‘Jaysus! Is that his price or yours?’
‘Mine. Take a look at that.’ He pushed his notepad across the desk. ‘It’s some property. Eight bedrooms, four bathrooms and enough space downstairs to entertain the whole of Woburn.’
‘I see what you mean.’ Flicking through the pages, Jack was amazed. ‘Together with fifty acres of prime grazing land.’ Handing back the notepad, he remarked thoughtfully, ‘I see we’ve got sole agency. How in God’s name did yer manage that?’
‘With a bit of luck and a lot of sheer bloody nerve.’
Never able to stay serious for long, Jack stood up and began pacing the floor, his hands tucked into the lapels of his jacket. ‘Well now, my good man, I suppose this means ye’ll be wanting a rise.’
‘Sit down, you bloody fool!’ Dave laughed.
Throwing himself into the chair, Jack got himself into business mode. ‘It’s a good deal,’ he acknowledged. ‘No wonder the owner wanted the top man to value it. Sure the place should sell well enough. We’ve got a list as long as yer arm with people wanting land.’
‘We need a hard advertising drive. I’ll get working on the budget tonight at home. After we’ve seen the candidates for Mandy’s job, I’m off. It’s been a long day and I promised Libby we’d make an early start in the morning.’ The idea of a whole day out was a real bonus.
‘All right for some.’
‘I haven’t been fishing in ages.’
‘You wouldn’t catch me fishing. Sure, it’s too soddin’ cold. I’m surprised yer women are going along.’
‘Ah, but they’re not. That’s why I chose Emmerson Park. Libby and Daisy drop me off at the river bank, then they go into Olney for the shopping. At twelve thirty, Libby collects me and we make our way to the Bull Inn for some lunch.’
‘Yer crafty bugger.’
‘Not crafty. Just sensible. I don’t like shopping, and they don’t like fishing, so I fish and they shop and everybody’s happy. Which is why I want to be away as soon as we’ve done the interviews. So, being as you’re the one who’s been dealing with it all, what time do we start?’
Where women were concerned, Jack knew it all by heart. ‘As you know, we’ve narrowed it down to three. We have Samantha Bowman, aged thirty-two, long legs and blonde hair, a proven expert on computer. Also, she worked as a telephonist for British Telecom.’
‘Did Mandy follow up her references?’
‘Of course. And they were impeccable.’
‘Next?’
‘The elegant Laura Morrison, redhead, small and curvy. She knows all there is to know about estate agency work. She was employed by one of our major rivals for some eight years, until the wanderlust took her off to travel the world. Apparently she got as far as Blackpool and decided it was too lonely out there.’ An impish grin spread over his face. ‘Sure, there’d have been no time to feel lonely if she’d taken me along.’ Leaning forward confidentially, he began to amplify. ‘In fact, if I had my way—’
‘Later, Jack, or they’ll be here before we’ve time to get our act together. The sooner it’s done, the better I’ll like it. I’m just not cut out for interviewing.’
Jack saw this as an ideal opportunity. ‘Look now, it’s a Saturday night and yer want to get away, so yer do. Leave the interviewing to me, why don’t yer?’
‘Not on your life! If I know you, it’ll be the one with the longest legs and the brightest, most promising sparkle in her eye.’
‘An’ what’s wrong with that, I’d like to know?’
‘Nothing, in your own time. So, get on with it. Three, you said. Who’s next?’
‘Ah, well now, this one’s a bit too quiet for my liking.’
Dave laughed. ‘I see. Wasn’t impressed by your line of chat, is that it?’
‘Something like that. It’s a shame, too, because she’s a real beauty – dark moody eyes yer could die for, long hair to run yer hands through the morning after, and a smile to melt the icebergs in the northern hemisphere.’ He sighed forlornly. ‘She’s too quiet, so she is. Seems to put up barriers, if yer know what I mean.’
‘We’re interviewing for a temporary secretary until Mandy gets back,’ Dave reminded him. ‘To hear you talk, anybody would think we were judging a beauty contest. Now, will you please put your mind to it, Jack.’
