Jumping in Puddles (27 page)

“That’s because we want a word with him.” The man pointed to Jago. “In private.”

“Do you want me to call the police?” Henry shot Jago a look of concern.

He guessed he’d paled. He didn’t want to go anywhere with the prostitute he’d nearly fucked and the pimp who’d blackened his eye. Not difficult to guess what they wanted.

“We saw your picture in the paper,” Jill said. “Quite a party you had last weekend.”

“Is there somewhere we can go?” asked the man.

Ellie gripped his hand harder. Jago knew what he did in these next couple of minutes might dictate his future. No lies, he and Ellie had said, and the truth was that nothing had happened between him and this woman, but it wouldn’t look good.

“What do you want?” Jago asked, grinding his teeth.

“I think we ought to go somewhere private,” Jill said.

“Here’s fine.” Jago tried to unclench his jaw.

“Jago—” Henry started.

“It’s okay. Let them say what they’ve come to say, and then they can leave.”

“But—”

“Spit it out,” Jago snapped.

Jill sniggered. “That’s not what you told me to do.”

Ellie sucked in a breath.

“Why don’t you come into—”

“No.” Jago interrupted Henry again without looking away from the couple. “What do you want?”

“You had sex with her last week and didn’t pay,” said the man. “You owe us two hundred for that. Course, if you don’t want us to go to the press, you might like to pay a little more in compensation.”

Ellie’s hand fell limp in his. Jago didn’t let her go.

“You’re lying. I didn’t have sex with you.”

“Yes, you did. I think I’d know,” said the woman.

“You came tear-arsing out of her place without paying. I gave you a black eye.”

Jago clutched Ellie’s hand, willing her to tighten her hold. “I bought you a drink in a pub, and you practically took your knickers off in there. I had no idea you intended me to pay for sex. The moment you talked about money, I left. Which is what I want you to do right now. Leave.”

The man pulled at the woman’s arm. “Come on. We’ll talk to the papers instead about Jack-the-lad here. Should make us a few thousand if he’s not going to do the honorable thing.”

Oh fuck, fuck
. Jago had no idea what to do.

“Did he take his clothes off?” Ellie said to their backs.

“Yeah.” The woman turned. “He’s got a nice body.”

“Then you saw the tattoo on his butt?” Ellie paused.

“Might have,” she said cagily.

“Can’t really miss it. The spider?”

What are you doing, Ellie?

The man nudged the woman, and she said, “No, he doesn’t have anything like that.”

“Want him to show you?” Ellie asked.

The man crossed his arms. “Yes.”

“I’m not—” Jago shut up when he looked at Ellie’s face. He unfastened the button on his pants, unzipped, and exposed his backside.

“Shit,” said the guy.

Jago peered over his shoulder, saw a couple of hairy arms, and gasped.

“Let’s get out of here,” the man said and glared at the woman.

They stomped off down the drive, arguing with each other, and it started to rain, hard bullet-like drops pelting his face. He fumbled with his zipper and button, his head spinning. Jago watched Ellie hurry toward the gatehouse, shoulders down, Henry following. Ellie had saved his butt—literally—but how the hell was he going to put this right?

Chapter Twenty

Jago set off after Henry and Ellie, and the rain poured down even harder, soaking him. The door of the gatehouse opened at his push. He closed and locked it and brushed the water out of his hair.

Henry stood in the kitchen with his back against the sink. The look of disapproval on his face shriveled Jago’s guts.

“I didn’t do anything,” Jago said.

“You went with her to her place. You intended to have sex with her.”

He cringed. “Probably, until she expected me to pay.”

“Jago!”

“I know; I know. We all have bad days. It was a shitty day. Where’s Ellie?”

“In my bedroom with Diane.”

“I didn’t do anything, Henry. She knows I didn’t. She made up the crap about the tattoo to get rid of that woman.”

Henry gaped at him. “She didn’t make it up. I saw it. A tattoo? What the hell were you thinking?”

“It was a trick. I’ll explain later. Ellie knows I didn’t do anything with that woman.”

“Then ask yourself if she knows it isn’t true, why she’s so upset?”

Then Jago got it. Ellie had told him she’d loved him from the moment she saw him, even though he’d spouted all that stuff to get rid of her.
Love at first sight
. The lump grew in his throat. She’d told him she’d loved him even more when she’d seen the way he looked at her as she stood under Henry’s porch. Now she knew moments after he’d first laid eyes on her he’d driven away with the intention of getting laid.
Shit.

