by Anna Jacobs
Oliver was waiting for her at the rear of the surgery, which had a second car park there for staff. He was leaning against the wall, face turned up to the sun with a half-smile. She’d expected him to be walking up and down impatiently, because she was a few minutes late. He always used to do that.
He didn’t open his eyes for a moment, though he must have heard her footsteps.
She went right up to him. ‘Well?’
He smiled at her. ‘Impatient, aren’t you?’
‘I have a lot to do today.’
‘Come upstairs, then.’
The flat was lovely, two large bedrooms and a huge living room, all with big wide windows that caught the light, and there was even a small storage room which would be perfect for her painting materials. She walked slowly round, hoping she was hiding her feelings, reluctant to admit that it was much better for her purpose than the cottage. Eighteenth-century cottages were not built to let in much light. But when they were as small and inconvenient as hers, when the owners had known her since she was a child, they came very cheaply.
He didn’t say anything, just waited . . . and watched. ‘It’ll do,’ she said in the end.
‘Is it just me or have you turned grumpy in your old age?’
‘Grumpy! What do you mean, grumpy?’
‘You’re not exactly chatty and cheerful today, Rosie baby.’
She didn’t rise to that one. She’d always disliked being called Rosie and he knew it. ‘I have to move out of my home. I’m a busy person. I can do without all these hassles.’
‘Tell that to Brett Harding. He caused this trouble, not me.’
‘I’d not give him the time of day. Do you know, he’s been sexually harassing my cousin for a while now? He’d been out to Willowbrook pestering her just before he crashed into you.’
‘Why hasn’t she laid charges, then?’
‘His father still runs the planning committee. Mr Harding isn’t a man to cross when you’re hoping to expand your tourist development.’
‘Ah. Dad said Ella put up some chalets out there after she split with Parnell. How is the old place? I used to love the feeling of history you got there.’
‘Willowbrook is fine. It’ll outlast us because it’s better built than most modern houses and—’ she realized he’d got her talking and clamped her lips shut ‘—I’ll go home and pack.’
‘I’ve got the packing cases my stuff came in. I can borrow Dad’s car and bring them across. My car will be out of commission for a while, unfortunately, until the bodywork is repaired.’
She turned to stare at him, arms akimbo. ‘Why are you suddenly being so helpful? We didn’t part on the best of terms.’ And there’d been no word from him in five years. Not one lousy email, even.
His face took on a shuttered look. ‘Do you object to me being helpful?’
She didn’t answer. There had been a flash of pain in his face before he hid behind that inner wall he could erect. Unless he’d changed totally, she knew his expressions nearly as well as she knew her own face in the mirror. No use being stupid about his offer, though. ‘Thank you. You can use my van to fetch the stuff, if you like. It’ll probably hold more than a car and it always behaves well for you.’
‘You haven’t still got the same old van?’
‘Yes.’ She handed him the keys.
‘Seems we’ve both had our ambitions frustrated, doesn’t it?’
She watched him stride away. What did he mean by that? How had his ambitions been frustrated? What exactly had brought Oliver Paige back to Chawton?
Whatever it was, she wished he hadn’t come. He was yet another failure in her life.
In London, Cameron was greeted by Miss Bradley, Ray’s secretary, who gave him one of her tight smiles. She’d been with DevRaCom for at least twenty years and was reputed to be willing to kill on her employer’s behalf – though you wouldn’t need to go as far as killing when you could make a man feel nervous and ten years old again simply by looking down your nose at him. Even Ray sometimes bent to her will.
‘I’m afraid you’ll have to wait for a few moments, Mr O’Neal. Mr Deare has someone with him.’
They’d changed the decor and he sat down gingerly in an angular modern chair, which might look trendy but was hell on a normal human’s anatomy. After wriggling around a little, he gave up trying to get comfortable and went to stand by the window.
Central London lay beneath him, teeming like a grey ant heap in spite of the congestion charges. Not so different from other large cities from this viewpoint, it looked better when you walked round it on foot, because there were some magnificent old buildings in the City still.
