Kate glanced across at Saskia to gauge her take on this new addition. Saskia was giving him a lazy once over.
Leonie came into the room balancing the next course in her arms and sucked in her cheeks at the state of the new guest’s casual attire.
‘Welcome, Benedict. I’m Leonie. You’re just over there next to Kate.’
Kate felt like she’d won the pools as Benedict slipped into his place beside her.
‘Ben de Jager,’ he said, holding out a large, vein-popping hand.
Kate’s gaze travelled from her own pale hand to his contrastingly brown one, over the leather wristbands, and up the defined contours of his arm.
‘Kate Creswell,’ she gasped. She looked across at Saskia.
Her sister had her chin planted in her palm, elbow on table, listening in sulky silence to Nicholas. Kate’s gaze snagged on Nicholas. She fish-mouthed for a moment – they were brothers? – then remembered her manners.
‘Kate, are you going to hog our new guest or are you going to introduce him to everyone?’ Saskia spoke up.
Kate gave her a patient smile. Not satisfied to have just Nicholas for company, she was intent on stealing the attention of Kate’s dinnermate as well. ‘Ben, this is my sister, Saskia. Nicholas you know, presumably—’
‘It would be awkward if they didn’t,’ cut in Saskia. ‘How do you do, Benedict?’ She held out her hand across the table, oblivious to her sleeve sloshing in a dish of soy sauce.
‘Just Ben,’ he corrected, shaking her hand.
‘Benedict does sound awfully formal for such a casual guy,’ Saskia said, running her sapphire eyes over Ben’s chest.
Kate could almost feel her sister’s magnetic energy pulling his focus away.
‘Inherited from my grandfather,’ he replied. His gaze strayed to Nicholas, who looked even less brotherly than before. ‘That’s about as far as the similarities go.’
His expression was teasing, but Kate recognised a spark of defiance in his eyes, challenging. Ah, she knew that look. She was no stranger to sibling rivalry.
*
Halfway through the main course, Kate’s stomach decided sushi was definitely not to its liking. She put her chopsticks together and eyed Ben tucking into his dinner with zest.
‘Do you want mine as well?’ she whispered.
‘Not a fan of sushi?’ replied Ben.
Kate gave an embarrassed smile as her gut voiced its disapproval. ‘Would appear not.’
Ben shrugged and transferred Kate’s leftover sashimi and sushi rolls onto his plate. ‘It’s good for you. The Japanese are amongst the healthiest people in the world because of it.’
‘I’ll take your word for it.’
Ben gave her a quick wink and popped another roll into his mouth.
Conversation around her was strong with Saskia and Leonie dominating the debate on East Asian medical practices, but Kate couldn’t concentrate. Her stomach churned and her mouth felt parched. After her initial glass of water, Leonie had forgotten she didn’t drink alcohol.
She’d eyed the bottle of ginger ale Ben had brought with him.
‘Would you like some?’ he asked.
‘Yes, please.’ She watched him pour, his hand steady, calloused fingers contrasting with his soft grip around the thin crystal, and found her mouth less dry after all. ‘Do you not drink?’
Ben shook his head as he topped up his own glass. ‘Not alcohol at least.’
Ben pinged up another couple of points on her estimation board. ‘So, Ben, what do you do?’
‘I ride horses,’ he replied.
Kate’s estimation board trilled as a jackpot was reached. ‘You do?’
‘And you?’
Kate blushed unnecessarily. ‘I also work with horses. I’m a groom, over at Aspen Valley Racing Stables.’ For once, she wished she had some fabulously grand job that made people’s eyebrows shoot up in admiration.
His eyes travelled back to Saskia who was lamenting the cruelty of whale hunting. ‘Is your sister involved in horses?’
Kate stifled a sigh. Another one bites the dust. ‘She’s our racing secretary.’
Ben nodded in approval. ‘How do you enjoy Aspen Valley? I’ve heard Jack can be a bit of a tyrant.’
‘He’s all right. He just doesn’t suffer fools gladly. I’ve only five horses, which is fair.’
‘He seems to go through secretaries quite regularly.’
‘He married one of them,’ Kate replied. ‘I believe Pippa flatly refused to work for him and bed him at the same time.’
‘And Saskia? Is she married?’
‘God, no. Saskia’s too much of a whirlwind to think about that.’
Ben nodded, a thoughtful look on his face.
Kate decided to surrender gracefully. This Ben de Jager seemed a nice sort. He might even be good for her sister.
*
During the lull before dessert, Kate decided she could take things no longer and excused herself to go to the bathroom. That sushi really wasn’t sitting well with her. Dare she risk going to the loo? Her stomach gave a rumble like a stalling jumbo jet, signalling a imminent Code Brown, and her mind was made up for her.
A few minutes later and feeling much better, Kate looked around for some air freshener. A new queasiness filled her as it became apparent there wasn’t any spray in the room. She flapped her hands to no avail and cringed. God, this was too embarrassing. Standing on tip toe, she tried to open the window. Her heart sank when the handle stuck fast.
‘Please, no,’ she breathed.
Bordering on panic, she struggled with the latch, jiggling it back and forth. With a clunk it jerked open, pulling Kate off balance. Nameless toiletry bottles tumbled out of the window and she winced at the sound of breaking glass on the patio deck below. The chill of the October air seeped into the room. She stood tense, unsure what to do next.
It was just her luck to get the trots at Leonie’s dinner party. Leonie would never forget or forgive. On the bright side, she wouldn’t have to attend any more dinner parties.
