Chapter 15: Country Life

Henry was sleeping in. Ellen had just left him after staying over for the night. She had to be at Woodbridge by 10 o'clock, having an appointment with a potential buyer for one of her younger stallions. The love of horses was something Ellen needed to compensate for the lack of a family of her own.

True, she was reconciled with her mother now and she and Henry were comfortable enough with each other to spend an occasional night in each other's arms. Nevertheless, they were just friends. They had found that out very early after they rebuilt their relationship.

Yet the friends with benefits arrangement suited their emotional needs and if nothing better would come along in his life, such as a second Josie Maxwell, Henry assumed that he and Ellen might just make their arrangement formal one day. He could certainly do worse.

Weeks and months of therapy as well as the quiet and fulfilling life out in the countryside had restored much of Ellen's natural beauty, both inward and outward. She had also been a supportive friend back when Josie had snubbed him and even more so when he returned from Iraq with his leg a mess.

Now he was fully restored except for some pain in his knee during bad weather. He could not jog anymore for fear of wearing out the construction site that constituted his left leg, so he took up rowing again. He had rowed as a student, had even won an ARA Junior Championship in the double sculls together with Andrew.

He rejoined his old boat club. Whenever he had time, and weather permitting, he would log six to eight miles in a single scull. He was getting comfortable again and regaining his feel for the boat. That allowed him to balance and propel the narrow hull through the quiet waters of the upper River Thames.

His musings were interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Phone call, Henry!" a voice announced. That was Milena, his live-in housekeeper. Milena, the lanky brunette from Pilsen who had come to the UK as an au pair with Andrew's family. Henry found her a refreshing person with a wonderful sense of humour and a strong personality.

He had felt attracted to her from the first moment. Alas, her personal preferences made her more prone to an affair with Ellen than with him. He was nevertheless happy to have her services and company.

With a sigh, he swung his legs out of bed and left his bedroom in his pyjama. Milena was used to seeing him in all states of dress or undress and it did not faze her in the least. She was waiting at the foot of the stairs holding the telephone and pointing to the breakfast room from where he could smell coffee. He suddenly realised that he was famished. Settling behind the table he spoke into the receiver.

"Ruiz-Costa here."

"Henry, is that you?"

He had a sinking feeling right away. With an effort he maintained a calm voice.

"Yes, Josie, it's me."

There was a brief pause on the other side and he was tempted to ask her what the hell she wanted of him, but then she spoke up.

"Henry, I want to ask about the possibility of Pat and Megan visiting. We talked about it last year. Would it bother you much to have them for a few weeks?"

He had not expected her to follow up on this. In fact, he had not expected to ever hear from her again. There was too much between them.

"Did you hear me, Henry?"

"Hrhm, I had to think first. So this would be over the summer break?"

"Yes, they would really love to go and visit you. That summer two years ago was a highlight of their lives."

"I take it, you'll send them over alone?" he asked, unable to mask the bitterness in his voice.

"I was thinking that Christina could bring them. If you can't find room for her, I will give her paid leave and she can travel through Europe for a bit."

Henry thought about the ex-policewoman who had become Josie's security person. She was pleasant enough to have her around.

"I've got room enough for Christina. All right, I agree. Have Christina call me and settle the travel dates and such. Better, have her send me an e-mail with the details."

"Thanks, Henry, I really appreciate this. It will mean so much for Pat and Meg. They do like you a lot."

'Unlike you, ' Henry silently filled in, fighting to keep the bitterness in check.

"Hey, I like the girls! Tell them I'm looking forward to their visit and I'll have Ellen reserve two ponies for them."

"Are you and Ellen ... you know ... are you together now?"

Now was there a hint of anxiety in her voice?

"That's really none of your business, Josie," he answered softly, breaking the connection before she could continue her questioning.

He breathed deeply. Josie still had that effect on him. Just to hear her voice on the phone made him relive the hurt again. Was he ever going to get over her? If not, he could not even think about moving on with Ellen.

Sure enough, Christina sent him an e-mail within a few days. They would fly Delta to Heathrow, and they would arrive on July 16th, around seven a.m. give or take. Ellen took the news with surprising enthusiasm. She had liked the twins and she looked forward to spending time on horseback with them.