He suddenly remembered the peace and lush greenery at Willowbrook, the delicate chorus of bird calls that not only greeted you in the morning but threaded through the day. He loved the smell of earth and plants, and his nose wrinkled involuntarily now, because canned air always felt stale to him. And as footsteps were muffled by the thick carpets in this part of the building, a blanket of heavy silence lay upon the senior executive floor. You didn’t exactly tiptoe, but you had a sneaking suspicion that you ought to.
The door to the inner office opened and he swung round to see a good-looking guy of about his own age emerge. The man stopped by the desk. ‘You have my mobile number?’
‘I have all the necessary information, Mr Parnell.’
‘Good.’ The stranger cast a quick glance in Cameron’s direction, as if to size him up, then turned his thousand megawatt smile back on Miss Bradley, whose cool expression didn’t change one iota.
Cameron hoped his amusement hadn’t shown. When she was on duty, Sonia Bradley was impervious to gestures of friendliness even from people who’d known her for years. This man was a stranger and his friendly manner wasn’t genuine. Cameron wasn’t sure how he sensed that, but he’d stake his life on it. Parnell. Now where had he heard that? . . .
He suddenly remembered little Amy telling him she was changing her name from Parnell to Turner when she grew up. Could this be her father? If so, it must be more than a coincidence that the fellow was here.
‘You can go through now, Mr O’Neal.’
‘Come in, Cameron lad.’ Ray boomed from inside the office.
Out of the corner of his eye, Cameron saw that Parnell had paused to watch this.
Ray shut the door and gestured to some easy chairs set neatly round a low table. The floor to ceiling windows made for stunning views but Cameron sat with his back to them. He didn’t need distracting.
‘Let’s make ourselves comfortable.’ Ray leaned back in his big leather armchair and steepled his fingers as he studied his guest.
‘I see you didn’t get rid of your own furniture.’
Ray grinned. ‘Hell, no. Who’d want to sit on those things out there.’
‘Why buy them, then?’
‘They look up-to-the-minute and more to the point, they discourage people from hanging around. Now, thanks for coming. Did you get to see this Willowbrook place?’
‘Yes. But I didn’t have time to look at anything in depth. What was the rush to see me today?’
‘Got a glitch in the Parker project. I need someone I can trust to work on it.’
‘Is that the one with Middle Eastern involvement?’
‘Yeah. Big project. It’ll take months to sort out. It’ll pay extremely well, though.’
Cameron shook his head. ‘I told you last time, Ray: I’m not taking on anything new. I’m burned out.’
‘Not you.’
‘Then let me put it another way: I’ve had enough of wheeling and dealing, and I’m looking for a quieter life. So thanks for the offer and the confidence you’ve shown in me, but no, thank you. I don’t want the project.’
Ray frowned at him, opened his mouth to say something, then shut it again.
Cameron met the older man’s eyes squarely and let the seconds tick by until he could see that Ray believed him. ‘I only checked out Willowbrook as a special favour to you
and because I was heading in that direction anyway.’
‘Oh, that. It’s not important now, though I always value your opinion, of course, and I’ll pay you what we agreed. But the guy I just showed out is going to deliver it. The owner owes him quite a bit of money and I can make sure the bank doesn’t give her the loan she’s asked for.’
Cameron had no trouble keeping his expression calm. He’d had years of practice at that. But he was surprised and disappointed to hear what Ray was doing. ‘You don’t usually play dirty. How did you get her account details?’
Ray looked pained. ‘I didn’t need them, just the name of her bank. I dropped a word in a friend’s ear and there will be no loans available to her for any reason.’
Cameron stared down at his feet to hide his displeasure, wondering what was going on. He’d never heard Ray talking like this, or seen him behaving in quite such an underhand way. Why bother to do it with a relatively small project?
