‘Maybe.’
Daisy left, obviously knowing something was wrong and she and Henry went back next door.
She added a splash of milk and gave it a good stir as the gentle murmur of voices continued next door. She heard the thunder of feet as Daisy went upstairs and a few moments later the connecting door opened.
She glanced up at Henry as he closed the door behind him.
‘I’m really sorry about the stuff I said, about shoving you in a cupboard. I handled it terribly and I’m really sorry.’
She slammed the spoon down. ‘And how should you have handled it?’
He had nothing to say. Eventually he spoke. ‘We agreed that we wouldn’t tell her.’
‘We agreed that we wouldn’t tell her unless it got serious between us. Last night it got pretty fucking serious. It was one of the best nights of my life and this morning you bundled me into a wardrobe like I was a shag that you regretted.’
‘What did you want me to do? Bring you downstairs dressed only in my t-shirt? That was not the way for her to find out.’
He was angry now and she didn’t think he had any right to be.
‘No, but you could have had a sensible conversation with her.’
‘How? She was standing outside my bedroom door and you were standing there in last night’s clothes and just-fucked hair. What could I have said, “Hey Daisy, I know me and Penny have only just met but last night we slept together and it was the best sex I’ve ever had in my life.”’
Penny stared at him in shock and he moved round the table towards her. When he spoke his voice was softer. ‘Should I have told her that when I made love to you I could honestly see myself doing that every night for the rest of my life?’
She was horribly aware that she looked like a fish as her mouth moved but no words came out.
‘Come in the lounge and let’s talk.’
He waited for her and she led the way, sitting down on the sofa. He sat down next to her.
‘She’s happy here. She hasn’t been really happy for a long time. We’ve moved around a bit in recent years because of work and one reason or another. She was bullied at the last two schools. I’m not sure whether it was because she was the new girl or because sometimes she’s a bit shy. Teenagers are cruel and they just have to get a whiff of vulnerability and they attack like a pack of wolves. Having a mum who abandoned her a few weeks after her birth, well, that kind of stuff is like gold dust to a bully. Lots of kids come from single parent families but somehow it’s different that she was raised by her dad and not her mum. Your mum is supposed to be the one person that sticks by you through thick and thin. There were comments about her being an ugly baby and how no one wants her, even comments that she wasn’t mine because she’s so blonde and I’m so dark.’
Penny gasped. ‘Is that true, she might not be yours?’
Henry shrugged. ‘I don’t know and I don’t care. It didn’t occur to me at the time when she came to live with me, it was only later when she started school that a few of the other parents made snide comments about our differences. Her mum has dark hair too. But I’ve raised her ever since she was three months old; she’s mine even if she isn’t biologically.’
Penny stared at him, feeling her heart fit to burst with love for him.
‘It hurts her though, when the other children pick on that. Another layer of doubt to add to her abandonment worries. If I’m not her dad then why would I stay? It breaks my heart. I think the only saving grace through all the bullying was her relationship with Rosie, my ex. I think Daisy saw her as her only friend at the time and it really upset Daisy when I broke up with her. I tried to make it up to her by bringing Emily into our life. She was all sweetness and light to Daisy in front of me but behind my back she brought her down, stomped on her confidence, said some absolutely horrible things. She told her things I’d supposedly said about how Daisy had ruined my life and I regretted having her and that I wished Tina had had an abortion and that I didn’t think she was mine.’
‘No!’ Penny felt tears spring to her eyes. ‘How could anyone say that to a child?’
‘I don’t know. I would never even think those things, let alone say them. Jesus, every insecurity Daisy has ever had, Emily played up to every single one of them. I’m not sure if Daisy believed her at the time or whether she didn’t want to tell me because I was happy with Emily. I had no idea what was going on but Daisy ran away from home. She went off to school one day and never got there. She made her way down here instead, caught the train some of the way, walked a lot of it. Took her three days, she slept rough for two nights. It absolutely broke my heart. The police were out looking for her, it was horrible, the worst days of my life. I’m scared of it happening all over again. She got so lucky last time, no one found her or hurt her. She might not be so lucky if she runs away again. I promised her no one would ever come between us again. It’s harder because this is her home, and you’re part of it and I never want her to feel in the way in her own home.’
‘I understand.’
‘No, you don’t. Last night it did get serious between us – it wasn’t just sex, you know that. There was a connection there that I’ve never felt before. But this is all happening way faster than any of us could have imagined. She specifically asked me not to date you and I went ahead and did it anyway and I really don’t want to upset her when she’s smiling again for the first time this year. I just need to give her some time to get used to the idea. If you come round for dinner most nights, come out with us, she will get used to having you as part of our life, she will see how good we are together and trust that I’m not going to hurt you and then I can introduce the idea of us seeing each other. After last time with Emily and Rosie, I just want to tread carefully with Daisy this time.’
Penny took his hand and he sighed with relief. ‘I understand not wanting to tell her, but if she finds out we’ve been sneaking around behind her back and lying to her she is going to be even more hurt.’
‘I know. I would just like to get to Christmas without upsetting her. I like seeing a smile back on her face again.’
