Spring Blossoms at Mill Grange

I don’t have to do any camera work today. I bet I look like death. Poor Hilda would have to use her entire supply of foundation on the bags under my eyes.’
Easing his legs to the floor, Shaun flicked on the travel kettle he’d taken the precaution of filling the night before. ‘At least we’ve got electric, so we can have our morning coffee.’
‘True.’ Thea pulled on some clean underwear. ‘And if it rains, we won’t have to deal with soggy clothes in a damp tent and potentially wet bed linen.’
‘It’s just sleep we’re going to be short of.’ Shaun ruffled a hand through his hair as a giant yawn escaped from his lips. ‘I can’t imagine why we were allocated a single camper each, rather than a double between us. It’s not as if they didn’t know we’re a couple.’
Thea suddenly stilled. ‘You don’t think that they forgot about me coming do you?’
‘You know they didn’t, Julian greeted you like royalty last night.’
‘I’m not sure about royalty, but you’re right. He knew I was coming.’ She paused. ‘But now I think about it… Does he know we’re a couple? Did you tell him, or did you assume that he’d know because Phil would have told him?’
‘I honestly don’t remember if I said or not, but he has to know. Everyone on the team knows.’ An unpleasant thought arrived in Shaun’s head. ‘Unless he knew, and decided to make life uncomfortable for us anyway.’
Thea pulled on her jeans. ‘How do you mean?’
‘He fancies you. Perhaps he wanted to make it too uncomfortable for us to share.’
‘Oh don’t be so ridiculous.’ Thea couldn’t believe what she was hearing. ‘Firstly, he does not fancy me. Secondly, it wouldn’t matter if he did because I am in love with you, and thirdly, he hadn’t set eyes on me before last night and the accommodation would have been sorted out weeks ago.’
‘Yes. Right.’
‘We’ll get used to sharing a single bed. If not, I’ll move into the camper laid on for me and we can take it in turns to wake each other with morning coffee. It’s not for long. Now, if you’re a good boy, and stop being silly, I’ll make bacon sandwiches for breakfast.’
‘You remembered the bacon?’ Shaun sidled around the side of the bed, his neck bent so he didn’t hit it against the roof.
‘I’d like to claim I did, but it was Mabel. She slipped it into the food supplies she packed for us.’
‘That woman is a diamond.’
*
‘Sam’s back from seeing Bert. These are from Mabel.’ Helen placed three wedding magazines on the kitchen table.
Tina’s eyebrows rose in surprise. ‘When on earth did Mabel find time to go shopping for those?’
‘Apparently, she was going out of her mind sitting in with Bert all day, so Diane sent her to the newsagents. She didn’t need anything for herself, so she got these for you instead.’
‘That’s so kind.’ Tina flicked through the copy of Wedding Dreams. ‘Hang on, did you say she’s going out of her mind being at home all day already? Bert was only taken ill yesterday.’
‘Doesn’t bode well, does it?’ Helen smiled. ‘I haven’t known Mabel as long as you, but I quickly grasped that she’s not one for sitting still.’
‘How is Bert today, did Sam say?’
‘No worse, no better.’
‘Bit soon for the antibiotics to start working I suppose.’ Tina put the magazine down. ‘I better not sit with those now or I’ll waste the morning away.’ She shook her head. ‘It’s a weird thing. I have no time for magazines as a rule, but now I have a wedding to plan, I can’t get enough of them. Although, how anyone can afford anything that’s advertised in these things is beyond me.’
Helen reached for the kettle. ‘I suppose people see things they like and adapt them into what they can afford.’
‘There’ll be a lot of that going on for us.’ Tina’s face glowed as her eyes flicked back to Mabel’s thoughtful gift. ‘We’re so lucky to be able to get married here. Saves a fortune.’
‘I hadn’t realised Mill Grange had a marriage licence.’
‘It was one of the many things Thea looked into when she was restoring the place while hunting for ways for the house to earn its own keep. All the paperwork is in place. All Sam had to do was send it to be processed.’
‘Will you open it as a venue for weddings in general?’
Tina opened the dishwasher, unloading the latest batch of clean mugs, plates and cutlery. ‘Maybe. If the retreat side of things flounders.’ Straightening up, Tina caught the wistful look in Helen’s eye. ‘Would you fancy it then, getting married here, I mean?’
‘It’s a beautiful place.’ Helen switched her attention to the tea bag pot. ‘Not really something I need to worry about. Do you want a cuppa? I’m taking a load to Tom and the team. All five guests are with us morning, so I’d better get back.’
‘I’m good, thanks.’
As Tina watched Helen balance seven mugs precariously on a tray she swore she was okay carrying, Tina cursed her thoughtlessness. She’d been so wrapped up in her own wedding, that she had been tactless. It was so obvious Helen was in love with Tom. If the pair of them didn’t sort themselves out soon, she was going to have to talk to Thea about staging an intervention.
*
There was no doubt that the site was a fascinating one. As Shaun looked over the geophysics results that Ajay and Andy, affectionately known as the AA, had already compiled, he could tell that the villa had been impressive. Seeing it stood proudly in the middle of a Romano-British landscape must have been something special.
Making notes about where he thought the opening test investigation pits should go, Shaun glanced over to where Thea was doing her first piece to camera. It was a simple introduction to the history of the villa to England. Despite her fears of looking zombie-like through the lens, Thea shone as she