None of his business, since he wasn’t intending to get involved in the business side of things, only he liked Ella, felt sorry for her. And if his feelings continued to grow, could he stay out of it? The farm obviously meant a lot to her and why should she have to give up her home? Why the hell did this have to happen now?
Ray snapped his fingers. ‘You were miles away then.’
‘Yeah. Keeps happening to me. I definitely need a rest.’
‘You need something to focus your mind. I’m not going to take a no on the Parker project.’
Cameron frowned at the edge to the older man’s voice. ‘You’ll have to.’
Ray leaned forward. ‘I never have before. Don’t cross me on this. It won’t do you any good and you owe me.’
There was dead silence. Ray’s stern gaze didn’t change or soften.
Cameron hoped he hadn’t let his astonishment show. ‘I’ve more than paid you back for the help you gave me when I was starting out.’
‘It formed a link between us, and I like to keep my business connections – shall we say, active?’
‘The answer is still no. My heart wouldn’t be in it and I’ve things going on here, so I’d not be able to give you the commitment you need.’
Ray’s expression was briefly ugly. ‘You might find it affected your other jobs.’
‘I told you: I intend to take it easy for a while. I’m not looking for other jobs.’
‘What’s changed you? Are you working for another company, one I should know about?’
Cameron sighed. ‘Ray, I’m telling you the absolute truth: I’m not going to be working for anyone for a while. I’m going to take a sabbatical and consider my future. And it’ll be very different from my past.’
‘Let me give you lunch. We can discuss your future in more detail. A man can never have too much money and you’re not exactly rich.’
Cameron was suddenly impatient. He’d had enough of being guarded about everything he said, more than enough of treading on the eggshells of upper corporate life and egos. ‘Another time, if you don’t mind. I’ve a few things to sort out in town, then I’m going to take a long holiday in the country.’
He didn’t let himself frown until he was well away from the building.
What the hell had got into Ray? Why was he pushing so hard?
Cameron’s thoughts turned inevitably to Ella, who had been wandering through his mind ever since he left. He wanted very much to see her again, wanted to see if this would lead anywhere.
They couldn’t have met at a more inopportune time, though. He hadn’t the faintest idea yet of what exactly he wanted to do with his life. And she was struggling to keep her home.
He didn’t like the thought that her ex was involved with DevRaCom, didn’t like it at all.
Did she know about that? And he wished he hadn’t deceived her about who he was representing at Willowbrook.
Seven
Ella didn’t ring Miles back, was hoping he’d lose interest in seeing Amy. Only . . . he’d not been prone to sudden enthusiasms before, had always planned what he did with great care, so there must be more to it than appeared on the surface. Several times her hand hesitated over the phone, then she shook her head and walked away. If he was going to insist on doing this, let him make the running.
The phone rang the following morning after Amy had gone to school and Ella suppressed a sigh when she heard Miles’s voice, mellow, persuasive, friendly . . . if you didn’t know better.
‘Long time no see. How are you, Ella?’
She couldn’t bear to mess around with small talk. ‘Not happy. Why do you suddenly want to see Amy?’
‘She is my daughter, in case you’d forgotten.’
‘That didn’t seem to matter to you before. You’ve never even asked about how we manage her condition, what the prognosis is. Caring for a child with SMA takes a lot of effort, visits to doctors and physiotherapists, you know.’
‘I don’t want to argue about things, Ella, I just want to arrange regular visits from now on. As for the treatment, I’m sure you’re doing everything possible. After all, you’re with her all the time, I’m not.’ When she didn’t answer, he added, ‘If we need to arrange visiting rights through our lawyers, then I’ll contact mine today. I’m not going to change my mind about seeing her.’
She tried to breathe evenly, to reply calmly. ‘What exactly do you want to do?
‘See her now and then, every week to start off with. Maybe it’d be best if I booked one of your chalets each Saturday.’
She bit back a hasty refusal. ‘You said on the phone you wanted to see her for the afternoon. Why should you want to stay on here afterwards?’