Milena was also enthusiastic. "Blonde twins? Oh my gosh! Are they cute? Are they of age?" she grinned outrageously.

"Down, girl! They are sweet and innocent sixteen year-olds and you will not help them in the bath!" Henry responded in the same vein. Their verbal sparring delighted him even more than her housekeeping skills. "You can have a shot at their chaperone. If I'm not mistaken she may swing your way."

"Promises, promises," Milena sighed. "She's probably in her late forties and a dog."

"Nope! She's late twenties, a Latina. She's as pretty as they made them, three decades ago."

"There you go! Now I have to go and change my panties! I'll prepare a room for her next to mine. As a chaperone she'll have to share the servants' quarters."

"You are a very bad girl, Milena," Henry laughed.

"Oh, vill Comrade Colonel spank my bech-hind?" she mocked, barely dodging Henry's hand that was indeed aimed at aforesaid behind. "I vill prepare chrooms for capitalist visitors!"

With that she sashayed out leaving a grinning Henry behind.

It was three weeks later and Henry found himself driving the noisy Land Rover towards Heathrow. It was shortly after six and he expected to reach the sprawling airport with time to spare.

Milena had insisted on accompanying him. She sat in the passenger seat with her bare legs on the dash, showing him and their fellow motorists a wide expanse of delicious female skin.

She grinned at the lorry drivers who honked their appreciation in passing. Henry smiled at her. If Christina Hernandez indeed had a thing for women, she would see something that would get her over the jet lag in no time at all.

They made it with twenty minutes to spare and found chairs in the reception hall where they sat staring at the displays. Ten minutes later, the display told the world that the flight had landed and they positioned themselves near customs. Then, a few minutes later, the sliding door opened and the twins were leading the charge.

"Harry!" they squealed in unison.

Henry gasped when he saw two visions of adolescent beauty rush towards him. In the flash second before the impact he mused that the famous photographer David Hamilton would have gladly offered his soul for the view that he, Henry, was getting for free in this moment.

They had grown so much! Both were well over 170 centimetres tall, slender and with long, straw-coloured hair. He heard Milena take in a sharp breath, but then the girls were clinging to his neck.

He hugged them back with both arms feeling his eyes moisten a little. They were so damned lovely! And they looked so much like Josie! With an effort he shook off the mood and turned to Milena to introduce the girls to her.

Alas, his lovely housekeeper was lost to the world, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open. Henry looked in the direction where she was staring and he recognised Christina who was pushing a trolley cart with her and the twins' luggage. The smile she gave him was the genuine article and Henry greeted her with a friendly hug.

In the meantime, Milena had recovered sufficiently.

"Christina, Pat, Meg, this is my housekeeper Milena. Be nice to her. We are at her mercy. She is the only one of us who can cook."

To his surprise, the twins bristled somewhat but they shook hands with Milena. Christina was a different story. Looking at the young brunette she blushed under her dark complexion before she shook hands with the equally flustered Czech girl. Suddenly, the twins relaxed, their hackles no longer raised. Henry suspected that they had seen Milena as a competitor for his attention until they noticed her reaction to Chris.

They walked out to the car and the females made jokes at Henry's expense with regard to his very macho choice of cars. Henry found a second to whisper into Milena's ear.

"Did I promise too much?"

"Oh my god, I'm practically swimming in my panties. She's so hot!" Milena whispered back unashamedly. Now the twins were glaring at her again.

"Could I sit up front with you, Harry?" Megan asked pointedly.

"No problem," Milena smiled. "You sit up front and I'll sit on a bench."

The benches in the rear of the old Land Rover are on the sides and opposite each other. Milena cunningly contrived to sit across from a blushing Christina. Their legs intertwined out of necessity. Christina was wearing a skirt which was riding up her legs and the movements of the hard-sprung Land Rover caused her to rub against Milena's naked legs.

Pat sat with them and developed a fierce blush noticing the sparks that flew between the two women. Of course, she was well aware of the meaning of the word 'lesbian' and its implications. Unseen to the others, she gave her sister a quick thumbs-up.

Meanwhile, Megan gave Henry the third degree about the last year. She bit her lips when he mentioned the long period of rehab treatments and her face became long when he praised Ellen and the support she had given him.

"Will you two marry?" she asked, clearly afraid of the answer.

