I had never fathomed why she had such faith in him, but now, faced with the inevitable, I couldn’t help thinking that him selling up to someone else was probably for the best. Surely, it would be better for the house, garden and grounds to be owned by another family, a family who would love it every bit as much as Eloise and her ancestors had.
‘The sooner the better,’ I therefore encouraged.
‘Okay,’ he nodded, letting out a long breath and making a great show of adopting the role of a doctor about to break bad news. ‘I don’t quite know how to tell you this, Freya…’
‘Do you want me to say it for you then?’ I asked, keen to give him a hint that I had worked it out already.
He didn’t appear to appreciate the interruption and leant forward in his seat.
‘I’ve been giving this a lot of thought,’ he continued, ‘and it hasn’t been an easy decision to make, but I’ve looked at the estate accounts and talked to the bank and,’ he paused for dramatic effect, ‘I’ve come to the conclusion that I have to sell the estate.’
‘I see,’ I said, my voice pleasingly steady and calm.
‘Of course, I know this is the last thing that Aunt Eloise would have wanted,’ he carried on, ‘but I can’t manage the place from the States. It really needs me here full-time to keep a handle on things, but I can’t commit to that. Looking at the paperwork, it’s obvious that my aunt lost her way a little during the last couple of years and I’m looking for damage limitation here now.’
I bit my tongue. I had been with Eloise for longer than the last couple of years and her business mind was as sharp as a packet of pins. Her ability to run the place as efficiently as she always had, had never waned. It was her body that had failed her, not her mind.
‘With regards to what your aunt would have wanted,’ I told him, ‘I think you’ve made the right decision.’
‘You do?’
‘Yes,’ I said, ‘I’m sure she would want the place to be loved as she loved it, and as you’ve said on more than one occasion, it’s not somewhere that matches everything else in your impressive property portfolio.’
It felt good to be able to fire his words back at him.
‘And of course,’ I added for good measure, keeping my chin held high, ‘you really don’t have to justify your decision-making to me, Jackson.’
‘I’m not,’ he said, sounding further disgruntled. ‘That’s not what I—’
‘I’m just the gardener,’ I shrugged, cutting him off. ‘What you decide to do with the place is entirely up to you.’
‘I know that,’ he blustered, turning red. ‘I just thought that you might—’
‘Please,’ I said, smiling sympathetically, ‘you have more than enough to be thinking about. Don’t concern yourself with worrying about me on top of everything else.’
He sat up a little straighter and fiddled with the cuffs of his shirt. Why he still persisted in dressing as if he was working in his city office was a mystery, but the steely glint in his eye was a sure sign that he was frustrated that I hadn’t reacted how he had wanted me to. If he’d been hoping to offer a shoulder for me to cry on, then he was well and truly out of luck.
‘I’ve already had the estate valued,’ he then said, suddenly all business, ‘and it will be going on the market in the next couple of weeks. My realtor has said it might take a while to sell. In the current financial climate, it might not be easy to find someone who can afford the place.’
‘Estate agent,’ I interrupted.
‘What?’
‘In England, it’s an estate agent, not a realtor.’
‘Right,’ he said, drumming his fingers on the desk. ‘Estate agent.’
‘Sorry,’ I said, ‘go on. I didn’t mean to cut you off.’
‘Well, I just wanted to keep you in the loop really. In case you were wondering why I was having the place photographed and showing strangers around.’
‘Thank you,’ I said. ‘I appreciate that.’
I didn’t want to have to ask the next question, but I needed to know where I stood.
‘And what about me,’ I said. ‘Do you want me to stay on?’
‘Of course,’ he smiled, latching on to my one show of vulnerability. ‘It’s more important than ever that the gardens look good now.’