The Antique Love (7 page)

It had been mostly easy that morning to avoid getting too close. There was plenty of room in the empty, cavernous house for Penny to take a few steps away whenever she needed. But although it was easy to put physical space between them, no matter where Kurt was in the house, Penny had been aware of him. He said very little, his movements slow and self-contained, and yet he possessed a solid presence which filled the very air around her. Alone in the empty house, Penny was finally forced to recognise the strength of her physical response to him.

She concentrated on the scene below, watching the mist weave and settle over the beech trees. She had thought Kurt, too, was lost in the view, but when she stirred beside him, lifting a hand to rest against the window-frame, he surprised her by responding instantly.

“Guess you must be tired.” He touched her shoulder. “Seems like you’ve written a whole novel this morning.”

* * * *

Kurt had found Penny’s copious note-taking amusing as she darted round the house. He told her she was like a little bird, eager to see everything. Now she lifted her face to his with a smile.

“I’ve got loads of ideas running through my head. But it’s been fun. I’ve loved it.”

“Yeah, it’s been fun.” He looked down into her smiling face, surprised at how much fun it had actually been. He hadn’t been looking forward to the drudgery of having to fit out the interior of his new house, but since spending the morning in Penny’s company, he’d found just how enjoyable it could be.

In every room, there had been something for her to enthuse about. She drew his attention to little details he would have never noticed, making the empty, echoing place come alive. Her descriptions were so vivid, he could swear in Penny’s mind the former Victorian owners were almost real. When they first arrived in front of the arched stone doorway, she mentioned it was part of an architectural style called Gothic Revival. As proof she grabbed hold of his hand and pulled him round to the side of the building to show him a gargoyle he’d never noticed, half-hidden as it was by wisteria. She even enthused later about a filthy old oven she’d discovered in the cellar, telling him it was a quality cast iron Edwardian range which, with time and attention, could be restored to its previous glory. He’d teased her by telling her he thought it was ready for the trash, but she was outraged. She brought a freshness to every dusty nook and cranny, but more than that, she had a magical way of telling a story. He could have listened to her for hours as she conjured up the sort of people who would have lived in the house. She made them seem so real, it was as though they’d just walked out the door.

He took in her fresh, glowing features and was filled with a sudden warmth, an urge to reach for her that took him by surprise. He reached a hand to touch her temple, making light of his sudden swell of tenderness.

“There’s a cobweb.” He brushed the trail away. And then, because he didn’t want the morning with her to end yet, he surprised himself further by adding, “I’m going to take a walk out there in the park. Want to come with me?”

Penny flinched a little at the touch of his fingers. She stepped back, so her shoulders were pressed against the glass.

“Yuck, spiders,” she said after a minute, brushing at her fringe, her face hidden beneath the sweep of her long hair. “You’re right. Let’s take a walk and get out of all this dust.”

* * * *

Penny took a deep breath as soon as she stepped outdoors. A walk in the fresh air would do her good in more ways than one. The huge old house was beginning to feel too small to contain them both, and she felt again the urgency of putting as much space as possible between herself and Kurt.

Noon was chill and misty when they reached the park. Although a scattering of hopeful crocuses had pushed their way through the grassland, the chill damp of winter continued to hang in the air. She had swathed herself in a woolly scarf and hat. Only her eyes and broad cheekbones were showing, invigorated by the fresh air. Kurt had thrown on a thin fleece. She could see him visibly relaxing as they left the traffic-filled streets and entered the wide green space of the park.

“Aren’t you cold?” She knew the answer to the question before she’d even asked it. Kurt seemed to radiate health and vitality, even more so now they had reached the outdoors. He looked at her across the couple of feet of distance she had made between them and laughed, his outbreath joining the mist.

“This isn’t so cold. You should see the ice and the snow in Wyoming—now that’s cold.”

“Do you miss it?” she asked curiously, lifting her head from the path they were treading. “Home, I mean?”

“I miss the scale of it all. The sky and the mountains. I don’t like to feel too boxed in.”

They trod the muddy path in silence for a while. Penny wondered what it must be like to be living abroad, far from family and in an alien landscape. She couldn’t imagine leaving her grandfather and her shop and being happy. Kurt spoke again, almost as though he’d read her thoughts.

