she have told him? And even before that...

‘But you were her only living relative. You must have known that Thornwood would naturally come to you,’ Alice said, knowing she was pushing but unable to stop herself.

‘Why?’ Liam’s voice grew hard. ‘She’d never given me anything else I was entitled to, so the idea of her starting with Thornwood was kind of ludicrous.’

Alice stumbled slightly as she processed his words and, fast as a shot, Liam’s hand caught her arm, steadying her. ‘Sorry,’ she gasped, trying not to react to the sudden flare of heat that ran through her at his touch. She was absolutely not going to develop anything approaching a crush on this man. That way lay madness, frustration and probably a whole load of embarrassment.

‘Uneven floor,’ Liam said, peering down at the stone under their feet. ‘I’ll have to get that fixed before—’ He broke off.

‘Before?’ Alice asked, curious. What exactly did he have planned for Thornwood, anyway? Whatever it was, she got the distinct impression it wouldn’t involve knitting groups.

‘Before someone hurts themselves more seriously.’ Liam dropped his hand from her arm and kept walking.

Alice studied him as she followed, rubbing the spot where he’d held her arm. It was a neat enough cover, but Alice had plenty of experience with dishonest men.

And Liam Jenkins was most definitely hiding something.

* * *

‘So, where’s next?’ Liam asked, changing the subject quickly.

‘Um...the kitchens?’

‘Sounds great.’ Liam started walking. He wasn’t entirely sure where the kitchens were, but the fantastic scents wafting towards him suggested he was going the right way. And at least if he kept moving Alice would hopefully be distracted enough not to notice his less than smooth cover-up.

Obviously he’d need to explain his plans to her, and everyone else, eventually—making a big splash and putting the English establishment up in arms was part of the reason he was doing it in the first place—the rest, of course, being money. But he wanted to do it in his own time, and in a way that would have maximum impact. Alice gossiping about it to the locals in the village was definitely not that.

He frowned as Alice caught him up and said, ‘This way,’ as she took a sharp left turn. She didn’t seem like the gossipy sort, he had to admit. In fact, she seemed like the sort of woman who could keep others’ secrets as well as her own—and, even on an hour or two’s acquaintance, Liam was sure she had plenty of those. But then, so did he. And if he wasn’t planning on sharing, there was no reason she should.

If he handled this right, Alice wouldn’t be around long enough for him to worry about her secrets, anyway.

‘Here we are.’ Alice stopped in front of a giant wooden door, arched at the top, and reached for the huge iron ring that served as a doorknob. As she turned it and pushed open the door, the wonderful aromas Liam had been enjoying hit him at full strength, along with a heat that was sorely absent from the rest of the castle. Roasting meat and onions and deep savoury smells that made his stomach growl with hunger. He half expected to see a roast pig on a spit over a roaring fire.

But when he looked past Alice, instead of the rustic brick and wood kitchen he was expecting, Liam found a shining modern one, complete with range cooker and a very efficient-looking woman in an apron. In fact, it looked set up to cater for the masses.

‘Liam, this is Maud,’ Alice said, motioning towards the cook. ‘She was Rose’s cook and housekeeper for twenty years, and she’s very kindly stayed on to help us keep the place up and running. Maud, this is the new owner of Thornwood, Liam Jenkins.’

Maud wiped her hand on her apron before holding it out for him to shake. ‘Pleasure, I’m sure.’ Something in her tone told him that she wasn’t at all sure, actually, but he appreciated the attempt at civility all the same. She turned away again, back to the pot on her hob.

‘This is an impressive kitchen,’ he said appreciatively. It was always good to get in with the person who was in charge of the food, he’d found.

‘It’s functional,’ Maud said without looking at him. ‘But to be honest, I prefer the Old Kitchen.’

‘Old Kitchen?’ Liam asked. ‘I know this place is huge, but how many kitchens does it really need? This one looks like it could cater for pretty much any function you wanted to hold here.’

Alice laughed, the sound high and bright—but nervous, somehow. ‘The Old Kitchen is really old. Like a period piece. We use it when we do family days, to show the kids how they used to make different food and drinks here in the past. We’ve done medieval days, Victorian days, all sorts. It’s much more atmospheric than using the new kitchen, but this is better for when we have lots of people to feed.’

‘Which seems like most of the time,’ he observed.

‘The Old Kitchen wouldn’t be any good for all those fiddly canapés and such you like for your fundraisers, anyway,’ Maud grumbled as she placed two plates of food on the counter before them. ‘I’m going to be wrapping Parma ham around asparagus for days, I know it, to be ready for next Thursday.’

Beside him, Liam saw Alice wince. ‘Next Thursday?’

‘I was...going to mention that. We had planned a fundraiser for next week. It’s been in everyone’s diaries for months, long before we knew Rose wouldn’t be here to host it. We have some great pledges of support already. It would be such a shame to cancel it now...’