Henry saw no sense in lying to her.

"No, Sweety, we're not. Not yet, at least. Maybe one day. We are really good friends though and you'll see a lot of her."

The bitter words that followed really shocked him. "How I hated Mom back then for treating you like she did."

"Meg, you really should not judge your mother," Henry answered, feeling a bit awkward. "Remember, she was always there for you. She was ready to give her life for you and I mean that literally."

Meg thought about his answer while the Land Rover made its way through the traffic.

"Still, she screwed up," Megan maintained stubbornly.

"Girls, could you please quit badmouthing your mother? No talk of her for the next eight weeks, okay? Thank you."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you," Megan said.

"But put yourselves in our shoes," Pat chimed in. "We love to visit you, really, but we'd rather do it because we want to, not because she needs us out of her hair."

"Point taken, girls," Henry replied in a friendly tone. "That's why we stop talking of your mother. Let's just pretend you asked her to come here and she let you."

There was an uneasy silence in the car as everybody followed their own trains of thought. When the Rover bounced along the access road to Oxford Manor however, the mood of the girls brightened again.

As soon as the car came to a stop in front of the entrance, Milena jumped from the rear. The luggage was hoisted from the roof-mounted rack and Milena led the visitors to their rooms. An hour later, after the guests had had time to take a shower, they assembled downstairs where Milena had set the table for a hearty breakfast.

Pat and Megan proved themselves to be in the middle of a growth spurt as they dug into the food with the appetite of all fast-growing juveniles. Henry watched them, pleased by their healthy appetite and carefree behaviour. They were not spoiled yet by the wealth of their mother he noted.

After breakfast, Henry gave his guests a tour of the property. They also dropped by at Woodbridge where the girls received a warm welcome from Ellen.

Again, Henry saw an ambivalent behaviour on the side of the twins. They displayed an odd mix of affection and resentment. The resentment became evident when Ellen gave Henry a comfortable hug, whilst affection prevailed when Ellen showed them "their" horses, chestnut mares of low stock and as gentle as lambs.

While the girls led the horses around the corral to get acquainted with them, Ellen stood beside Henry and smiled.

"Those girls have an agenda and I'm not part of it."

"What's that?" a somewhat confused Henry asked.

"Haven't you noticed? They want you and Josie to come together again. Any woman in their way will have to watch out. How did they treat Milena?"

"A bit frosty in the beginning, coming to think about it. But that's ridiculous. Josie wants no part of me."

Ellen laughed. "Maybe they expect you to work your magic on her?"

"I pity them a little. Josie does not find much time to spend with them."

Ellen looked at him. "You still care about her, don't you?"

"I don't really know. I mean, I haven't seen her in a year."

"Liar," Ellen smiled and kissed him. "Oops! One of them looks at me with murder in her eyes. I think it's Megan. I'll have a talk with them and explain about us."

Henry looked uncomfortable. "I don't want you to encourage them, Ellen. It's not easy for me anyway with the girls looking so much like their mother."

"I'll explain that too," Ellen smiled patting his arm. Then she looked straight into his eyes. "You're probably the best friend in the world to me. I like the benefits too. I would gladly spend the rest of my days with you, if I had the slightest hope that one day you'll look at me the same way as you look at Josie Maxwell. I just won't settle for being your second choice. I couldn't."

"People spend their life together who have far less than we have, Ellen," Henry said quietly.

"Yes, but I could not do that with you. I have to put a little emotional distance between us. It's for my own good."

She left him standing and went over to where the girls were busy brushing their mares. Henry watched them as they talked. At first he could sense the tensions among them, but in the end he saw Ellen hug both girls and more importantly, he saw them hugging Ellen back with feeling.

Somehow he could not help feeling that they had just made a deal regarding his own fate.

The next weeks developed into a very pleasant experience for the people on and around Oxford Manor.

It became particularly pleasant for Christina Hernandez and Milena Janacek. Two weeks after the guests' arrival, the seating order at the table changed and the two women sat side by side. At first the twins could not help but giggle at the sight of the two women holding hands but they adjusted quickly.

Henry watched with a mixture of almost paternal affection and worry. He was worried that Milena would follow Christina to the US and that he would lose her. He realised just how much the willowy young woman had grown on him.