“I miss the landscape, but I wouldn’t call Wyoming home. Apart from my sister, there’s no one there I miss.”

It was the first time since they met that Kurt had revealed anything of himself unprompted. He was looking straight ahead, apparently concentrating on the scene unfolding as they moved through the thin mist.

“Don’t you have anyone else? Other family?”

He gave a small shake of the head. “Like you, my mom died when I was small. My dad died a couple years back. My sister’s really my half-sister. And my step-mom’s around somewhere, but me and my sister, we haven’t heard from her for years.”

For someone as taciturn as Kurt, it was a long and revealing speech. Penny concentrated on the path for a while, the moisture from her breath fading and falling. The leaves from the previous autumn were sodden and decaying underfoot, masking the sound of her boots. When she drew in a deep breath to speak, the sound was clear in the cold air.

“Haven’t you ever tried?” she asked. “To contact your stepmum, I mean?”

Kurt kept up his loose-limbed stride, both hands in the pockets of his fleece. When he didn’t answer immediately, she carried on impulsively.

“I mean, family’s important, isn’t it? Doesn’t your sister miss her mum?”

This finally made Kurt stop on the footpath and turn to her. “You ever see
Snow White
?”

Penny barely had time to nod before he turned back to the path and started walking again, leaving her to catch up.

“Well when I was a kid, I used to think they must have based that movie on my stepmom. I thought my dad’s new wife was the evil stepmother come to life. Dad worshipped the ground she walked on. She was pretty, and she was twenty years younger than him. No matter how she treated me and Ann, he just didn’t see it. She was cruel and selfish, but he loved her blindly with a passion.”

They passed under a leafless tree, the branches just starting to bud. Kurt reached out to snap off one of the dead twigs and began swishing it as he walked, the thin wood making a hissing sound in the still air.

“I was twelve, and Ann was just a baby when my stepmom left us all for some guy she met in a bar. Some guy richer than my dad. But that didn’t stop her taking pretty much all the cash from Dad’s hotel business with her when she left. Left us all high and dry.” He cast the twig aside. “Dad was a broken man after that.”

In the silence that followed, they heard the muffled sound of hooves in the mist. Kurt slowed to a halt, lifting his head before turning to face Penny. There was no bitterness in his features, just a sort of weary resignation.

“So you see passion and love stuff isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. It broke us as a family. My sister didn’t have a great childhood after that.”

“Neither did you,” Penny cried. She was beginning to realise how like Kurt’s chivalry it was to think only of his sister and not himself. And how all of this made a lot of other things about him fall into place, too. Seeing the look on her face, Kurt smiled, lifting a gentle finger to touch what could be seen of her cheek between her hat and scarf.

“Guess that makes three of us,” he said. “You remind me a little of my kid sister.”

The sound of horses’ hooves was nearing, and Kurt swivelled round, missing the wince that crumpled Penny’s face at his last words.
Kid sister.
Is that really how he thought of her? But she hadn’t time to reflect on this sudden and devastating insight. A group of riders was approaching through the mist. On seeing him, one of the riders waved her arm in the air and trotted closer. Penny took a few nervous steps backward.

“Kurt.” The woman’s clear voice reached them above the clomping of hooves. “Hello stranger. Long time no see.”

Penny watched from a safe distance as Kurt stepped up to the horse and rider. From where she was standing, the horse was a black, dangerous giant. Great clouds of steam were blowing from enormous pink nostrils. He—or she—Penny couldn’t tell which—let out a nicker of recognition on seeing Kurt before dropping a huge head to paw the ground. Kurt reached up to give the horse a careless pat on the neck—risking life and limb, as far as Penny could tell from her nervous position several feet away.

“Hey, Cass,” Kurt said. “Good to see you. How you doing?”

The rider lifted the reins, controlling the horse in a swift, elegant movement. Tall, willowy, red hair and—Penny would have bet on it—knew how to throw a lasso. This was probably Kurt’s dream woman come to life. Definitely not someone who reminded him of his
kid sister
, she told herself bitterly. She watched from her position of safety as the woman leaned nearer Kurt, controlling the horse’s restless stamping with an easy twitch of the reins.

