by Annie Dyer
“What will you be doing there?” I managed to force the words out despite my confusion.
She guided us over to a table for two. “I bought a big pub with several guest rooms. It’s needed a complete renovation, but it’s almost there now. I go in three weeks. Come see me when I’ve settled. You’ll love it.” Her eyes looked misty and I figured in her head she was already living there.
Seph looked grumpy. “Won’t be the same in here without you.”
She smiled. “No. It won’t. But it’ll just be different. No worse and no better. Now, do you both want your usual? I have freshly made blueberry breakfast muffins too.” She didn’t wait for any more than a nod from either of us, leaving us to greet someone else as they came through the door.
Seph's expression was the same Rose wore when she couldn’t get her way.
“You look like a spoilt child right now.”
He didn’t grin. “I don’t like change. I get why she’s going and I don’t blame her, but I’ve known her all my life and it’ll be weird her not being around.”
I frowned. “Is she going permanently? Not just to set it up?”
“Permanently. She’ll still own this place, but she’s hired a manager so she’ll be in Anglesey most of the time.”
“How will that effect things with you?” It was a pretty discreet dig for information, if I did say so myself.
He looked confused. “I’ll have to get used to someone else making my coffee and I doubt they’ll let me keep a tab like I do now.” He frowned. “Amelie’s a family friend. She grew up in the house next door to my parents’.”
“Oh.”
He tipped his head back and laughed. “Did you think we were seeing each other?” His shoulders shook.
I shrugged, looked at the table. “No…”
“You did! That’s so funny. She’s like my sister. Seriously.” His words quietened and I realised he was studying me. “I’m single, Georgie. Have been for some time.”
I managed to look up at him. “Me too.”
Whatever rule had been in place for the last week, we’d just broken it.
Seph being single had suddenly changed things.
I paused outside a children’s toy and book shop, a book of alternative fairy tales for girls catching my eye. Rose had asked me the night before, while I was reading her Rapunzel, why the princesses couldn’t save themselves. She then gave me a plausible way that Rapunzel could’ve escaped the tower without losing her hair – trust my daughter to think of that – and that she didn’t need the prince. To be honest, I felt she was probably still annoyed with James for showing her his willy and anything boy shaped wasn’t worth her time.
I was hoping it lasted a very long time.
I headed into the shop, needing to delay my break ending, because that meant being in the office with Seph again and neither of us seemed to know what to say to each other after this morning’s confession.
It shouldn’t matter. So we were both single; that wasn’t something that needed to be taken into consideration. We worked together, had known each other just over a week and had to carry on working together for a lot longer.
As I looked for the alternative book of fairy tales, I didn’t think about Seph’s broad shoulders and how his shirt tightened around them, or how his biceps had been so pronounced when he’d tensed up at his brother. I didn’t think about how his trousers had clung to a bulge between his legs after Max had gone and it had been just to two of you.
Didn’t think about what might’ve happened if we’d lingered there for longer.
Because we hadn’t. I’d thought he was dating Amelie.
I’d thought wrong.
But it didn’t matter and that was what I told myself as I picked up the book and flicked through the pages, looking at the illustrations, anticipating my little girl’s reaction when she saw it.
I found Rapunzel and a picture from the end of the story, her hair still long, her eyes fearless.
She never asked about her father. Rose had been brought up by women: me, her gran and Aunt Olivia. We worked, laughed, had fun – all without a male influence. But even though her father was not the epitome of a hero, there were good men out there and I wanted her to know that, see them, listen to them. Not all men were dicks, and my daughter needed to grow up knowing that.
Which was all the more reason why even thinking about what Seph Callaghan looked like when he wasn’t wearing his suit or anything else was not what I should be doing. Rose didn’t need to see what would be left after a relationship went wrong. When things ended with her father, she wasn’t born, and I couldn’t be a mess because I had her growing inside me. I had to be strong for her and I knew that my happiness would affect her even as she grew inside me.
I bought the book, and another that I saw near the till, then headed back to the office. There was a sense of busyness as soon as I entered, a hushed tone near reception and I tensed up before fobbing through the door that led from reception to the ground floor offices.
“Heads up,” Eli Ward, Ava Callaghan’s fiancé and partner here, made me jump as I went through, appearing from pretty much nowhere. “Ron Hartford has just turned up with his lawyer. David is here too. We’re all waiting for war to break out.”
The smile on his face suggested he was looking forward to this.
“Want me to grab you some popcorn?”
He nodded. “Any excitement that doesn’t involve me is always good. I’ve heard these two go at it before.”
“Why’s Ron here?”
Eli shrugged. “I think his solicitor needed to drop some files off and Ron came to make sure it was done. I don’t think this was planned.”
Raised voices came from the large office that was used for mediation.
“How did he get through to here then?” Someone must’ve let him through.
Eli laughed quietly. “David was about to leave when Ron came in. Lisa in reception got them back here because another client turned up at the same time.”
There was another roar and a man I hadn’t seen before, who looked enough like David for me to know it was his brother, stormed out, a torrent of curses and threats streaming out of his mouth.
