Who Loves You Best by Tess Stimson Page B

follow up then
.
    Caroline Johnson

Consulting Psychiatrist

CHAPTER FIVE
Jenna
    “Marry me,” Xan says.
    “Don’t be ridiculous.”
    He leans out of the window and slows the car to my pace. “Come on a date with me, or I’ll drive into that tree.”
    I ignore him and keep walking towards the house, switching Rowan to the other hip. Behind me, Xan revs the engine of his stupid red American sports car. I give Rowan a clean pacifier. I’m not playing Xan’s silly games. I learned a long time ago: You don’t shit on your own doorstep.
    I nearly drop the baby at the deafening crunch of metal behind me.
    When I whirl around, Xan’s Mustang is wrapped around the base of a large oak tree at the bottom of the drive. I scream as a branch snaps and falls onto the bonnet, spearing the broken windscreen and missing Xan by inches.
    In the next field, a bull bellows.
    He kicks open his door and staggers from the car. “Damn, it’s so much easier when they say yes.”
    “Fucking psycho,” I gasp.
    The bull bellows again, and lurches towards the brokengate. Xan leans against the wreck of his car and calmly lights a cigarette, laughing as I back nervously towards the house. I want to run, but I’m terrified the bull will chase us. Shit, I wish I hadn’t put Rowan in red this morning.
    I run into the conservatory where we had lunch. “Excuse me, Lady Eastmann—”
    Clare jumps. Her face is white and tense; clearly she and her mother have been getting into it while I’ve been gone.
    “Please, Jenna, no need for that. Davina is perfectly fine—”
    Xan abruptly breezes past me, blowing me a kiss over his mother’s head. “Oh, don’t go all democratic now,” he tells her, his eyes on mine as he brushes his lips against her cheek. “Not after you’ve had Guy pony up millions for that title.”
    “Alexander. How lovely.”
    “Hello, Mother.”
    He throws himself carelessly into a chair, staring pointedly at me. I blush furiously, wishing he’d stop. Someone will notice.
    Davina pours him a cup of tea, which he ignores. “I didn’t expect you this weekend.”
    “What can I say? I felt the need to nestle in the bosom of my family.”
    “Have you met Jenna?” Davina asks. “Your sister’s new nanny.”
    “A pleasure.”
    There’s the alarmed sound of shouting outside. Shit. The bloody bull. “Lady—um, I mean, Davina—”
    She fixes her cold blue gaze on mine. “Be careful, dear. He’s every bit as dangerous as he looks.”
    You could cut the air in here with a knife. I listen to them bicker. Mum and Dad sometimes have blazing arguments, and I’ve been known to add my fair share of drama, but we never fight like this. As if we actually
hate
each other. What a fucked-up family.
    “—dear God, will someone
please
tell me what all that noise is?” Davina exclaims.
    “I’ve been trying to,” I mutter.
    Davina flings open the French doors. The bull’s bellows echo across the lawn, accompanied by shouts and the sound of splashing. Fuck, I hope it doesn’t come charging in here.
    Clare thrusts Poppy at me and storms off after her mother. I juggle the two babies, wondering what the hell is going on.
    Xan opens a cupboard and pulls out a bottle of whisky hidden at the back, then refills his silver hip flask. He settles himself back in his chair, lifting his feet onto his mother’s crisp linen tablecloth.
    “You don’t seem very happy to see me,” he observes.
    “You don’t exactly set out to make yourself welcome.”
    Xan laughs. “You didn’t seem to mind making me welcome last time we met.”
    “I didn’t get much choice, did I?” I flash back.
    My cheeks flame. Every time I think about the night Xan sneaked into my room, I burn with embarrassment.
    God knows why I didn’t just scream and throw him out. Some guy climbs in your bedroom window in themiddle of the night, Jenna, puts his hand over your mouth, climbs into bed next to you, and you just
let
him?
    But there are mitigating