A Diamond in the Snow by Kate Hardy

Author:Kate Hardy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin Romance
Published: 2018-10-02T07:00:00+00:00

* * *

Jude topped up Victoria’s wine. ‘He’s not usually grumpy like this. He must be really worried about his dad.’ He looked at her. ‘So he’s really going to stay in Cambridge?’

‘You know the situation. He’s doing an excellent job—obviously he’s way overqualified to be my intern—and I think his dad’s completely out of order with all this stuff about Samuel being reckless, because he isn’t.’

‘Sam parties hard,’ Jude said. ‘But he works harder.’

‘So you’ve known him since university?’ Victoria asked.

‘Since we were toddlers,’ Jude said. ‘And it didn’t matter that he was this maths genius and I always had my nose in Shakespeare. We understood each other.’

‘He said he used to help you learn your lines.’ She gave him a rueful smile. ‘I’m assuming you played Petruchio at some point.’

‘He quoted Petruchio at you?’ Jude winced. ‘I know we’ve only just met, but you’re no Katherine. I’d say you were Beatrice, if anything.’

‘Thank you for the compliment. But he might have a point.’

‘So you’re a Shakespeare fan?’

‘Shrew was my A-level text. But, yes, Jaz and I used to go to all the student productions. She saw you in Twelfth Night, by the way, and loved you.’

He rolled his eyes. ‘Sebastian’s a selfish idiot. I tried to make him decent.’

‘She noticed,’ Victoria said. And it occurred to her how well Jude and Jaz would get on together. Maybe she could introduce them. ‘So you always wanted to act?’

Jude nodded. ‘Sam bought me champagne when I got a place at RADA. Just as I bought him champagne when he got his first job—and his first promotion. Not that there was ever any doubt he’d do well.’

It was pretty clear that Jude and Sam loved each other like brothers.

‘He’s one of the good guys,’ Victoria said. ‘And he’s been amazing with the restoration project. He’s called in all kinds of favours I wouldn’t have been able to do.’

‘I think it’s good for him to be out of London for a bit,’ Jude said. ‘And I can’t believe you’ve got him baking.’ He smiled. ‘Sadly, I’m performing in the matinee and the evening show that day, or I’d so buy a ticket to the ball.’

‘You’re welcome at Chiverton any time,’ she said. ‘If you have a day off, come down and we’ll cook you a trial run of some of the dishes.’

‘So I get to see Sam in a pinny?’ Jude grinned. ‘I’ll definitely give you a donation for the restoration, for that.’

‘I heard that,’ Sam said, walking into the room. ‘If the pinny makes an appearance, there are strict rules. Very, very strict rules. No photographs and no video calls.’

‘Spoilsport.’ Jude laughed.

‘How was your dad?’ Victoria asked.

‘Fine.’

‘Good.’

Whatever dark mood he’d been in seemed to have lifted, and the conversation for the rest of the evening was much lighter. Victoria excused herself to go to bed relatively early, presuming that Sam and Jude would want some time together to catch up. But when she went to get herself a glass of water from the kitchen, half an hour later, she could hear them talking in the living room.

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