The Lady of the Manor

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Today Oliver was coming over, finally, to see Periwinkle House. Although, I felt like I talked about it enough that he wouldn't need to see it. But he had a free day so he agreed to come and see the house.

When he pulled up, I opened the front doors, wanting him to see it for the first time just like I did, with all the magic House possessed.

"Right House, Oliver is my boyfriend, not Ben. So hopefully after today, you will stop throwing us together and making problems where there are none. And Oliver is a great guy."

House groaned in response and I hopped it would behave.

Oliver got out of his car with all the grace in the world, acting as though there were hundreds of people witnessing his majestic exit from the car. Sometimes, I think he forgot that he wasn't royalty or even part of the upper class but he insisted on protecting his perfect image.

"Hi darling. So this is the big inheritance then?" He said, briefly kissing my cheek.

"Yes." I grinned proudly. I couldn't wait to show Oliver all that I had done to the house since Mr Barnes had shown me around two months ago. "Come, I'll give you the guided tour."

Oliver pocketed his phone and followed me into the house. As he glanced around, taking in the furnishings and paintings, I couldn't help but notice a similarity between him and Vincent. Both had looked at the house as though it was a money making machine, not the living thing it actually was. Both looked at the house with distain, only thinking about the immediate profit it would bring them.

The further through the house we went, the more disinterested Oliver became. And when we reached the attic, the butler's room door stuck, despite the fact that I had left it unlocked.

"House, come on. Help me out here."

Oliver glanced up from his phone, because despite having a free day, he was still tapping away, answering emails, texts and at one point even a call. House had sighed at that, though Oliver didn't seem to notice.

"Are you talking to the house?" he asked. "You know that it can't hear you. It's just a pile of bricks."

I felt House bristle with anger and the door nearest to Oliver flew open, bumping into him, the door handle implanting itself into his back.

I stifled a laugh. House was obviously making its displeasure known, despite me asking it to behave. I decided to take Oliver down to the kitchen where we could have a cup of tea and he could apply ice to his back. House hadn't done serious damage, just enough to leave a small bruise.

"Come on, let's go back downstairs. Old houses like this often have loose bits and pieces." Oliver turned to go, no compliments from him. I glared at House before following Oliver down the stairs.

We were in the kitchen, an ice pack on Oliver's back and the kettle boiling when the familiar sounds of the back door opening and shutting followed by Ben taking of his boots and coat drifted through to the kitchen.

"Hi Ella. That squeaky hinge on outhouse one is fixed. I checked over the others while I was there but they are fine."

"Thanks Ben. Cuppa?"

He nodded, taking a seat across from Oliver. "You must be the boyfriend. I'm Ben, the gardener." Ben held out his hand for Oliver to shake.

Oliver gave it the briefest of shakes before saying "Yes, I'm Oliver."

"What did you do to your back?"

"A door opened suddenly and caught him. It's just a small mark though." I placed mugs in front of each man, trying not to compare them in my mind. And hopping Oliver didn't notice how I didn't ask Ben's preference for his tea, just made it.

"You should probably look at that door then Len, make sure it doesn't hurt anyone else."

"I'll add it to my list." Ben smiled, knowing full well there was nothing wrong with the attic doors but that it was just House being grumpy.

We sat drinking our tea in awkward silence, until Ben stood up. "I'll go take a look at that door now Ella." He winked at me, leaving the kitchen.

Oliver scowled at his retreating back. "I don't know why you keep him on, he's insufferably rude and obnoxious. Plus I don't like the way he just wanders in here. He could be a thief, you know."

"Ben's not a thief, he and Mrs Fleet both have a set of keys and they both come and go as they please, which suits all three of us. Besides, Ben lives on the property, in Button Cottage."

Oliver scowled again and went back to his tea. It wasn't long after, that he left, making his excuses. Any hope of tempting him to stay the night vanished. I got up to let him out of the back door but he insisted on using the main door. I sighed but let him out anyway, quite frankly glad to be rid of him on this occasion.

I climbed the stair case, going all the way up to the attic where I found Ben opening and closing each door.

"All these are fine." Ben said with an amusing glint in his eye. "Has he gone then?"

"Yes, just now. And don't pretend that you didn't watch him go through the window. Did the butler's room stick at all? I couldn't open it when I was showing Oliver around."

"No, opened as easily as anything. Maybe House didn't like Oliver."

"That is entirely possible, Oliver did call House a pile of bricks." I turned my attention to the house in general. "Still doesn't mean that you can shut doors and fling open others whenever you feel like it." House clanked as though it knew something I didn't.

"Oh, I forgot, I have ten boxes of children's books in my truck. Mum's been asking people for donations. Some are a bit scrappy but most are in a pretty decent shape."

"Thank you." Without thinking, I flung my arms round his neck, hugging him tight. As we pulled apart, I glanced down at his plump lips. Again, before the consequences could catch up with me, I planted my lips on his. It took him a second but then his lips started responding to mine, moving in sync. I don't know if it was the sight of Ben diligently checking perfectly okay doors or Oliver's detachment over House or a mixture of the two but something in me needed to kiss Ben.

The kiss ended and this time it was me who apologised. "You and I need to stop doing this. We can't keep kissing every time we bump into each other."

"You kissed me that time." Ben pointed out to me. I just glared at him.

"I um... need to looked over the shelving in the main library. You said that one of the shelves on the outer wall was loose."

"Yes, I did."

Ben grabbed his tool box and swiftly left the attic.

"House, you need to stop doing this. I am very happy with Oliver. I feel like Lady Chatterley, falling for her groundskeeper when I have a perfectly good boyfriend. And mine isn't even paralysed from the waist down." Although at this point, I didn't add that sex with Oliver had always been a little quick, more about him than me. house didn't need to know that though, needing more ammunition to get Ben and I together.

House grumbled, practically screaming that it preferred Ben to Oliver. After that kiss, I didn't know who I preferred. I left the attic, climbing down to the master suite where I went into the small library to hide away from the ever threatening gardener and his delicious lips.