Jago walked down the corridor and knocked on the door of Henry’s bedroom. As the door opened, he straightened, but it was Diane who stood there. She frowned and crossed her arms.

“It’s okay, Diane,” Ellie said.

Diane left, and Jago walked in and closed the door. Ellie lay crumpled on the bed like a fallen leaf, her cheeks stained with tears. Jago dropped to his knees at her side and laid his hand on the cover near hers.

“I thought it was love at first sight, and it wasn’t for you,” she said quietly. “We both have to fall in love at the same time. That’s the rule.”

The pain in Jago’s heart paralyzed him for a moment. “Ellie, we
are
meant to be together. I couldn’t see more than your nose when you knocked on the door of Sharwood. I hardly gave you a chance to speak, but when you pulled down your hood under Henry’s porch, I thought…I’d been hit by lightning. My knees trembled, and I couldn’t breathe. You had the sweetest face I’d ever seen. Those dimples…” He lifted his hand and let it drop before he touched her. “Your huge bright eyes and that cute nose. Your hair was wet, and little tendrils had stuck to your cheeks. They curled over your face and forehead like some ancient writing. My cock knew even if the rest of me was a bit slow. I had an erection before I reached the Land Rover.”

She stared at him without blinking, but her lip twitched, and Jago exhaled.

“I’d spent so long fucking everything up, and even as I drove off that night, I knew I’d fucked up again and should have stayed and eaten with you and Henry. But I needed to get away from Sharwood. I’d just scared myself stupid nearly falling off the roof putting slates back in place. I was sick to the back teeth of the endless work, and I felt sorry for myself. I don’t let it happen very often, but that night I wanted…someone to hold me, a woman to lose myself in. I didn’t see I’d already met her, and I’m sorry.”

He took a deep breath. “Don’t let her lies spoil everything.”

“I’m sorry too. We’ve both made mistakes.”

“I love you so much,” he whispered. “When you look at me, there’s this warm tingle that runs down my spine and makes me weak at the knees. You make my heart leap with your smile. You make me feel strong. I don’t want to live without you by my side. I don’t want to die without you by my side.” He paused. “Do you still love me?”

“Yes, I still love you.”

A weight lifted from his heart.

“But if you ever look at another woman and get an erection, I’ll be forced to…take drastic measures.”

He bit back his smile. “Could you get rid of that spider tattoo on my butt?”

“I’ll think about it.”

Ellie pushed herself to a sitting position and wiped her cheeks with her palms. “Does Henry have any tissues?”

Jago looked around and pulled open the top drawer on the bedside cabinet. No tissues but a framed photograph of his mother and a smiling Henry, who looked to be in his early twenties. He had an arm draped over his mother’s shoulder while her hand was spread over Henry’s heart. On her third finger was the rose-gold ring.
What the hell?

“What’s wrong?” Ellie leaned over to look in the drawer. “Oh.”

“She’s wearing the ring.” Jago stood up clutching the picture. “He lied to me.”

Ellie caught his arm as he made for the door. “Wait. Don’t make a scene before you know all the facts, especially in front of Diane.”

“He gave my mother the ring? How did he get it back? What is…this between them? The way they’re looking at each other.” Jago slumped back on the bed. “They loved each other. Oh Christ.”

She wrapped her fingers around his where he clutched the picture.

Their heads jerked up when there was a knock at the door. Henry peered into the room, took in what Jago held, and scowled. “It was in the drawer for a reason.”

“To hide it from Diane or me?”

“He was looking for tissues,” Ellie said.

Henry came in and closed the door.

“Whose ring?” Jago snapped.

“My ring. I gave it to Rebecca, and she gave it straight back to me, said she couldn’t keep it. But she wore it when we were together. I always felt it was hers, that I was…looking after it for her until she
could
take it forever.” He leaned back against the door.

“You had an affair with my mother.” Jago could hardly get the words out he was so shocked.

“I wanted her to leave him, and she wouldn’t. She loved you boys too much for that. She said he’d take everything from you if he knew. I waited and waited. I loved her more than life itself, and when he…crashed his car and killed himself and your mother, I wanted to kill him all over again. He killed the man he was going to sell Sharwood too as well. She’d told me once the house was sold, we could be together. The money I gave you for the inheritance tax, that was our money to begin again.”