The question she wasn’t asking hung in the heavily scented air between them. Would the fundraiser still be able to go ahead, now he was in charge?

Liam considered. On the one hand, what was the point? Things were going to change around here, and he might as well start now. On the other, for his first act as the new owner of Thornwood to be cancelling a fundraiser for local women and children in need... That didn’t send a great message.

‘Fine. You can have your fundraiser,’ he said, and Alice clapped her hands and grinned.

‘Fantastic! I just know you’ll be a great host. You did bring your dinner jacket, right?’

Wait. What? Liam had a sinking feeling that he’d just signed up for far more than he’d intended to—and that getting Alice Walters out of his castle might not be as easy as he’d hoped.

CHAPTER FOUR

‘OKAY, I THINK we need to move that table back across to the other side,’ Alice said. The women she’d roped in to help her set up for the fundraiser glared at her. ‘Last time, I promise.’

As the table got moved across the ballroom, Alice rubbed her forehead to try to fend off a headache, and ticked off another item on her clipboard. The checklist was almost done, at last. It had been a long few days of preparation—not entirely helped by Liam sticking his nose in every few hours to see exactly what she was doing.

Thornwood Castle’s new owner had been in residence for almost a week now, and he was certainly making his presence felt. Alice had hoped, when he’d agreed to let them go ahead with the fundraiser, that it was a sign he was happy for Thornwood to carry on as it always had.

Apparently not.

Over the past week, Liam had shown up to observe various classes, taken lunch with the women and kids in the dining hall, climbed up into the attics to inspect the roof, been observed checking and annotating the castle blueprints, and spent a day exploring the woods on the edge of the estate. The rest of the time he’d spent working in the room he’d claimed as his office, between the library and the kitchens, making phone calls, typing on his laptop or just talking to himself as he paced. Reporting back to Alice on what the new owner was up to had become a full-time game for the kids who hung around the castle after school. It was almost as if she had her own team of spies—even if she didn’t have a clue what to do with the information they brought her.

Worst of all, whenever Alice had asked Liam if she could assist him at all, he’d just shrugged and smiled and said, ‘Nah. It’s all good. Just getting a feel for the place.’

It was making Alice very nervous.

‘He’s so infuriatingly laid-back,’ she’d said to Heather, after another one of his ‘don’t mind me’ visits to a first aid class she was giving.

Heather had laughed. ‘Have you ever considered that maybe you’re just too tense?’

Alice had glared at her, and gone back to doing her job. Mostly because she had no idea what else to do.

At least preparing for the fundraiser had given her something else to focus on, besides whatever plans Liam was hatching for Thornwood. If this was to be her last big event at the castle, she wanted to make it a good one.

The guest list was solid, she knew—she had the mayor, a couple of local councillors, a local celebrity chef and a duke and duchess from the next county, along with the usual bunch of lawyers, teachers, doctors and local businessmen and women. Maud had laid out a great spread, and Alice had ordered in plenty of champagne so that the bids in the silent auction should go high enough to make the evening worthwhile. Spending so much on one event always made her nervous, but she’d never failed yet to make back at least four times what she spent in donations and auction bids. She just had to keep reminding herself that all the glitz, glamour and fuss were worthwhile.

Even if she did have to wear a stupid, shiny dress with a desperately uncomfortable strapless bra.

‘How’s it going?’ Alice spun at the sound of Liam’s voice and found him casually leaning against the giant double doors of the ballroom, his arms folded across that broad chest.

‘Fine! All fine,’ she said, forcing a wide smile. She glanced around the ballroom. The tables were set up with the best cloths, and her helpers were laying out the silver and glass flatware. There were candles in the candelabras that would illuminate the room, ready to be lit nearer the start time. The floor had been polished, and the string quartet was tuning up in the corner. All she had left to do was set up the stuff for the silent auction, and get herself ready to schmooze and smile for the night.

‘Looks good.’ Liam nodded, lazily pushing away from the door and crossing the ballroom towards her. ‘Want to tell me what I’m expected to do tonight?’

Alice nodded. ‘Of course. Um, mostly it’s just about chatting to people. You’re new, so everyone is going to want to talk to you. They’re going to want to know your plans for Thornwood, for a start.’

‘Are they, indeed? Well, they might be disappointed on that one.’

‘Because you don’t have any firm plans yet?’ Alice said hopefully. If he wasn’t set on one course of action, she still had time to sway him towards her point of view.

Liam gave her a wolfish smile. ‘Because I never share my plans until they’re finalised.’

Damn. ‘Well, I’m sure you’ll manage. Other than that...it would be great if you could do a welcome toast. Just a “Thanks for coming, it’s a great cause, raising money for the work being done here at Thornwood”—that sort of thing.’

‘Sure,’ Liam said, shrugging. ‘What’s the name?’

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