by Anna Jacobs
She hesitated, then finished in a rush, ‘Only, if I’m living here, I’d rather not be surrounded by little statuettes and ornate vases. Especially with a child of Ned’s age running round. If I sell them, do I give the money to the trust?’
Joss stared at her in such a strange way that she tried to think what she might have said to upset him. ‘What?’ she asked.
‘When coincidence smacks you in the eye, you have to wonder if someone up there –’ he glanced towards the ceiling – ‘is pulling your strings.’
She still couldn’t work out what he was on about.
‘Sorry. It’s just that I’ve been planning to visit a new antiques centre on the edge of the moors. I really enjoy looking at antiques. That place buys things as well as selling them.’
He hesitated, wishing he could tell her more but knew he mustn’t. The centre was going to be one of a chain of temporary refuges for the people Leon’s unit sometimes had to protect at short notice. Joss’s brief at the moment was to make himself familiar with the place without betraying who he was, in case he ever had to take someone there.
Libby’s antiques would give him an ideal excuse for going there. He had planned to buy something small, pretending it was for a present, but asking for a valuation of Rose’s antiques would be much better.
His new colleagues seemed absolutely paranoid about anyone suspecting that their unit even existed, and about keeping the various refuges secret. Maybe that was why they had such a good track record for dealing with particularly sensitive problems, as Joss had found out when he worked with them before he left the police force.
He realised she was still waiting for his answer. ‘I could take you with me, if you like, and we could get the ornaments valued, but not till later in the week if you want to enjoy looking round as well as selling, because it’s a new place and isn’t open yet. There’s a grand opening on Wednesday.’
Libby frowned. ‘Are you being kind to me again? You don’t have to drive me around.’
‘I’m not being kind in that way. I really was going to visit the centre. I’m not a collector of anything, but I’ve always wanted a piece of cranberry glass, a decanter with a silver top. I love the colour.’
‘Then I accept. I’ll have to see if Allie has any spare boxes from the shop to pack the ornaments in. She’s coming round for a drink and gossip tonight and I want to get the front room cleared up a bit and aired. That’s when I decided the ornaments must go, even if they’re only banished up to the third floor. Um … so what do I do with the money?’
‘I’ll ask Henry.’
She drained her coffee. ‘Right. Come on, Ned. We have to go now. Say thank you for your drink.’
‘Just a minute.’ Joss went to get the list from the mantelpiece. ‘These guys will come and help you if your ex turns up when I’m away.’
She stared at it in surprise.
He thrust it into her hand. ‘Pete is your friend Allie’s husband, and Max has a little farm nearby. Tom comes and goes because he has a smallholding and also contracts himself and his van to a freight service. One of them is bound to be home and they’ll come running. We’ll get you a mobile phone and put their numbers in on fast dial.’
‘Thank you.’
‘We’re all neighbours here. We look out for one another.’
She nodded, her eyes bright with tears.
Joss watched her go, then rang his contact at the unit to explain what he was setting up as an excuse for visiting the antiques centre.
‘Good idea.’
‘Will the people at the centre know who I am?’
‘No. We just want you to know your way there at this stage.’
‘Is it going to be one of your major staging posts?’
‘Not sure yet. We’ll see how things pan out. No other worries?’
‘No. I’m just looking forward to some action.’
The contact laughed. ‘It’ll happen out of the blue; it always does. You’ll get called into play soon enough.’
Emily’s former neighbour Rachel came back from a trip down south, where she’d been making arrangements for renting out her former home. It had seemed silly to keep the house standing there empty when she had now moved in permanently with Oliver in the hamlet of Minkybridge, just down the hill from the antiques centre. She was determined to go and visit her son and his family in Australia and she needed more money for that.
Oliver had offered to pay her fare, but she didn’t intend to let him, even though as a retired lawyer he was very comfortable financially. She might allow him to join her if things continued to go well, though, because she didn’t intend to spend a whole month living with her son. Apart from the fact that it was an imposition to stay with anyone for so long, and guaranteed to cause tension after a few days, if she was going all the way to Australia she wanted to see something of the country.
Emily and Rachel sat down with mugs of coffee to catch up on the latest news. Things were happening every day now that the centre was so near to opening. They were as close as sisters, probably closer than Emily was to her half-sister Liz, who had said she’d move to live nearer to Emily, but hadn’t yet done anything about it.
Emily had, of course, sent an invitation to Liz to attend the opening and stay for a few days, but she hadn’t heard back. She forced her thoughts away from her nephew and back to her friend. ‘How’s my house looking, Rach? They haven’t been able to sell it yet.’
‘I saw the real estate salesman showing someone round the other day. You’ll never guess who it was.’
‘Oh?’
‘Your nephew.’
‘What? He has a cheek. And I thought he went to Australia.’