Jago stood, and the picture fell to the bed.

Henry took a shuddering breath. “She was the light of my life.”

“Are…are you my father?” Jago whispered.

Henry closed his eyes. “I hoped you’d never ask me that. And I longed for you to ask me that.” He opened his eyes and stared straight at him. “Yes.”

Jago’s world cracked apart. “Then…this isn’t mine. Sharwood. It’s Denzel’s.”

“Denzel’s mine too. Your father—”

“Don’t tell me.” Jago swallowed hard, but the lump remained in his throat.

“Sharwood was left to you. It’s not my name on your birth certificate. I was as much a father as I could be. I wanted to be more, but I took what I could get.” He glanced at Ellie. “Ellie guessed. Only here five minutes, and she knew.” He released a choked laugh. “I’m assuming from your surprise she said nothing.”

“It wasn’t my place to say,” Ellie said. “You look the same. You brush your hands through your hair in exactly the same way. Your smile…”

“I couldn’t tell you, even after they’d died,” Henry said. “I felt as if it would have been betraying your mother, but I promised myself, if you asked, I’d speak the truth.” He reached behind him for the door handle. “Well, you know now. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell anyone. Don’t suppose you want to. I didn’t think I could ever find another woman to love after…but Diane’s chipping her way into my heart. Once everything’s sorted with the garden, I’ll leave and—”

Three steps, and Jago pulled Henry into his arms. “Don’t leave me.”

He could feel Henry’s tears on his neck as they clutched each other.

“Oh God,” Jago muttered. “All this time.”

Henry grasped Jago’s shoulders and looked him in the face. “I went through all my family paperwork. My grandmother had an interest in genealogy. There’s a missing child. A boy. Silas. The son of the estate manager when your ancestor, Rupert, was master here. Silas attended lessons with Rupert’s two children. There’s a doodle in a very old school book. Three names intertwined, Silas, Drake, and Cicely. I wonder what happened to them.”

“I don’t think we have any way of knowing.” Jago shot Ellie a glance over Henry’s shoulder.

“Henry,” Diane called. “I need to go to the supermarket. You want to invite Jago and Ellie for dinner?”

“That would be lovely,” Ellie said. “Thank you.”

Henry sighed. “I think she knew we needed to talk.”

Jago caught Ellie’s little smile.

The three of them went back into the kitchen. He and Henry slumped at the table, and Ellie made coffee. When she put Henry’s mug in front of him, she placed the ring there too.

“It’s yours, Henry. The rest has gone, but the ring is yours.”

“Gone where?”

“To the people it rightfully belongs to,” Ellie said. “It was traded without their knowledge.”

“For three children.”

She nodded.

Henry looked from one face to another. “Faeries? Really? You, Ellie?”

Jago gripped Henry’s wrist. “She can’t answer that. You mustn’t ask.”

Henry let out a long sigh and then smiled at Ellie. “I can’t ask anything? Maybe I can say something. This house… I don’t think either you or your father ever stood a chance here. When your father finally was on the point of selling, he died. When you talked about selling, things seemed to get worse, more leaks, more problems, and you lost—yes, well, you know who you lost, but I’m not sorry about that. Ellie is perfect for you. But this bloody house. I don’t think it would let you walk away. It wanted you here, maybe wanted to punish your family.”

Jago sagged. “You’re right. I don’t think I’d quite put everything together, but maybe my father had. Maybe that’s why he stayed here and was miserable.”

“The house will be fine now the Kewen has gone,” Ellie said. “It’s going to be a happy place.”

Henry let out a strangled laugh. “If I believe all that, then why shouldn’t I believe in faeries?” He pushed the ring back toward her. “You bought it. It’s yours. Knowing what it was traded for, I don’t want it. It can have a new history with you.”

Ellie looked up at Jago. “We could sell it again?”

Jago wrapped his fingers around it. “No. I have a better use for it.” He put the ring in his pocket and tugged Ellie to her feet. “We have a turret room to finish renovating.” He faced Henry. “Ellie’s moving in. Her brother has given us a long-term loan of his car, and I’m going to call the hospital and see if they still want me.”

“That’s wonderful,” Henry choked out.