Mistletoe Mystery by Sally Quilford Read Free Book Online

never though to ask, Matt. Do you live in Britain? Or
America?” she asked, as they ate.
    “A bit of both, depending on where the business needs me. I
have an apartment at Canary Wharf, and another one in New York.”
    “Is that where you were born? You don’t sound like a New
Yorker.”
    “You mean like Joe Pesci in Goodfellas? I was born in New
England. My mom and dad still live there.”
    “Ever been married?” asked Meg. Philly was surprised, but
secretly glad. It was something she wondered, but was afraid to ask.
    “No, never married. I was engaged once, but it fell
through.”
    Philly could not help thinking that he made his engagement
sound like a business deal. “What happened?” she asked before she could stop
herself.
    “We weren’t suited.” Matt clamped his lips together, from
which Philly got the idea that the conversation was well and truly over.
    “Oh.” She drank down the last bit of coffee from her cup.
“Well, I suppose I ought to go and change out of my jim-jams and try to look
presentable for the telly.”
    “Yeah, good luck with that,” said Puck.
    “What is it? Get on to Philly day?”
    “Yep. Especially now there are three of us to gang up on
you.”
    “Hmm,” said Philly, with a wry grin. “I do hope you all
enjoy sleeping out in the stables tonight.”
    “Oh please, Philly, not again,” said Meg, winking at Matt
and Puck.
    “I didn’t realise you had stables,” said Matt. “Do you have
horses too?”
    “No, I can’t afford to keep them,” said Philly. “In fact, I
don’t think there have been horses there since the Hall was a school.”
    “I’d like to see them. In fact I’d like to see all the
grounds. Maybe we could go for a walk after breakfast.”
    It was a bright winter morning, and the sky overhead was
clear. Philly showed Matt around the grounds of Bedlington Hall as he
requested. “I haven’t even had a chance to look all around the place since I
inherited it,” she explained to him. “I know I’m going to have to get a
landscape gardener eventually, but that will have to wait.”
    Parts of the garden were overgrown. There was a walled area,
inside which were several greenhouses, but most of the glass had been smashed
at some point. There were also what seemed to be vegetable plots in front of
the greenhouses, but they too were overgrown.
    “Maybe we could grow our own veg,” she said to Matt. “It
would cut down on costs.” He had been very quiet since they left the house.
“Matt?”
    “Hmm?”
    “I’m sorry if our questions seemed a bit intrusive. About
your ex, I mean. It’s just that we’re used to telling each other everything and
we forget sometimes that others have different barriers. We didn’t mean to step
over the mark.”
    “You didn’t. It’s just a subject I hate talking about.”
    “She must have hurt you badly.”
    “Hey, it’s a beautiful autumn morning and I’m with the most
beautiful girl in the world. I don’t need or want to think about the past.”
    “Okay, I suppose that means I’ve done it again. Stepped over
the mark, I mean.”
    “You didn’t. And you’ve every right to know about me. It’s just
that there are some things I’m not ready to share yet.” Matt took her hand in
his.
    “Fair enough. Let’s go and look down near the lake. If I
remember rightly, there are some old follies down there .Temples and things.”
    “Things?”
    “Yes, things! I don’t know what you call them. I did buy a
book on architecture, to try to work out how to describe Bedlington in
brochures. I got confused just by all the different types of columns, though I
think the ones in the hallway are ironic.”
    “Ionic.”
    “Yeah, whatever.”
    “You really don’t know much about art and architecture, do
you?” Matt seemed strangely puzzled.
    “Not a thing. Oh I can tell a Da Vinci when I see one. Maybe
even a Pre-Raphaelite. But otherwise it’s not really my subject. I suppose you
know loads, working for the family