Eli’s head turned, no attempt to hide his grin. “Glad it’s Seph dealing with this shit and not me.”
Seph had just come out of the room, looking across the open plan part of the office where the secretary pools and IT team were based. His eyes fell on me and every nerve became aware, my stomach taking its very own gulp.
I’ll have you know my performance is always exceptional.
“You okay?” I mouthed across the room.
He smiled, but it wasn’t as broad as usual. I tapped Eli’s arm and walked over, Seph waiting for me at the door.
His voice was low as he spoke. “David is freaking out. He’s worried Ron’s got a bigger team of solicitors than he has. Do you mind going in and introducing yourself as part of the commercial team? Take five minutes.”
I nodded. I had no problem being a distraction, which clearly this was.
David was sitting at the large conference table when I entered, his eyes focused on a piece of paper that he obviously wasn’t reading.
“Hi, Mr Hartford, I’m Georgia Marsters and a new partner here. I’ll be one of the solicitors assisting Seph on your case.” I smiled, realising that I was still carrying the bag with the books for Rose.
David Hartford looked at me and stood up. “I hope Seph is as good as his brother said he is.”
Seph was still outside; he hadn’t followed me in.
“He’s one of the best technical lawyers I’ve worked with.” It was an honest response. I’d seen enough of his work this last week to know how much he knew, how detailed he was, and a perfectionist.
David Hartford judged me. His eyes took in my suit and hair and landed for a little too long on my tits. I didn’t move and I didn’t drop my gaze from him. It was an unsurprising appraisal, a man of his age – which was always th
e excuse – making a judgement based on how I looked because he wrongly assumed he had the power to make that judgement.
David nodded. “Where did you work before? Is this your first job since you qualified?”
I decided to take it as a compliment that I looked so young.
“Eversley Harrop. I was a partner there.”
He looked surprised for about half a second. “That’s a big old firm. Why did you leave there?”
“It was a careful career decision. I’m just one of seven solicitors who work in the Commercial Litigation department here. Have you met the rest?”
He nodded, even though I knew he hadn’t.
The door opened and Max came in. “David, there’s a cab waiting for you at the front. I can delay it if you need a while longer.”
The client shook his head. “I’m ready to go. Make sure Seph gets back to me tomorrow. I might need to look at an injunction against that imbecile of a brother. I’ll instruct you later.”
Max gave a discreet nod and held the door open for David, Seph’s voice audible as David stepped out.
“He’s not too bad when you get past the misogynistic, sleezy front. Trust me when I say his brother’s worse.” Max's words were quiet, discreet. “If he pisses you off, say. Seph will drop it.”
“I’ll be fine.” Because that’s what we were trained to be. I was a woman; a certain degree of sexism and being objectified came with the boobs. We knew it shouldn’t be acceptable, but we’d learned to accept it anyway.
Max nodded again and Seph stepped in, Max swapping places, leaving the room.
“Looks like I missed the show.”
I didn’t like how Seph looked. His usual relaxed shoulders were tensed and his smile was erased.
“How can adults be such dicks?”
“Because they have money, and people with money believe that buys them the right to act how they want.”
Seph inhaled. “I have money, Georgie. So does Max, Jackson, Ava – we all do. It buys me the right to treat people exactly as I would like to be treated, including my family and not making a show of myself like that.” He shook his head. “I don’t get it. They’re brothers and they’re both trying to undercut the other. I don’t get it.”
“You don’t need to. You just need to do your job.” Because that was what it came down to. We did our job. It wasn’t up to us to be a moral compass for our clients, that was what churches were for.
He shrugged. “I know. And we’ll do the job and probably win. The solicitor for the other side isn’t great. I’ve gone up against him before.”
“Who is it?”
Seph gave me his name, one I recognised, and I agreed with him. I’d been against him before and he’d been slack and lacking with detail. Whether Ron Hartford would stick with him would be questionable if he had any sense.
“What’s in the bag?”
There was a thud in my chest before it turned into a hard sequence of kicks.
“Just a gift. Did you get the papers?”
I looked at his lips. I imagined touching them, wondered if it would make him smile again. Wondering if he would catch my hand as my fingers grazed across his skin or whether he’d step back.
I clenched my fist. Remembered the bag I held with Rose’s books. I wished I’d told Seph about her already.
“I got the papers. I’ll start to go through them tomorrow. I want to discuss a case that just got passed onto us from Collins Solicitors…”
He stopped, my phone blaring out an abrasive ring.
“Sorry.” I rummaged through my handbag and found it, seeing Rose’s nursery on the screen as the caller.
The nursery didn’t call for no reason. Everything inside me felt as if it had doubled in weight and was trembling. I’d become jelly and my legs felt numb.
I answered, feeling Seph’s eyes on me.
“Hi Georgia, it’s Liza from Busy Bees. Rose has fallen over and banged her head on the floor. She’s okay – very upset. The first aider is looking after her, but could you collect her – we think she should go to casualty to have it checked.” Liza’s tone was calm and there was something reassuring about it, which was probably the only thing stopping me from losing the plot.
