The Gift of Friends by Emma Hannigan

Author:Emma Hannigan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Headline
Published: 2019-02-28T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

THEY DROVE ALONGSIDE THE WALL OF THE ESTATE for a few minutes, its long white curving line presenting a very effective barrier against seeing anything beyond. They reached the entrance, which was flanked by two high gate pillars, each topped with a statue of a horse rearing up. The imposing gates, which also featured horses, opened slowly, noiselessly, and Justin put the car in gear and drove up the wide and long boulevard that led to the house. There was a gate lodge on the left, just beyond the gate. It was a beautiful stone house, single-storey, with two tall chimneys. There was a barrier just in front of it, and a man dressed in uniform and holding a clipboard indicated for them to stop.

‘Evening, Hanley,’ Justin called out as he lowered the window. ‘How are you?’

‘Ah, it’s yourself, Mr Justin,’ the man said, smiling in at them. ‘The place is hopping up there. Enjoy yourselves.’ He raised the barrier and Justin’s BMW slid on past and up the sweeping driveway.

Orange lanterns hung from the trees that lined the drive, lighting the way towards the house. It stood regally at the end of the driveway, massive in its Georgian proportions, with ten windows adorning its upper floor and four each on either side of the red front door. The front was festooned with Virginia creeper, glowing red in the wintry gloom thanks to the uplighters that cast a beautiful light on the whole exterior.

‘It’s beautiful,’ Danielle said, feeling a bit overwhelmed by the grandiosity. She had thought Kingfisher Road was a mansion, but this blew everything else out of the water. It was like something from Downton Abbey.

The drive ended in a fanned-out car park, and it was filled with cars Danielle had only ever seen on Top Gear. She looked over at Justin, incapable of imagining what growing up here as a child would have been like. It was so far from her house in Westwood, it was comical. They came from two different planets. And yet, Justin was so down to earth, you’d never guess he came from all this. He didn’t feel so terribly different from her. But this, this was so far out of her league, she wanted to belt back down the drive and keep on running.

Justin put his hand over hers. ‘It’s just a house,’ he said. ‘Don’t think it changes anything.’

‘Just a house?’ Rachel said disbelievingly from the back seat. ‘Jesus, Justin, you can’t really say that to people who call a two-up, two-down home. I’d say you could fit my whole house in one room here.’

‘It’s just extra space,’ he said, looking at Rachel in the rear-view mirror. ‘Doesn’t mean better people.’

Danielle squeezed his hand. ‘We’re not trying to make you uncomfortable,’ she said. ‘It’s just a lot to take in.’

He parked the car around the back, where the family’s vehicles were kept out of sight. Danielle knew Justin’s parents and two brothers lived here, but there were eight cars and SUVs ranged around.

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