Noah
Now I’ve madethe decision to act, I don’t think too hard about it. Even when I’m driving the hire car and stuck in traffic on the M25, I put music on loud enough to drown out any thoughts, first or second, I’m having. It’s only when following the directions on my phone to Helvendon Castle and I’m confronted with a huge set of closed black wrought-iron gates that I stop and wonder if this is really wise. I can’t use the element of surprise by knocking on Chase’s front door. I have to get to it first, and I can’t actually see the house from here. Instead, I spy an intercom on the stone pillar next to the gates. Oh well, I’m here now. I might as well try.
I push the button on the unit and after a few seconds I hear a sharp voice.
“Yes?”
“I’m here to see Chase Knightly.”
“Name?” Is all that’s barked back at me.
“Noah Ellington.”
I wait but I don’t hear anything more. I bounce on my heels with impatience, but the more time passes, the more certain I am that eventually I’m going to be told he won’t see me or maybe there will never be a response. I start looking on either side of the gate and along the road. Maybe there’s another way in and I can take an even more direct approach. Then the gates start to slowly open. I look as far as I can down the drive to see if anything is coming out, but there’s not, so I climb back into my car and drive through quickly just in case someone changes their mind. The drive is long and winds through woods, so I don’t see the house until I emerge from the trees.
I can’t help the whistle that escapes me as I stop the car. I know it’s called a castle, and technically it can’t have that name without some crenellation, but it has actual turrets, one at each corner. That it’s old is an understatement. It could be anything up to a thousand years. Suddenly I want to know more about it—when it was built, who owned and lived in it, their stories. I wonder if there are any original features left after the renovations. I’m pretty sure Chase would have preserved as much as he could, while finding a way to also enjoy modern comforts.
Thinking of Chase reminds me of why I’m here, and I quit staring at the building long enough to get out of the car and make my way to the large, dark wooden door. There’s an old-fashioned bell pull to one side, and I smile as I pull on it. I’d half expected some modern camera doorbell. Then I spot the cameras, discreetly hidden in the decorative stonework, and realise too late that the bell pull or any doorbell isn’t actually needed.
“Hello, Noah.” Chase opens the door with an amused look on his face and for a second I’m stumped. Given the security hehas in place, I hadn’t expected him to answer the door himself. So I adopt my usual strategy, and I start talking.
“I hope you don’t mind, but with your last email I thought, you’re right, we could probably sort the book ideas a lot quicker if we could meet. Which is a great plan by the way. And it did kind of sound like an invitation, so I decided that it probably was and I hired a car and I drove here and well, here I am.” I pause for breath and then give what I hope is a disarming smile. Chase just looks slightly stunned at my outburst.
“I have company,” he says eventually.
Shit!
A hundred thoughts zip through my head. Is it a man, a woman? Casual or someone he’s already intimate with? If so, why did he try to kiss me? Which doesn’t sound like Chase, but then I’m clearly not in my right mind at the moment as I’ve just driven all the way out here for no reason.
“Oh, god. I’m so sorry. It was stupid of me to just presume it would be okay to show up on your doorstep and you didn’t invite me. Yes, I can see that now. Okay, I’ll just?—”
“Noah. It’s alright.” Chase’s voice stops me as I take a step backwards ready to flee back to London in embarrassment. I look at him as his expression goes through several changes, as if he’s trying to make a decision. Then he must decide as he gives me a small, small smile.
“Come on in. I’d like you to meet them.” He stands back and opens the door wider to let me pass through. I enter into a large stone hallway hung with decorative tapestries. I glance up to a high wooden vaulted ceiling with figures and scenes carved into panels at its base. Chase catches me staring and his smile widens.
“Like it?”
“Uh-huh,” I breathe because I can’t form any other words right now.
“I’ll give you the tour soon enough, but first come and meet my friends.”
I wrench my eyes from everything I want to see and follow him down a corridor, but I still take in every detail I can. He opens a door and we enter a large warm and surprisingly cosy room. It has a range of sofas and chairs with low tables before them. The walls are covered with paintings, each of which must be worth a fortune. But for once my attention isn’t taken up with the objects in the room, because there are three other people in there.
“This is Noah Ellington.” He addresses the room.
Friends, he’d said, but this is definitely not anything like I was expecting. I look at the short, blonde, and very smart woman, reclining in a chair but still managing to look elegant, in a way that also suggests power. She reminds me of a big cat, always ready to pounce.
“Noah, this is?—”
“Gabrielle Darnell,” I say, finishing Chase’s sentence, and I see Gabrielle’s eyebrows lift in appraising surprise.
I walk over to her and offer her my hand, which she shakes firmly.
“I’ve read your autobiography. I enjoyed it very much.”
“Thank you. I’m glad to hear it. And please, call me Gab.” She smiles warmly at me. I meant what I said, her life is incredible. She’s achieved so much, and I don’t think she has any thoughts of stopping any time soon.
Chase steers me towards the other two people. A white-haired handsome guy and a much younger man, maybe just a few years older than me. He’s also very pretty.