‘Right yer are. Well, the young lady looks the part, so she does. She’s twenty-eight, though if yer ask me she looks younger. Her name is Cliona Martin, and should she pass yer sharp, eagle eye, I’m sure she’s more than capable of filling in for Mandy while she’s away.’
‘References?’
‘This is where she falls behind the others. There were two references. One from her old employer who writes glowingly about her, though we couldn’t follow that one up because apparently his business went belly up some two years ago and now he can’t be traced.’
‘What about the second reference?’
‘Ah, well now, that was more personal than professional. From a lady of good standing, it claims the young woman is of exceptional character and able to fulfil every requirement mentioned in our advert.’
‘Hmm.’ Dave wasn’t sure. ‘We can’t afford to take anyone on face value. Mandy has designed a small computer test which hopefully will sort the wheat from the chaff.’ He rubbed his chin. The replacement had to be right. The business was really taking off now and with properties of the kind he was lately taking on his books, the wrong person sitting in Mandy’s chair, for however short a time, could be disastrous. ‘We’ll see,’ he murmured, glancing at the wall clock. ‘It’s quarter past six. That gives us fifteen minutes before they start arriving.’
A tap on the door admitted Mandy. ‘While you two are discussing the candidates, the first one has already arrived.’ The smug look on her face suggested she was obviously enjoying their discomfort. ‘At this very moment, Samantha Bowman is sitting in the front office, long legs crossed and her battle paint on, ready to prove she is just what you need while I’m away.’
Dave said quietly, ‘I take it you don’t agree.’
‘I’m saying nothing.’
Dave wouldn’t leave it at that. ‘Just say you’ll postpone your holiday, then we won’t need to interview anybody.’
With a disdainful glare, Mandy dropped a pile of paper on to the desk. ‘I think it might help if you had these in front of you. Three files. One for each candidate.’
‘Mandy?’
‘Yes?’
‘You wouldn’t like to sit in on the interview, would you?’
‘No.’
‘Or take it on your own. I trust your judgement.’
‘Absolutely not.’
‘OK. As the proprietor of this establishment, I suppose it falls to me.’
‘Exactly.’
‘Right then.’ Squaring his shoulders, Dave put on his ‘face of authority’, as Mandy called it. ‘We’re ready,’ he said, glancing at Jack to make sure he wasn’t about to do a runner.
For all his bravado, Jack was equally nervous. ‘Don’t look at me,’ he said, bristling. ‘I’m just here to watch and learn.’
‘What a pair of cowards you are.’ Mandy looked from one to the other. ‘Just remember one thing.’
Relieved she was about to give them some good advice, they replied in unison, ‘What’s that?’
‘You’re interviewing for a temp. I shall be back in four weeks.’
Dave’s quick smile was reassuring. ‘I won’t forget.’
‘If you do give my job away permanently, I’ll get employment with the opposition and slag you off from morning to night.’
‘That settles it then,’ said Dave with a grin. ‘The job will definitely still be here when you get back.’ He glanced at the note pinned to the top file. ‘According to this, Samantha Bowman isn’t due to be interviewed until seven. Laura Morrison is supposed to be the first at six thirty.’
‘Some people like to arrive early,’ Mandy informed him. ‘They think it gives them the edge.’
By six thirty all three had arrived. ‘They’re keen, I’ll say that for them,’ Mandy remarked. ‘Are you ready for the first one?’
Dave nodded. ‘Ready as we’ll ever be.’
‘Hope it won’t take too long,’ Jack said. ‘I’m on a promise tonight.’ He rolled his eyes towards the door. ‘Though I could always be persuaded to change my plans.’
‘Keep your mind on the job in hand, Jack. We can’t afford to make any mistakes.’
Laura Morrison was everything Jack had said; she was also shrill-voiced and wore so much make-up you could have scraped it off with a builder’s trowel. She played up to Jack unashamedly, mistakenly thinking it might get her the job. After the interview, Mandy escorted her to the outer office where she was put through the computer test. According to Mandy later, she passed it with flying colours. Her shrill manner, however, had already put her out of the running.
