Tainted Love

by Lockhart, Cate

  She did admit that some older things had more creative design and intricacy than modern desks or tables. But in the end, you just needed something to write on or sit on. Did it really matter if it was a hundred years old? Most of that just escaped Abbi. But she was always polite and listened to the long history lessons, and endured the stories. Recently she had been thinking about her future with the company once Ben started practicing. They wouldn’t need the extra money anymore, and Abbi could actually sleep in once in a while. She knew it would absolutely kill her parents if she left the business completely, but maybe just one or two afternoons a week would suffice. That’s if she was still with Ben.

  Chapter Eight

  The ringing phone jolted Abbi out of her daydream. Letting out a groan as she reached for the phone.

  ‘And so the day begins,’ she said to Buddy who was chewing on his rabbit at her feet. Abbi answered on the third ring and went to work. The morning went by fast and Abbi thought it was a little busier than usual for a Tuesday. Within two hours she had talked to four potentially new customers and had given status updates on six other ongoing projects. Truth be told, Abbi was very proud of her parents and their business. It seemed like everyone just adored them, and they had clients from all over the country that entrusted them with their special and sacred heirlooms. She may not have understood it, but apparently enough people did that it had provided Abbi with a roof over her head and food on the table growing up. Now, she hadn’t been given a BMW when she turned sixteen or anything like that, but she had been offered a job.

  When she’d told her parents she wouldn’t be returning to college, they hadn’t seemed surprised in the slightest. The general sentiment was that she needed to spend her life doing something she liked and cared about. Both of her parents valued education, but neither one of them had made it through university either, and they had survived. When she told them Ben had asked her to marry him they had been ecstatic. The fact that Ben was going to be a doctor probably helped. Lately they were more concerned about when they’d be able to show off their new grandchild. Abbi had repeatedly told them there would be no grandchildren until she was married. Not only was Ben far too busy to even consider having a newborn around the house, Abbi wasn’t even sure that she was ready herself to be a mother. If things were bad now what did the future hold. Was she going to be Mrs. Dr. for the rest of her life, baking cakes for school fetes, cleaning up Buddy’s pee and listening to antique stories for the rest of my life? She wasn’t sure what she wanted but thoughts about how well planned out her future seemed just didn’t feel right.

  In her mind there just had to be more to life than doing the same thing day after day. But maybe not. Her parents did it. Ben’s parents did it. Normal people living normal lives did it. She would have to ask her mum if she had ever thought about anything like this when she was her age. Maybe it was just a phase. Like some twenty-something mid-life crisis.

  Well, whatever it was, Abbi was not going to figure it out today, so she went out to the front of the shop and began the daily task of dusting all the show room pieces. She turned on the radio and soon was bopping around to the music with her feather duster. It was kind of nice having the place to herself. As long as no one came in that actually needed some information about something. Abbi knew the basics about antique restoration, the very basics. Just a graduated line above ‘Yes, that is old and it needs restoring’ kind of basic. But she could give a good estimate because she had been around long enough to know what her parents charged for most of the services.

  The phone stayed busy, but no one came into the shop. A few people paused and gazed through the window, but it was a nice easy morning. Abbi’s stomach had just started to grumble when her phone pinged at 11:50.

  Hey there - still have time for lunch? I have some info for you.

  Her heart pounded against her ribcage. It was Taylor. The sexiest accountant on the planet.

  Chapter Nine

  Abbi took a deep breath. What am I letting myself in for? she wondered as she quickly typed back a reply.

  Sure. That sounds great. I’m here. Just come on over when it’s convenient for you. She pressed send.

  OK great – be there soon. Came the response only seconds later. So he had obviously already picked up lunch or he was just bringing over the bag of pretzels that Abbi had seen at his office yesterday. She doubted that. Maybe she should be a little annoyed that he had just presumed he knew what she liked to eat and had already picked it up. Maybe he just wanted to surprise her. Maybe he was just too confident for his own good. Maybe he was arrogant. Maybe I just need to chill out! Ben had once told her that she could put a negative spin on Santa Claus if she thought about it long enough. Maybe he was right. Abbi did over think most things. Okay, almost everything. But what was the harm in that? So I have an analytical mind….ha. She couldn’t even convince herself of that one.