‘OK.’
‘And we’ll just be really careful for the next few days.’
She nodded.
‘Now let’s have a quick shag, whilst she’s on the phone to her friend.’ Henry reached for her, and she laughed, batting away his advances.
Henry chuckled. ‘Come for dinner tonight. I’ll cook you something special.’
Penny nodded. ‘I’ll bring some cake.’
‘Well, if making cakes is your response to getting annoyed with me, I’m going to be as big as a house.’
‘Then don’t annoy me.’
Henry smiled, peered over her shoulder at the still closed connecting door and reached forward to give her a brief, soft kiss, before walking out the door.
Chapter Fourteen
Henry pulled his car into the furniture factory car park and got out. The car park was nearly deserted.
He had been surprised to get a phone call from Audrey, Clara’s assistant, half an hour before, asking him to come in and discuss his designs with Clara and Edward. It was one of the things Henry had brought up in his interview, that he would love the opportunity to design his own furniture. Edward had seemed really interested but hadn’t been sure whether at that stage they would be looking to design anything new when their current lines were selling so well, but he had promised to talk to the design team. Henry hadn’t expected to hear any more about it and certainly hadn’t expected to get a phone call from Clara so late on a Wednesday night just a week before Christmas, especially because, according to Daniel, although Clara headed up the design team, she basically did a big fat lot of nothing. But it wasn’t an opportunity he was going to miss: designing and creating ideas from scratch was something he was passionate about. He loved building a piece that was individual and not like anything that could be bought in shops.
He grabbed his portfolio from the car and walked into the factor
y just as Daniel was walking out.
‘Oh hey, mate, what are you doing here so late?’ Daniel asked, shrugging on his coat and pulling his hat on over his messy hair.
‘I’ve been asked to come in and talk to Edward and Clara about my designs for some new furniture.’
‘Oh, that’s cool. I hope they like your designs. Oh, before I forget, Maggie wants me to invite you round for dinner tomorrow, you can bring Daisy too if you want.’
‘Thank you, I’d love to. I’ll ask Daisy though I’ll doubt she will come. What time?’
‘About seven thirty is good. I’ll see you then.’
Daniel left and Henry looked at his watch. The nice dinner and evening he had planned with Penny was quickly disappearing. She had been out walking Bernard when he left so he had asked Daisy to start dinner and to pass on a message that he had been called into work but he would be back soon. He only hoped that this meeting didn’t take too long.
He raced up the stairs and walked into Audrey’s office, which led through to Clara’s office. Audrey was just getting on her coat and scarf to leave too.
She looked at him apologetically. ‘I’m sorry to call you in so late, but she insisted,’ Audrey whispered as she walked past him and out the door, leaving him alone.
He approached the door to Clara’s office. Clara was sitting behind her desk, a huge thing that took up almost the entire room. The whole room was covered in dark wood that matched the desk and modern art pictures that were slashes of brown and beige. There wasn’t a single slash of colour in the room, in stark contrast to Edward’s office, which was pale wood, lots of colourful photos of sunsets and beaches and even a little Christmas tree in the corner. There was nothing that indicated that it was Christmas in here.
Clara’s desk lacked any kind of work paraphernalia at all. It was devoid of all the papers that had littered Edward’s desk. It was hard to see what she did with her time all day. Maybe she spent a lot of it on the phone, but he would still expect to see some kind of notes from her telephone conversations. The computer was switched on and she was working on it but there didn’t look like there was anything work-related on there; in fact the screen was filled with lots of photos of expensive-looking dresses.
He knocked softly on the door and she looked up and flashed him a huge smile when she saw him.
‘Henry, do come in, shut the door behind you.’
He did as he was asked but, looking around, he could see they were alone, whereas Audrey had made it sound like there would be members of the design team there too. He took his coat off and left it over the sofa that was in the corner of the room, though he instantly regretted it when he turned to see her appreciative gaze raking over his body.
‘Are Edward or the designers joining us?’ Henry said, hesitantly.
‘Edward has already left for the evening,’ Clara said, coming round the desk towards him. ‘He asked me to arrange a meeting with you and one of the designers but, as the managing director in charge of the design team, I wanted to look through your designs first. We are very hands-on at the White Cliff Bay Furniture Company. Something I’m sure you will appreciate about working here.’
Henry cleared his throat, not at all comfortable with the way she was staring at him like she wanted to eat him.
‘Let’s see what you’ve got,’ Clara said, without taking her eyes off him.
He opened up his portfolio and pulled a few sheets from the folder, spreading them out on her desk as she stood just behind him.
‘I know you’ve just started doing a range in chairs but I thought about maybe expanding it. The chairs we sell are very functional and nice but I think we could make them into something more.’
She moved in next to him, her body pressed close to his, though her eyes were still on him and not the designs. He subtly moved away a few inches.
‘I’ve designed a chaise longue which is classic but with traces of more contemporary styles at the same time. The chaise longue is a most sought after piece with many women, it’s romantic and will make a great addition to any lounge furniture or even the bedroom.’
