Thank goodness.
If ever there was a time for an interruption, it was now.
I could kiss them both.
“Whatever are you doing here?” I asked, joining them in the hall. They were big, wet messes of wellington boots and raincoats and mud, and they both dripped the storm all over the wooden flooring of the wall. “You’re soaked through! What are you doing here, you crazy things?”
“The animals need seeing to, Lady Gabriella,” Caleb asked, shivering as he shrugged off his coat. “Didn’t want you out in this weather.”
“Oh, Caleb. Come inside and get some tea.” I took his sodden coat and put it on the nearest hook, then turned to the elderly man who’d served as butler for as long as I could remember. “Arthur? And you? I told you to go home!”
Arthur shrugged off his thick coat. “My tenant was quite all right, and I thought you might need me, milady. Didn’t like to think of you being alone.”
“Oh, you silly thing,” I said softly, taking his coat, too. “Miles didn’t get the message to leave, so thankfully, I haven’t been alone.”
Their eyes both slipped to the gardener.
“Just as well,” Miles said brightly. “Since she fell and hurt herself.”
Arthur’s disposition immediately changed to one of concern. “Are you all right, milady? Do you need anything?”
Damn it, Miles.
“Arthur, I’m just fine, honestly. A slight twist, that’s all.”
“Has Mr. Kingsley looked after you?”
Well.
“He has.” I slid my gaze in Miles’ direction. “He’s done a fine job.”
He met my eyes, our previous discussion seemingly shelved.
For now.
“A mere twist, I promise,” I assured everyone. “Now, you’re both soaked to the bone, and we have a hot kettle and, I believe, some spare sausages. I’m sure we can whip up some scrambled eggs.”
They both protested, but I shut it down.
“Stop it, please.” I raised my hands. “Come through to the kitchen and warm up, then tell me how on Earth you’ve managed to get yourselves up here without drowning in that floodwater.”
***
After a hearty breakfast of sausages, bacon, scrambled eggs, and toast with fried mushrooms on the side, complete with a pot of tea between the two of them, Arthur and Caleb finally shared how they got there.
Turned out a farmer who rented land from us had been digging a huge lake for his ducks and geese, so he came to the road with a water pump and pumped some of the water into it, clearing it enough for vehicles to pass.
I didn’t understand the ins and outs of it, and I wasn’t going to ask.
Caleb had called Arthur to see if there was any access, and after Arthur had found out from the farmer, Caleb had shown up at his cottage in his old Land Rover and told him to get in.
Basically.
I liked to imagine it was a Mean Girls kind of thing.
It gave me hope that there was village-wide access… A hope Arthur quickly dashed.
“I’m afraid not, milady. The Fox and Hound is cut off, albeit after a rescue mission. Their fishing lake burst its banks.”
Great.
Miles stilled. “Is everyone there okay?”
“Quite so, Mr. Kingsley,” Arthur replied. “The hotel is on higher ground and has never flooded in its history, unless you count the time the pipes failed.”
Which had nothing to do with a storm, so nobody did.
“Your grandfather is there, am I correct? We did check in on them before we left this morning—they don’t have power, but their generators are working safely. They’re well equipped for this weather, Mr. Kingsley.”
Miles nodded. “I’m sure they are. I’d like to get home all the same. Is the road still accessible?”
“To your property, yeah,” Caleb responded. “But you won’t get much past that, sorry to say. If you need a hand getting there, I have no problem running you home if you don’t have a four-wheel drive. The roads are rough right now, potholes everywhere.”
He did not have a four-wheel drive.
And for what it was worth, potholes were always everywhere.
“He doesn’t,” I offered helpfully. “I had to winch him out of the water last night.”
Miles shot me a dark look.
“Let me make a call or two, Mr. Kingsley,” Arthur said, standing up. “It won’t take me long to find out.”
Caleb looked at me when Arthur left. “Have you seen the animals at all?”
I shook my head. “I’m afraid I haven’t. After you put them away, I hurt my ankle, and we’ve not long had power. It went out around five last night, so we thought it prudent to eat a hot meal before heading out in the rain.”
“Right. I’m done here, so as soon as Arthur returns and we know if Caleb’s car can pass to the village, I’ll get that sorted for you. Do you know when his lordship will return?”
I know this was my life, but it did feel rather Downton Abbey sometimes.
“I don’t,” I said, ignoring how Miles bristled. “I’ve been trying to get through, but I’m hoping either Aunt Cat or Dad will contact me this morning. It would be helpful to know about the state of the roads.”
Caleb inclined his head. “Let me make a few calls of my own. Between us, we can probably have a map to rival Google within ten minutes.”
Now that right there was a statement I didn’t doubt.
Unfortunately, that meant I was left alone with Miles. It was a situation I didn’t want to be in, so I busied myself by collecting the dishes. We’d all mucked in for Caleb and Arthur’s food, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t clean it by myself.
Miles stood, gathering the glasses from the island.
“Leave them,” I said firmly. “I can do it.”
“I’ll he—”
“I am capable of filling and running a dishwasher.” My tone was colder than I’d intended, but I wasn’t entirely sure I’d cared.
After all, I’d spent a long time being nice to him and trying to make friends with him. He’d rebuffed every single one of those gestures, and our conversation this morning had, sadly, made it glaringly clear why he’d done so.
And that was fine.
But I was no longer going to attempt to be kind to someone who had no intention of returning the sentiments.
“Please sit down, Mr. Kingsley,” I said when he didn’t listen to me. “I would prefer if you waited for Arthur and Caleb to return with some information.”
“Gabi, I—”
Gabi.
Gabi.
It was the first time he’d used my name like that.
And I hated it.
I was smarting from our conversation earlier. I wasn’t bloody happy, and I was going to let him know that.
“Lady Hastings.”
Miles froze.
Even I felt the ice in my tone. My voice didn’t feel like my own—it was as if I’d borrowed it from someone.
I turned to face him and met his gaze. It dipped for a second before he returned it up to meet mine. “At the minimum. Given our recent conversation, you would perhaps do well to remember that,” I said quietly, but with no more gentle a tone than my previous words.