‘We could have dinner, talk. I don’t want us to be enemies, for Amy’s sake.’
‘I don’t want to have dinner with you, Miles, and I’d rather keep my chalets for real visitors. Besides, I work on Saturday evenings. Who do you think prepares the meals for the guests?’
‘Well, at least book me in this first weekend. We have to discuss how soon you can pay the loan back. I need that money quickly. I’ve found a good investment and don’t want to lose the chance of getting in on it.’
Ah, that was more like it, his real reason for coming. Was he intending to use Amy as a bargaining tool? She nearly asked if it was DevRaCom he wanted to invest in, but bit back the words. Why give him information if she didn’t need to? ‘Very well. You can stay on Saturday night, just this once. But I’ll have to charge you the normal rate. I can’t afford to lose money on your visit.’
‘That’s all right. And I gather you provide meals now? I’d like to book an evening meal. Save me going into Chawton. Do you have Internet access?’
‘I can give you a daily pass into our wireless network.’
‘Good.’
‘It’ll cost you extra, though.’ She didn’t usually charge for this, but Miles was different. He was just using their daughter, she knew he was, so she’d use him in return. After all, Amy desperately needed a new school uniform. Maybe she’d suggest he bought it, for once. And maybe she’d ask him for maintenance from now on, back payment even. That would reduce her debt to him. Why hadn’t she thought of that aspect before? Because she hadn’t wanted anything to do with him, that was why, because she was frightened of him asking for his money back. Well, he’d done that now, so she’d consult her lawyer and have a good look at all her options.
Miles wasn’t the only one with bargaining power. Maybe if she got maintenance from him and also sold the necklace, she could manage to pay back enough money to satisfy him for the time being?
His voice became sharper. ‘Are you still there? Right then. I’ll be down around two o’clock. I’ll take Amy out for a drive.’
‘I’d prefer it if you stayed on the farm with her.’
‘What the hell are we going to do there?’
‘Walk, talk, play, whatever fathers usually do with their children.’
Another silence, then, ‘How is her walking?’
‘The same as before, only she
falls more often because she’s getting taller. She doesn’t like to be helped up, though. She’s very independent. And she’s not doing too badly. Some kids are much worse than her.’
‘I see.’
‘And academically, she’s near the top of her age group, very intelligent and precocious.’
‘She is?’
Ella was furious at the surprise in his voice. ‘Do you think I’d lie about something like that?’
‘Sorry. Of course you wouldn’t. I hadn’t realized that was – possible.’
‘It’d not hurt you to read up on her condition before you come down to see her. Just search the Internet. There are several sites which explain it clearly.’
‘Right. I will.’
She doubted that. It wasn’t important enough to him, never had been. How could she have been so stupid as to be taken in by a man like that? She wasn’t going to let any man fool her again.
His voice interrupted her thoughts. ‘Is that all? I’ve got a call waiting, I’m afraid.’
Was he still using that old excuse to end a phone conversation? He used to boast about it. She wanted to say No, it’s not all, I don’t want you to come. I know you’re going to hurt Amy. But she couldn’t. ‘It’s all for the moment.’
‘I’ll see you on Saturday, then.’
She put the phone into its cradle, adjusting the notepad next to it till it was exactly in line, and setting the guest book in place beside them. Even after she stood up, she couldn’t carry on with her chores for a few moments because she was still trying to work out what was going on.
She’d have to prepare Amy for spending time with the father whose existence they mostly ignored, and who until now had completely ignored them.
That wouldn’t be easy. Her daughter was no fool.
Ella waited until Amy was sitting down with a glass of milk and a home-made biscuit, and the flow of talk about the day had died down. ‘I’ve got something to tell you.’
‘Oh?’ Amy looked at her expectantly.
‘Your father wants to see you. He’s coming down on Saturday.’
Amy frowned and began to trace a pattern in the crumbs on her plate, moving them into a pile, then scattering them instead of dabbing them up with a wet finger.