‘What would you do with it in the bedroom?’ Clara said, raking her fingers seductively over the curves of the chair, her eyes returning to him almost immediately.
‘Well, you would sit on it and read or…’ He trailed off as her fingers skated over his knuckles as he leaned over the desk. He removed his hand from under hers. ‘I thought we could make it from white, black or beige leather as that will fit in with most colour schemes and we can add silver or gold to the legs to make it more—’
‘Will it be big enough for two?’ She stared up at him through long lashes as she ran her fingernails up his arm.
Henry glanced over to the closed door, a sick feeling of panic rushing through him. This was not good. She hadn’t brought him here for the designs. There was only one portfolio she was interested in and it wasn’t the one in his black folder but the one that was mere centimetres from her ever encroaching hand.
In a last-ditch attempt to change the subject and put the conversation back on track, he rifled in his folder for another drawing to show her, moving subtly away from her gold-painted talons.
‘I have some other designs too.’ He grabbed the first design that came to hand and laid it on the desk. His heart sank as soon as he saw which design it was. The two chairs facing in opposite directions, joined together by the S-shaped curves of the backrest and arms, was a very popular style in the late Victorian period and Henry’s design was a modern twist on that but the name was vastly inappropriate for what Clara had planned for this meeting.
She glanced at it briefly. ‘A love seat?’
‘Yes. Also known as a tête-à-tête.’
‘Face-to-face,’ Clara whispered and Henry cringed because the literal translation was not helpful either.
‘They are making a comeback in garden furniture and I think we can—’
‘I wouldn’t have a love seat in the garden. Besides, these armrests between the couple are not exactly conducive to a romantic setting. I prefer a lover’s chair with no boundaries,’ Clara said, leaning up and pressing her lips to his throat.
He immediately took a step back. ‘Clara, I’m flattered but I have a girlfriend.’
A girlfriend who was sitting at home waiting for him, someone he should have been having dinner with at this very moment. This whole meeting was a huge waste of his time.
‘Yet you’re here with me and not at home with her.’ Clara cocked her head to one side, in what she clearly thought was a flirtatious move, running her tongue across her teeth as she surveyed her prey.
He took a step to grab his designs but she moved in between him and the desk.
‘I came for purely professional reasons, working in design is important to me.’
She stepped forward, placing a hand on his chest. ‘How important?’
He wanted to push her away, her perfume settling round him making it hard to breathe. He wouldn’t touch her. Just the two of them in a closed room, she could claim anything had happened and it would be his word against hers. He took a step back, but her fingers had already closed over one of the buttons on his shirt and as he moved he heard the small tear of material as the button came off in her hand.
He stared at her in shock before he turned and grabbed his coat. ‘If Edward is serious about looking at my designs then I’ll make an appointment to see him.’
He opened the door and stormed out. He should have seen through the façade from the second he realised it was just going to be the two of them. He should have told her where to stick her inappropriate advances and most importantly he should have stayed at home with his lovely girlfriend.
He got in the car and drove quickly back towards Lilac Cottage. Rain lashed down on the windscreen and storm clouds rolled across the sky, lighting up the heavy clouds with periodic flashes of lightning, reflecting his mood perfectly. As he approached a little hut used for birdwatching, he nearly ran over a hoo
ded figure who was cycling quickly away from it, dressed all in black, silhouetted against the rainy night sky; the boy was almost impossible to see. He cursed as he mounted the grass to avoid him and then turned down the driveway to his home, wanting nothing more now than to wrap his arms around Penny and know that there were still good people in this world.
He pulled up outside the house and strode straight into Penny’s kitchen. She looked up from a book she was reading and gave him a half smile. He had let her down by not being there for dinner as promised.
‘I made you and Daisy spaghetti bolognese, but it’s probably all dried out now,’ Penny said, moving towards the oven.
‘I was going to cook for you, I’m sorry, something came up,’ Henry said, catching her arm. She didn’t shrug his hand off her but she distinctly moved out of his reach. Her stomach suddenly gurgled hungrily and he felt another wave of guilt. ‘Have you not eaten?’
‘No, pathetically, I thought I’d wait for you.’
‘Where’s Daisy?’
‘She went out, about two minutes after you left.’
‘What?’ Henry looked outside into the inky black night, rain coming down in curtains as it ripped across the cliffs. ‘And you let her go out in this?’
Penny stared at him incredulously. ‘I was out walking Bernard when I saw you both leave. And I certainly don’t have any authority over her.’
Suddenly the kitchen door banged open and Daisy came in with a huge grin on her face. She was soaking wet, and little stalks of grass were stuck to the legs of her jeans. Her trainers were covered in mud.
‘Hey Daddio,’ she sang, sitting down at Penny’s table as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
‘Where have you been?’ Henry tried and failed to keep the angry concerned tone from his voice.
‘Nowhere. I was in the shed chatting to Melissa.’
‘You got that wet running from the shed to the house?’
‘I slipped over on the grass.’
She was lying and he didn’t know why.
‘Penny said she saw you go out.’
Christmas at Lilac Cottage: (#1 White Cliff Bay) Page 17