“I’m doing well,” she said, in a voice that carried far, despite her slight build. “And how about you? We haven’t seen you at the stables for
ages
.”

The woman reached down to pat Kurt’s hand in a teasing way, her gloved fingers lingering just a little longer than necessary. Kurt lifted his hand from the bridle and took a step backward.

“I’ve been kinda busy,” he said. “I just bought a new house over the way, and this is Penny.” He turned and beckoned in Penny’s direction. “Penny’s doing some work on the house. Penny, this is Cass.”

Penny lifted a hand in greeting, keeping her boots firmly planted a safe distance from the horse’s hooves. Cass took in her muffled face and the hems of her jeans, still dusty from Kurt’s cellar, and gave the briefest of nods, raising a neatly gloved hand before turning her attention to Kurt.

“So you’ve finally bought a house in Richmond? Fabulous. We’ll be seeing a lot more of you, then?”

Kurt’s head tilted in that measured way he had when he was considering something. “Yeah,” he said slowly. “Actually, I’m planning on stopping by the stables next Sunday. I’ve an idea I’d like to run by you.”

“Fabulous,” Cass said again, with a lilting laugh. One of the riders called to her, and she lifted a hand to Kurt in a wave, ignoring Penny altogether. “Bye, then. See you next week.”

With what to Penny seemed a terrible stamp of hooves, she whirled the gigantic horse round and trotted off to join the rest of the group. Kurt watched her ride away.

“Great rider,” he said, looking after her.

“Is she?” Penny followed his gaze to where the horses were now beating a path over the tall, wet grass. “I wouldn’t know. She’s got her horse pointing in the right direction, so I suppose she must be.”

Kurt laughed and turned to look at her quizzically. “I guess you don’t ride.”

“No.” Penny was beginning to realise how big the gulf was that lay between their two worlds. Having rarely left London’s streets, she couldn’t imagine what it must be like to get up on a horse. She tried to imagine the thrill of galloping through wide open spaces, but the whole thing was so alien to her experience that her imagination—usually so ready to fill in the gaps—failed her.

“Did you learn in Wyoming?” she asked.

“My mom taught me when I was just a kid. My real mom, that is.” On the spur of the moment, he added, “I could teach you if you wanted.”

* * * *

An astonished silence followed his offer. As soon as the words left his mouth, Kurt himself could hardly believe he’d spoken them. It was one thing to take a walk in the park with Penny after a morning’s work. Offering riding lessons was something totally different. It would throw them together on a far more intimate footing. And yet, Kurt found a large part of him desperately willing Penny to say yes.

He glanced sideways at her, but with her face all covered up like that, her usually expressive features were hidden to him. The little that was visible of her cheeks was unusually pink, but that might have been the effect of the cold.

“I don’t know,” she said. She brought her mittened hands together and twisted them. “I think I’d be a pretty slow learner.”

“I’m a patient man.”

Kurt imagined how it would be, spending more time with Penny, the physical closeness that riding lessons would bring, and was filled with an unexpected longing for her to agree. But he was sensitive enough to know if he pressed her too hard, she would back off and refuse altogether. He slowed his pace, turning to look at her.

“Why don’t you just give it some thought?” He gave her one of his rare smiles. “You never know, it might even be fun.”

Penny nodded, but there was a constraint to her response, and she offered no answering smile. Kurt realised it was the first time since he was an awkward teenager that he’d been turned down by a woman. Maybe he had come to take their acquiescence for granted. He gave a wry, inward laugh at himself as he turned his footsteps back to the path. Being with Penny was proving a novel experience in more ways than one.

* * * *

Penny squeezed herself into a seat on the tube. The doors slid shut, and the walls of the station moved slowly past the window, gathering speed before plunging into blackness. She caught sight of her reflection in the darkened glass and pulled her hat off crossly, stuffing it into her bag. A knitted bobble hat was something a kid sister would wear.
Kid sister.
She remembered Kurt’s expression when he said that’s how he thought of her and she winced again.