  No, she had a negative circular mind that took one thing and wove it into a mental tapestry of cynicism and suspicion. Maybe that was a little harsh. But it was close. That was probably why she didn’t have many friends. The whole ‘girl talk’ thing didn’t work well with her because she always wanted to break everything down piece-by-piece which really didn’t work well for gossip. With girl talk you were just supposed to ‘oooo and aaaa’ and move on after a squeal. Abbi didn’t squeal.

  She finished dusting and went to one of the worktables in the back, and started clearing it off for lunch. She placed a couple of stools up beside it to sit on and grabbed a roll of paper towels. They had some plastic cutlery and paper plates somewhere, but she decided to just wait and see what he brought. She also didn’t want it to seem like she was getting ready for some kind of date. This is not a date. This is a business working lunch. It’s a tax write-off. Can you write something off for work if you didn’t pay for it? Okay. Maybe it’s not a tax write off, but you know what I mean. Abbi never really knew whom she was talking to when she said stuff like that in her mind. Who is ‘you?’

  She looked over at Buddy who was up again and back on the mission of making his rabbit earless.

  The front door chimed, and Buddy and took off on the job, barking and running like he was a hundred pound Rottweiler. Her Dad had wanted to put a ‘Beware of Dog’ sign out front, but her mother had said that would be bad for business. People wouldn’t understand the joke unless they came in, and that sign might deter some people from entering. ‘I still think it would be funny,’ her dad had sulked. Abbi was sure that on the next trip her mum went on alone, that sign would be up on her return.

  ‘Hey! Whoa there, killer!’ Abbi heard that deep, sexy voice as she went through the door that separated the back of the shop from the front.

  ‘Buddy!’ she said.

  Taylor bent over and petted Buddy who had instantly stopped barking. He was standing on his hind legs leaning against Taylor, tail and bum wagging ecstatically, and then, yep, peeing on his shoe.

  ‘Whoa.’ Taylor jumped back.

  ‘Oh my God! I am so sorry. The vet says it’s a nervous thing. He only does it when he gets really excited.’

  Taylor was laughing. ‘I think he’s the smartest dog I’ve ever met. He knows he’s not that big, so he gets you close and then he lets loose. Pretty smart if you ask me.’

  ‘Well, I’m sorry. I should have warned you. I keep waiting for that day that he is going to outgrow it. Do you want me to wash your shoe off?’

  ‘Nah, don’t worry about it. I think he mostly missed. He is cute though.’ Taylor bent over and pet him again. ‘A little dog pee never hurt anyone, did it killer?’

  Abbi was jealous of Buddy. It took her a minute to realise that she wished she were getting petted by Taylor. Hell, she’d pee on his shoe. He might not find that as cute though. In fact, now that she thought about it, she hoped he wouldn’t find that cute. Okay, time to stop staring at him before he notices.

  ‘So what did you bring?’

  ‘Well, I brought my good looks and charm.
’ He flashed her a smile, ‘And Thai food.’ He held up a brown bag.

  Abbi laughed. ‘Sounds great. We can eat and talk in the workroom in the back. I’ll have to interrupt lunch though if someone comes in or calls. I’m the only one here.’

  ‘You guys don’t have any other employees?’

  ‘No, we have Tyler for deliveries and he comes by in the afternoons. But Dad and Mum prefer small shops, and then scatter them around the counties. They think it makes for a more down to earth and homey business. Small but more personal attention. That kind of thing.’

  ‘Well, from what I have seen so far, it is definitely working for them. I didn’t realise that there was such a big business in antique restoration.’

  ‘Thank you. Honestly, I didn’t either until I started working for them. I mean growing up, I knew what they did on the surface, but I didn’t realise how much work went into restoring things. Because of their dedication to produce high quality work, most of their clients have been with them for years.’

