Outsider by Sara Craven Read Free Book Online Page A

he's had a girl lad foisted on him!'
    But the expected eruption was not forthcoming.
    'It's not what I like, or what I'm used to,' Grantham admitted when she
    tackled him. 'But these horses coming next week can be awkward beggars
    by all accounts, and Eliot tells me she handles them like an angel, so I'm
    prepared to give her a fair trial.'
    A fair trial, Natalie thought wretchedly. A fair trial for her, but never for me.
    Beattie said, 'I suggested to Eliot that he lunched with us today, but I think he
    wants to get the feel of his new home.' She smiled. 'I made his bed up for a
    welcome.' She gave Natalie a wicked wink. 'It's a very big bed—for a
    bachelor!'
    Natalie was on the point of saying she'd seen it, but realised the admission
    would involve her in explanations she didn't feel equal to giving.
    She said shortly, 'Perhaps he kicks like his damned horses,' and turned the
    conversation to the forthcoming Women's Institute handicrafts exhibition in
    which Beat- tie was heavily involved as a committee member.
    But there was no way she could avoid the promised interview with Eliot
    later that afternoon. It was unpleasant but mercifully brief. She was told
    curtly to consult him before leaping to any more wild conclusions, and'
    dismissed as if she'd been a naughty child.
    So much for her resolution to avoid rocking the boat during her remaining
    time at Wintersgarth, Natalie thought, as she sank limply into her chair.
    Perhaps, this time, she had learned her lesson.

    The two new horses arrived the following week, and were installed in their
    boxes by a frankly ecstatic Sharon. Their names were Thunderbird and
    Cupbearer, and they were the property, she told Natalie, of Oriel Prince.
    'The actress?' Natalie was intrigued in spite of herself.
    There couldn't be two of her,' said Sharon with a certain amount of feeling.
    'Old bitch. Well, she's not old,' she amended conscientiously. 'And she's in
    America just now, thank God, or she'd be up here like a rat up a drainpipe.
    Fancies Eliot something rotten, she does.' She giggled. 'They were supposed
    to have something going a while back. She used to come down while he was
    schooling the horses, and it was "Darling this" and "Darling that" and her
    hands all over him. Then she took up with some wealthy Arab.'
    Natalie recalled in time that listening to gossip from Sharon was hardly a
    dignified occupation. She said, 'I don't care if she takes up with the entire
    United Arab Emirates as long as she pays her training bills,' and went back
    to the office.
    Eliot's arrival in the locality had been enough of a sensation, she thought
    with a wry grin. If predatory ac-tresses started descending too, the
    neighbours might never recover!
    Already the invitations to cocktails and dinners had started to pour in,
    particularly from families with unmarried daughters, although she had to
    admit he was being selective about those he accepted.
    'I can do without the social whirl,' he'd told Grantham, although he accepted,
    as her father did, that a certain amount of socialising was inevitable for the
    sake of public relations.
    But if Natalie had expected him to spend every evening seeking out
    whatever entertainment was available locally, she was wrong. Apart from
    one foray to the village pub, where he'd played darts with the lads, he had
    seemed content to stay at home, getting the flat the way he wanted it, and
    playing music.
    Beattie had been given the freedom of his hi-fi and record collection, and
    had come back starry-eyed. They had similar tastes, it appeared, and were
    already talking of joining forces to attend the forthcoming concert season in
    Leeds.
    'Which will let you nicely off the hook, my darling,' said Beattie, dropping a
    kiss on her husband's head.
    Natalie had hoped that Beattie's talk of a housewarming dinner at the flat had
    been imagination, but she was wrong.
    'I'm going to have a rest tomorrow night,' her stepmother announced as she
    dished up the roast, with