‘No.’
I crouched down and tried to meet her eyes. ‘Then what is it,’ I asked as softly as I could.
She flew towards the tap, settled on top of it then wrapped her arms and then her wings around her body as if she were trying to cocoon herself from the world. My alarm grew tenfold; this was not like Hester at all.
‘You and Hugo are really happy together, aren’t you?’ Her voice was small and I had to strain to hear her words. ‘Even though you lurch from problem to problem, you truly love each other. I see the way you look at each other. It’s not just the sex stuff, it’s nothing to do with that. It’s the light you both get in your eyes. You smile at him in a different way to the way you smile at everyone else.’
I blinked. The last topic of conversation I’d expected was my relationship with Hugo. ‘I’m in love with him,’ I said.
Hester exhaled. ‘I know. That’s obvious to anyone with eyes.’ She pulled her wings even more tightly around herself. ‘That other brownie we met, the one who works for Athair. The pretty one.’
‘Eloise? What about her?’
Hester bit her lip. ‘Otis really likes her.’
I was starting to get a sense of where Hester was leading with this, but I realised I’d have to wait for her to say it. ‘He seems to,’ I said cautiously.
‘Oh, he definitely does.’ Her mouth turned down. ‘He doesn’t know anything about her, except that she works for the most evil creature in the entire country, but he still really likes her.’
‘It didn’t sound as if she had much choice in her employer,’ I said.
Hester sent me a baleful glance. ‘Otis found her attractive, Daisy. He wanted to help her – in fact he still wants to help her. When we were in the pub last night, he was talking about how he could storm Culcreuch Castle on his own and try to rescue her.’
My eyes widened with alarm. ‘That would definitely not be a good idea.’
‘I know that. He knows that too.’ She allowed the tips of her wings to unfurl and flicked them upwards in a shrug. ‘It was only talk. Even Otis realises that would be stupid.’ She sighed. ‘But if he meets her again and he’s still attracted to her and they end up falling in love…’
She didn’t finish her sentence. She lifted her head to reveal a miniscule glassy tear rolling down her cheek. ‘What will happen to me?’ she whispered.
My heart went out to her. ‘Hester?—’
‘You’re in love,’ she burst out. ‘He’ll be in love. And I’ll be all alone. I’ll never meet any other brownies who I might fall in love with – there are hardly any brownies around, for one thing. For another, even if I did meet a handsome brownie, he wouldn’t like me back. I’m not kind like Otis. I’m bitchy and opinionated and mean and…’
‘Brave and clever and absolutely wonderful,’ I said, meaning every word. ‘We love you, Hester. I love you. Otis loves you. I’m pretty sure Hugo loves you. All of the Primes love you. Why wouldn’t this mysterious brownie love you, too?’
‘It’s not the same, Daisy, and you know it’ Hester said. ‘I don’t even know why I said all that. I’m never going to meet a brownie I could like in that way. I’m going to be alone.’ Another tear fell. ‘Forever.’
She didn’t want platitudes; she didn’t want me to tell her that Mr Right was around the corner and that he’d sweep her off her feet at any moment. She didn’t want me to make up stories, she wanted me to speak to her truthfully. It was probably the firsttime I’d seen this sort of vulnerability from Hester and it might be the last. She deserved the sort of honesty she’d always given me.
‘Okay,’ I said. ‘First of all, Otis has only met Eloise once and it was a short meeting, so let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Second of all, it’s true that you aren’t for everyone – you’re more special than that. You know who you are. You’re not afraid to say exactly what you think. It will take a special brownie to appreciate your inimitable fabulousness.’
I gazed at her. ‘Don’t ever think that you don’t deserve love and happiness, Hester, because you do. You absolutely do. The right boy might show up out of the blue when you least expect it. Or,’ I added seriously, ‘he might not. If he doesn’t, we will always be here for you. You will always have a place with us and we will always love you because we’re your family. However, if you want to go searching for someone to share romance with, I’ll be thrilled to be your wing woman. As soon as this business is over, we can go on the hunt for other brownies.’ I smiled slightly. ‘You know I enjoy a good hunt.’
Hester unfurled her wings, wiped away her tears and dropped her arms. ‘As soon as this business is over?’ she asked with a familiar edge of arch sniffiness. ‘When will this business ever be over? When will you ever finish Athair for good?’
I answered as honestly as I could. ‘I don’t know, Hes, but I have to believe that it will happen. And if you want to fall in love with someone, you should believe that will happen too.’
She inhaled a ragged gulp of air and nodded. ‘Thank you, Daisy.’
‘You’re welcome.’
‘If you ever tell anyone about any about this – even Hugo – I swear I will?—’
I held up my hands. ‘I won’t breathe a word to anyone. I’ve got your back, Hester. Always. I love you.’
This time Hester’s smile lit up her entire face. ‘I love you too, Daisy.’
Chapter