  ‘It’s nice to see a business still surviving in the mass produce market.’

  They made their way to the back room, and Abbi pointed out the table where they could eat. Taylor began to pull out containers of food while Abbi gave Buddy a bone to keep him entertained. Almost forgetting, she went back to the front of the shop with the mop. That’s what she needed. The next customer to walk in and step in dog pee. Buddy probably wouldn’t be allowed back. At least not without a nappy on. Hmmm. She hadn’t thought about that. Maybe he could wear one anyway until he ‘outgrew’ his nervous peeing. That idea was quickly discarded. Her mother would latch straight on to that and take it as a sign that she was getting broody. Definitely no nappies!

  Taylor had bought enough food to feed a starving family of four and have leftovers.

  ‘Hungry?’ he asked as she came over to the table.

  ‘Um yes, but like a normal person, not like it’s my last meal on death row.’

  He laughed. Abbi loved listening to him laugh, and she loved how his eyes twinkled when he did. She had heard people use that expression about someone having a twinkle in their eyes, but she had never actually seen it. Now she had she realised how adorable it was and it made him even more appealing.

  ‘Well, I wasn’t sure what you liked, and I didn’t want to bother you at work, so I made the chauvinist executive decision to order for you; mostly everything as you can see.’

  ‘Fair enough. Luckily I love all Thai food.’ She grabbed the paper plates and plastic knives and forks she had left on stand-by.

  Dishing out the food, Taylor said, ‘How long have you been working here?’

  ‘Oh, about three years now sort of full-time. I started helping out after school during the summer holidays. But after university didn’t work out so well, I decided to do this instead.’

  ‘What was wrong with university?’

  ‘Nothing except for the going to classes and writing part.’

  ‘Ah yes, well, that does put a dampener on it.’

  ‘It definitely did for me. I loved the reading. It just seemed like I should have been able to say “Yes, I read the assignment,” and talk about it.’

  ‘Wow, you should be a teacher. You’d be very popular,’ he teased her.

  ‘I know, right? So anyway, I had to get a job, and my parents needed the help so here we are.’

  ‘What does your husband do?’

  Ahhh, so he had noticed the ring. See, he wasn’t flirting with me and this is just a business lunch. She had probably read into things he had said and did because she was so insanely attracted to him. Which she was allowed to be right? I mean being engaged doesn’t mean you go blind. And let’s face it, she knew for a fact that there wasn’t just medical school stuff on Ben’s laptop. She had caught him fairly red-faced and breathing hard a couple of times in the middle of the night when she woke up and walked into his little study. The deer in headlights look gave him away too as he looked at her over the laptop. So he enjoys some porn on a study break. Abbi didn’t care. If he had been looking at someone’s intestines or how to slice open a brain the right way and getting hot and heavy well then, she would have been worried about him. But she was pretty sure that wasn’t what he had been looking at those times. Hopefully.

  ‘We’re not actually married yet. Just engaged. We’re getting married after Ben becomes qualified. He’s studying to be a doctor.’

  ‘Really? Wow. You must be very proud.’

  ‘Yes. Yes, I am. He works very hard, and is really dedicated.’

  ‘That is so cool. So you’re going to be a doctor’s wife in the near future. You’re not going to live at the country club in between hot yoga classes, I hope.’

  ‘Um yeah. You definitely don’t know me that well. My idea of yoga is bending over to pick up Buddy to take him outside. And a country club? I’d be kicked out the first day when I asked on a scale of one to ten what level of appropriate snootiness was expected.’

  Laughing again, Taylor said, ‘That would probably do it.’

  They stopped talking for a few minutes as they both ate. Abbi actually was pretty hungry. She had forgotten to eat the muffins she had bought earlier. After a few minutes she asked, ‘So how about you?’

  ‘What about me?’

  ‘Well, did you always want to be an accountant?’

  ‘No. I was going to be a cowboy, a firefighter, and a footballer.’

  ‘So what happened?’