Samantha Bowman was intelligent and extremely attractive. She had a good grasp of business policy, and a pleasant attitude. Initially, she seemed a very likely candidate, until she laughed uproariously at one of Jack’s remarks, after which her composure deteriorated until every other sentence was punctuated by a fit of giggles which left her breathless. Worse, she constantly crossed and uncrossed her legs until Dave felt dizzy watching her. The computer test proved to be a disaster, and she ran out in tears.
‘Don’t look at me,’ Jack told Dave. ‘Sure, I never said a word.’
‘Nerves,’ Mandy explained after she’d seen her out. ‘Interviews take some people that way.’
‘Miss Martin hasn’t run off as well, has she?’ Dave asked.
‘Sorry to disappoint you,’ Mandy answered cheekily, ‘but I’m just about to show her in. Then if it’s all right with you, I’d like to get off home.’ It was now twenty past seven.
‘Of course,’ said Dave. ‘And thanks for staying so late.’
Mandy disappeared into the outer office and returned a moment later. ‘Miss Martin,’ she announced crisply and placed a sheet of paper on Dave’s desk.
Mandy lingered by the door to gauge their reaction. If it was up to her, she would give the job to this one straightaway.
Both men looked up, and both were mesmerised.
Dressed in a blue, smock-like dress that gathered softly at the waist, Cliona Martin looked almost childlike. Her long dark hair hung loosely plaited over one shoulder, and the dark eyes were incredibly striking against the paleness of her skin. Yet, for all that, she exuded a strength that belied her small, slim appearance. When she smiled, as she did now, the room seem bathed in a warm and wonderful glow.
As Mandy backed out of the office, she caught Dave’s attention. She gestured to the young woman and gave the thumbs up. Her meaning was clear. She hoped Dave would bear it in mind.
‘Do sit down,’ Dave told the young woman, observing her curiously for a moment. ‘We’ve met before, haven’t we?’
‘I don’t think so.’
‘I’m sorry,’ he apologised, ‘but you seem familiar. I really do have a feeling I’ve seen you somewhere.’
She shook her head. ‘I don’t think so,’ she said again. Her voice was warm and silky, like the touch of velvet. ‘You see, I’ve only recently come to the village.’
‘How recently?’
‘I arrived only two days ago. I’m staying with my aunt, but I don’t expect to be here long. I saw your advert and thought it suited both our purposes.’
Dave was intrigued. ‘Oh?’
She nodded, her wonderful dark eyes appraising his face as she spoke. ‘I need to be occupied. To be doing something constructive.’ There was purpose in her eye and steel in her voice. ‘I know how important the work is, and I can do it so, like I said, we need each other.’
Jack was impressed. ‘Yer believe in speaking yer mind an’ that’s a fact. If yer ask me, Dave, this is the one to do Mandy’s job.’ He was itching to be off to his date. If he’d been given any sign of encouragement by the young woman, he would have stayed, but she had eyes only for Dave. Either she knew Dave had the last word on whether she was given the job, or she fancied him. Jack hoped it wasn’t the latter.
He went on, ‘Everything in the office is computerised now, so you’ll need to prove yer understand them.’ He couldn’t believe he was trying to dissuade this gorgeous young thing from working here. But there was something about her that made his skin creep. Jaysus, he thought. I must be getting old. ‘Sure, yer can’t do the job unless you understand computers,’ he persisted.
She replied that Mandy had put her through a short programme while she waited in the outer office. Pointing to the documents on Dave’s desk, she told him, ‘I think you’ll find your secretary’s remarks among those papers. She told me there wasn’t a problem.’
‘If you get the job,’ Jack asked, ‘what will you do after the month is up?’
For a moment he thought she wasn’t going to answer, but then she looked him straight in the eye. ‘By that time,’ she said quietly, ‘I hope I’ll have done what I set out to do.’ Her dark, sad gaze fell. ‘I hope by then I’ll be able to go home.’
The two men looked at each other. Jack was about to say something when Dave told him, ‘I know you have a pressing appointment, Jack, so you can go if you like. I think we can manage without you.’ It was obvious the young woman had been through some kind of trauma, and for some reason he didn’t understand, Jack was not helping matters here.
‘Yer sure?’ Curious now, Jack was half inclined to stay.
‘I’m sure.’
A few moments later he was gone, and Dave found himself alone with the young woman.