With no air freshener to hand, Kate chose the next best thing. She poured half a bottle of perfumed bath oils into the basin and filled it with hot water. She sighed with relief. The less than aromatic smell of her evacuations became overwhelmed by steamy clouds of lavender. She’d give it a couple more minutes.
*
Kate felt unnecessarily guilty returning to the party. Leonie was too busy dishing out a very exotic looking fruit salad to notice. It appeared Ben had taken advantage of the break between courses to swap places with Nicholas. Kate’s heart sank a fathom. Then she noticed Leonie’s glower at her disrupted table settings and almost forgave Ben for dumping her in preference of Saskia’s company.
She slipped into her seat and Nicholas greeted her with a pleasant smile. She noticed Ben’s place card had been tampered with and now read ‘Benedick’.
‘Is that a lavender perfume you’re wearing?’ he asked.
‘Uh – yeah,’ she said with a laugh an octave too high.
Nicholas misread her awkwardness. ‘I apologise if you were expecting Ben for company.’
‘No, I’m used to it,’ she replied, gesturing to Ben and Saskia in deep conversation. ‘Saskia has this effect on every man she meets.’
‘No, no. You’ve got it wrong. I asked Ben if we could swap.’
Kate looked at him in surprise. ‘Really?’
Nicholas looked bashful as he spooned through the kiwi fruit in his dessert bowl. ‘Leonie will be disappointed, I know.’ He sent her a mischievous grin. ‘You don’t mind, do you?’
Kate was too shocked to oppose him. ‘No, not at all.’ Afraid that this implied she was somehow insulting his brother, she added, ‘I mean I was enjoying talking to Ben, but he was much more interested in talking about Saskia. And, well, so is Saskia, so this seating plan works much better.’
Nicholas laughed. ‘I fear Saskia and I weren’t quite on the same wavelength.’ He looked at her in a way that made her feel she was the only one in the room and smiled. ‘So, Kate, tell me. What does a lady such as yourself do to keep occupied? I think I heard you say earlier that you own racehorses?’
Kate hesitated and tried to recall when and to whom she’d told such a whopper.
‘You told Ben you had five?’ Nicholas prompted.
Kate twigged, and had a sudden reckless urge not to give the same old tired truth. ‘That’s right,’ she said with a coy smile. ‘I’ve five at Aspen Valley.’ It wasn’t a complete lie, after all. She spent so much time with them that they did feel like they belonged to her in a small way. Unofficially. In a non-financially draining way. Maybe.
Nicholas’s face lit up. ‘What a coincidence! We’ve just moved some of our lot to his yard.’
Kate began to have second thoughts about her imposture. ‘Oh?’
‘Well, they’re my father’s horses really. I’m his racing manager.’
Kate tried to work out which horses they owned, but Aspen Valley had too many new recruits to choose from. ‘Do you race under de Jager or a partnership name?’ she asked.
Nicholas frowned. ‘God forbid, neither. Our horses are registered under my father, Bill Borden.’
‘But Leonie said— I thought Ben— aren’t you brothers?’
Nicholas’s hazel eyes took on a steely sparkle. ‘Half brothers.’
Kate blushed at his clipped words. ‘Sorry. I didn’t mean to make assumptions.’
His expression softened. ‘I should be the one apologising. Ben does ride our horses, so I guess it is kind of a Borden-de Jager partnership. It’s my father’s ambition to win with his two sons at his side, preferably at Cheltenham Festival.’
Kate immediately warmed to their father. ‘Mine too. Cheltenham’s just so...’ She paused to think up the right word, to imagine what it would feel like to lead up a horse at the biggest jump racing festival in the calendar. ‘It’s where dreams come true.’
Nicholas smiled. ‘You ever been?’
‘Only as a spectator. You?’
Nicholas nodded. ‘March’s schedule is always planned to accommodate Cheltenham. Dad’s been in the game for a long time. Never won any of the big championship races though.’
*
The dinner party soon began to wind down. The dishes had long since been dispatched to the kitchen, the table was littered with empty bottles of wine and sake and, thankfully, Kate’s stomach hadn’t objected to the dessert.
She was in mid-sentence when she felt a kick on her shin. Saskia gave a discreet jerk of her head and a meaningful look.
‘I think I’ve just been given my cue to wrap things up,’ Kate said to Nicholas.
‘Oh.’
She was encouraged to see disappointment wash over his face. ‘But I’ve really enjoyed this evening.’ She hesitated then found the courage to be bolder. ‘The latter part especially.’
Nicholas’s smile broadened. ‘Me too.’ He fiddled with his napkin and cleared his throat again. ‘I really mean that. Can I – I mean if you’re okay with it – can I see you again sometime? Maybe we could do this again?’
Kate felt a warm rush of blood in her belly and she glanced over to see if Saskia was listening. ‘Just the two of us?’
‘Just the two of us. I’d like to suggest Saturday, but we’re racing at Wetherby that day. How about next week?’
Kate narrowed her eyes. ‘Who do you have running at Wetherby?’
‘A couple of potential Festival horses as it happens. The Whistler in the Charlie Hall, and another in one of the undercard races.’
Kate began to feel ill again. ‘Called?’
Nicholas gave her a puzzled look. ‘Goodness, you really are into your racing. D’Artagnan’s his name. I don’t suppose you’ll be there as well?’
Kate gave a half-smile half-grimace. ‘I might.’