  ‘Well, I can’t ride a horse or shoot a gun, so I wasn’t really qualified for the cowboy gig. I don’t like getting up in the middle of the night, and they couldn’t guarantee me that fires would only happen Monday to Friday and nine to five, and then I made a better cyclist than a football player.’

  ‘So after all that a career in accounting seemed more appealing?’

  ‘I guess so. I like the regular hours and regular pay. I get to meet different people. I don’t mind number crunching. It just made good sense.’

  ‘Fair enough.’ Abbi smiled and nodded. ‘You said you had some things to talk about with the business?’

  ‘Ahhh I take it the small talk is over.’ He smiled.

  ‘Well, no, I just meant…’ Abbi stammered. She didn’t know what she meant. She knew what she wanted. She wanted Taylor to clear all the food off the table with one giant sweep of his muscular arm, then grab her by the waist, hoist her on top of it and make love to her until she couldn’t take anymore. For some reason, she just imagined that he was amazing in bed. He seemed like a man who knew how to pleasure a woman. Which is an odd thing to think about. What exactly is that look? Abbi didn’t know. Call it instinct but she just knew that Taylor kept his women satisfied. He probably had a string of them. She imagined he liked different flavours. Oh God, I want to be a flavour.

  Now he had finished talking and was staring at her. Oh yeah, that’s what normal people do during a conversation. They listen to the other person talk, and then when they are finished, the listener replies. She shook her head to clear out the fantasy. Kind of like when you take draw a sketch on one of those kids’ toys and when you shake it the screen becomes clear again? Yes, that’s what she was trying to do. Because she had sketched this awesome picture of Taylor ripping her clothes off and taking her on top of this worktable, and that image had to go. It had been a good image though. She had even thought of how much Buddy would enjoy all that food on the ground. He would be her little partner in crime, cleaning up the evidence. That made her smile. She hoped Taylor didn’t notice her clear the head with an etch-a-sketch head shake. He might think she had some kind of weird nervous tic thing or something.

  ‘I was kidding Abbi. That’s one of the reasons, I’m here.’

  Ab raised a brow. ‘One of the reasons?’ Abbi was definitely listening now.

  ‘Well, yeah. I mean would you turn down an opportunity to spend your lunch break with someone like you?’

  Abbi’s face reddened. ‘Oh, Um…’

  He laughed again. ‘
Oh my God, Abbi, can’t you take a compliment? You need to relax a little. Do I make you nervous?’

  No, you make me horny. ‘What? No…I’m sorry,’ and she laughed a little to try and seem casual too.

  ‘Okay, well good. Now back to business then. I haven’t been through everything, but it does look to me like all patterns of discrepancies lead back to your shop in St Albans.’

  St Albans? Abbi’s uncle ran that shop. Originally, the brothers, her father and Bill, had started building furniture together as teenagers. They would take what they made to local markets and before long they were getting requests not just to build but also restore. The entire business had started that way. Now it had grown to over twenty shops. But Uncle Bill managed the one in St Albans.

  ‘Are you sure it’s the one in St Albans?’ Abbi asked.

  Taylor frowned and picked up a stack of paperwork. He flipped through and said, ‘Yes, it is. Managed by a Bill…um.’

  ‘Parsons,’ Abbi finished.

  ‘Yes, that’s right. How did?’ He tapped the side of his head. ‘Oh, right. Well, see that’s why I’m not a detective either. I’m guessing he’s a relative?’

  ‘He’s my uncle.’

  ‘I’ve only had time to do a very preliminary look. I haven’t reached any conclusions yet, and I don’t want you jumping to any either, okay?’

  ‘Okay. I’m so glad my parents aren’t here right now. If my mum happens to call you, could you not say anything about Uncle Bill until you are absolutely one hundred percent certain? I don’t want a family war to start until we know for definite.’

  ‘No problem. I’ll keep working through it, and let you know what I find. I’ll make triple sure that I’m right. I’m good at this, Abbi. I’ll figure it out.’

  ‘Thank you. It’s just hard to believe, my Uncle Bill.’