‘I know you must be wondering why I can’t go home,’ she said, ‘and I don’t really want to talk about it. All I can say is that for some long time now, I’ve been cut off from family and friends.’
Dave knew how that felt; he had gone through it himself when he and Libby were apart. ‘That must be very lonely for you.’ He felt an empathy with her.
‘It’s been unbearably lonely at times,’ she admitted, ‘but soon I hope everything will be resolved.’ She had to convince him, but how could she explain the true reason for her being here? How could she tell him that she was here on a mission that had lasted for more years than he had been alive? Of course she couldn’t say any of these things. ‘It won’t affect my work, I promise you.’
Dave could sense the tragedy in her voice. He could see it in her eyes, and he was momentarily at a loss. Was it wise to take her on? Was it wicked not to?
‘Your personal life is no concern of ours,’ he remarked kindly. He thumbed through the papers on his desk, seeing only what he wanted to see – what she wanted him to see. ‘Mandy seems to think you’re suitable, and so do I. As long as you can pick up where she leaves off, and you’re happy to leave when she returns, I don’t think we need to know much more.’
‘Thank you.’ Her voice was soft, marbled with joy. ‘You can’t know how happy you’ve made me.’ Shining, dark eyes looked into his, probing his soul, stirring his senses.
Suddenly he knew. ‘You’re the girl in the rain!’ he cried excitedly. ‘That’s where I’ve seen you before.’
Alarmed, she shook her head. ‘I don’t think so.’
Feverishly racking his brains, he seemed not to have heard her denial. ‘It was a month ago, maybe more. I was in a car heading towards Ampthill. You were standing by the side of the lane.’ He had never forgotten. It still puzzled him. ‘One minute you were there and then you weren’t.’
‘I just told you, Mr Walters, I only arrived here two days ago. I came here to stay with my aunt. Well, she’s not really my aunt, but I’ve known her all my life.’ For ever, she thought; she’d known her for ever. ‘I know I said I’ve been cut off from friends and family, but she’s the one person who’s always looked out for me. Her name is Miss Ledell.’
Astonished, Dave momentarily forgot about t
he night in the rain – as she had intended. ‘Miss Ledell?’ His reaction was one of surprise and delight. ‘She’s our neighbour. She teaches our daughter piano.’
‘I know. She’s very fond of Daisy.’
‘And Daisy’s fond of her. In fact she seems to spend more time with Miss Ledell than she does at home. Still, it keeps her out of mischief.’ He laughed. ‘We’re neighbours. Well, fancy that.’
‘Have I got the job, Mr Walters?’
‘Why not? Yes, of course. But you’ll need to come in a few days before Mandy leaves, to ensure a smooth changeover, you understand.’
‘When do you want me?’
‘First thing Monday morning.’
‘I’ll be here.’ She stood up. ‘Thank you.’
Reaching his hand across the desk, he grinned amiably. ‘Welcome to the madhouse.’
She hesitated, not yet wanting to make physical contact with him. But he was offering her the hand of friendship, and she couldn’t refuse.
Slowly, nervously, she slid her hand into his. Their skin fused, warm and vibrant. There was a long moment during which he was filled with wonder, confused and afraid, and then, just as quickly, he was smiling again and she, standing on the other side of the desk, was smiling back.
‘Goodnight, Miss Martin. We look forward to seeing you on Monday.’ How cool he seemed, when all his senses were in turmoil.
In the outer office he handed her her coat and saw her to the door. The night was dark, bitter cold, and she seemed so vulnerable. ‘Do you have a car?’
‘I never learned to drive.’
‘Then it’s just as well you’re not being taken on as a negotiator, because a car is essential.’ He really liked her but she was a mystery. He felt he’d like to know her better. ‘If you’ll give me a minute to lock up, I’ll take you home.’
Her smile enveloped him. ‘I’d like that. Thank you.’
As they drove, talking and laughing, Dave felt as though he’d known her all his life. Some people were like that, he thought, you hardly knew them and yet they seemed to invade your heart and break down all inhibitions. Cliona was like that. He felt inexplicably close to her. Not in the same way he was with Libby. No one could ever make him feel like she did.
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