“I’ll be there as soon as I can. Twenty minutes. Less.”
“Okay, just get here safely. We’re looking after her. We could meet you at the hospital if you want, but I think Rose would prefer to go with you.” Again, her voice calmed me and later I’d email the nursery manager and ask her to thank Liza.
“I’ll be there as soon as I can. Thank you.” I repeated myself then ended the call, my hands trembling.
I looked up at Seph. “I need to go. I’m so sorry. I have a meeting with Haydn Causier this afternoon – please could you ask Moira to cancel it with my apologies.”
I started to walk towards the door.
Seph caught my arm in his hand. “Where are you going? You can’t – is everything okay?”
I stopped, my eyes stinging. “Rose. She’s banged her head. I need to take her to the hospital.”
I freed myself and carried on walking.
Seph followed, his hand on my shoulder, slowing me down. “Georgie, stop.”
I shook my head.
“Breathe. You need to breathe.”
He’d managed to turn me round so we were facing each other, a hand on each of my shoulders.
I pushed his hands off me. “I need to go. Please, just sort out Haydn.”
“Georgia, who’s Rose? I thought your sister was called Olivia.”
I froze. I didn’t have time for explanations or apologies or the questions Seph would have. I just needed to go.
“She’s my daughter. She’s four.” I headed for the door, aware that Seph was behind me.
“Daughter?” I heard him say. “I didn’t know you had a daughter.”
Chapter Nine
Seph
The woman in the passenger seat next to me who was usually full of words, had barely been able to get out the syllables necessary to drive us to her daughter’s nursery, the daughter I’d only just found out about.
Everything I’d learned about Georgia in the last week of working with her had pointed to her being dynamic, career driven, feistily independent and dedicated to her job. She’d been coy about her personal life, and now I knew what she’d been trying to hide, I just didn’t know why.
And this wasn’t the right time to ask.
A bump on the head wasn’t the end of the world. By the time I was nine, if I bumped my head – which given three elder brothers, a lack of talent for balance when climbing and the belief that I truly was Batman, happened quite a lot – Mum would have made me quiet down, kept an eye that I stayed conscious, and stuck an ice pack on the inevitable bump. But this was after bringing up three boys and spending too long in accident and emergency departments.
Telling Georgia that a bump on the head wasn’t the end of the world right now would probably see me being buried six feet under, so I had the wisdom to keep my mouth shut, focusing instead on the quickest way to get to nursery.
“We’re nearly there.”
Georgia’s knee was bouncing up and down, her nails clenched into her palms.
“You want me to wait in the car? We’ll get her to the hospital. The nearest is the one where my cousin works and he’s on shift today.” I really hoped she settled herself before going inside to collect her daughter. If she went in like this I figured she’d upset the kid.
“You don’t have to come with us. I can get an uber.” She rubbed her face with her hands.
“Let’s pretend you didn’t say that and just answer the question. Shall I wait in the car or come in?” I pulled up outside the building. It was a large house, a decent size drive in front with room for parking and a grassy area at the side with big playground equipment in it.
She fumbled with her seat belt. It was a new car, one bought as a pool vehicle for anyone who needed to take a trip out of the city for work
purposes and luckily no one had used it this afternoon. I moved my arm over and unclipped the seat belt, stopping any second guessing and taking hold of her hand, giving it a squeeze.
“I’m going to come in with you. I guess you’ll need another pair of hands for her bag and stuff.” Decision made.
“Thank you.”
When she looked at me, I still saw the woman who was one of my partners, my tough, smart colleague. But I saw how fucking terrified she was right now too.
“I banged my head loads as a kid. Might explain a few things. Get her checked out – they’ll tell you to watch her but not to worry if she falls asleep – but she will be okay.” I braced myself for the tongue-lashing I would probably get but it never came.
There was a nod and she got out of the car, her long hair caught and tossed by the wind.
“I know – logic tells me – that if it was really serious, they’d have taken her straight to A and E. It’s just the shock.” She stood up slightly straighter. “I will really be okay if you need to get back to the office.”
“No. The office can wait. Does your little girl look like you?” We weren’t going to talk about work right now. That could wait.
“She has dark hair rather than red. It’s the same colour as my sister’s.” She rang the bell to the nursery, an assistant appearing pretty much immediately.
“I’m here for Rose Marsters. I got a call to pick her up.”
The assistant smiled. She was young, maybe not even twenty. “Come in. Rose is with Mary-Lou, the first-aider in chief. She fell off the chair she’d climbed on near the book cases and hit her head on the side of a book case when she fell. She’s been very brave.”
The woman I assumed was Mary-Lou came out of a side room, holding a tiny girl’s hand and carrying a backpack.
“Here’s your mummy.” The words were kind and gentle.
I saw a bottom lip wobble and Georgia dropped to her knees as Rose spilled into them. They were unquestionably mother and daughter, similar in their features, only Rose was petite, small and dainty, with huge eyes that were now pouring with tears, her arms going around Georgia’s neck.