‘He was probably just saying that. I think he really liked living in our former street. It is an extremely convenient location if you need to get into London regularly. And since you’re never going back there, does it matter whether you sell to him or not?’
‘It’s not like you to plead George’s cause. He wasn’t a good neighbour to you.’
‘His wife came to see me and apologised for the time he slashed my tyres. She gave me a cheque for the money, and I accepted it too. It’s only fair, after all.’
‘Why would she do that?’
‘She wanted me to intercede with you. She said they’re going to make an offer because it’d be easy to extend the house to suit their needs, and they’d already made friends in the area.’
Chad came in and they had to explain what was making Emily scowl so darkly. He laughed. ‘You have to give it to your nephew. George doesn’t let anything stop him when he wants something.’
‘It’d have served him right if I’d pressed charges against him for the way he kept me shut up in hospital for all those weeks. I only let him off because of my sister. But I’ll never forgive him for how he treated me.’
He grinned. ‘Then tell the salesman you’ll only sell to George at twenty thousand pounds over the asking price.’
She stared at him, mouth open.
Beside her, Rachel chuckled. ‘Oh, yes! I really like that idea!’
Emily couldn’t help smiling, then she laughed out loud. ‘I suppose it might be poetic justice.’
Rachel’s smiled faded. ‘On the other hand, if you do that, I shan’t want to go back to live next door to him, whatever his wife says.’
‘Are you likely to go back at all?’ Emily asked. ‘You and Oliver have been all lovey-dovey for months now.’
Rachel blushed. ‘I’m not sure. I can’t quite believe it’ll last. And I don’t think my son approves of the idea of me finding someone else, though his father’s been dead for years now.’
‘O ye of little faith. Of course it will last with Oliver. And since your son really is in Australia, unlike my nephew, he should just mind his own business. But I won’t tease you any more. And if you don’t want me to sell the house to George, I won’t. Think about it. Your call.’
‘OK. I’ll do that; maybe talk to Oliver about it.’
<
br /> ‘Good. Now, the café is finished and looking great. It might be small but it’s perfectly formed. Come and see it. You need to check that everything’s been done as you wanted.’
‘I think that’s the post,’ Chad said. ‘I’ll get it.’
The two women walked through to the rear of the building, stopping in the café area. Rachel checked the small kitchen, the serving area and the display cabinets, something she’d done several times already, then pulled down a couple of chairs from where they were stacked and set them at a table to get the effect.
‘Oh, yes! It only needs the food and drink supplies bringing in now,’ she said happily. ‘Oliver’s going to help me with that today. We aren’t offering anything fancy or cooked.’
‘He’s enjoyed helping you.’
‘Poor lamb, he was bored silly with retirement and living on his own. How are the plans for the grand opening going, Emily? How many people are coming?’
‘I’m not sure yet, but a lot. Replies are still trickling in. I’m amazed at how many people are coming from London specially to attend.’
‘Chad’s a very likeable guy, as well as knowing his stuff about antiques.’
Emily’s voice went soft. ‘Yes, he is. It’s a good thing you suggested we bring in some caterers and bar staff. There definitely wouldn’t be room for you to prepare enough food in your small kitchen, let alone store it.’
‘I know my limitations.’
Chad came back to join them, waving some letters. ‘More acceptances. Even Leon’s coming.’
‘Wow, is he really? I’d have thought he’d be far too busy for that.’ Emily’s former boss was usually furiously busy. He must be doing something in this part of the country, she decided, and was using the opening as an excuse to head north. She doubted he’d be coming all this way just to see their centre.
‘So … two more days to go.’ She took Chad’s hand. ‘I’m getting nervous now.’
‘Don’t be. Just wear that dress we bought you and smile at everyone, whether you know them or not. You have a beautiful smile.’
Ashley moved into her flat that afternoon, looking quite fierce as she told the removalists exactly where to put her furniture.
Emily went round to the unit to welcome her, but could see that her new tenant wasn’t interested in talking at the moment. All Ashley wanted was to keep an eye on what was happening to her possessions.
Even Toby got short shrift when he came to offer Ashley a cup of tea.
‘Not now! Not now! Go away.’
Mrs Barley, who was also there, patted him on the shoulder. ‘She’s too busy to chat to us at the moment, Toby. You can talk to her once she’s settled in.’
He turned to Emily. ‘Can I go and look at the antiques?’
‘Of course. Don’t touch anything.’
‘I never touch things unless Chad or you say I can.’
‘He’s a good lad, that one,’ Mrs Barley said. ‘He’s coping really well with independence.’
‘He loves the old house. I hope Ashley will settle in quickly.’
‘I think she’ll be all right. She needs an ordered life that doesn’t change much. It’s human emotions and strange places that flummox her.’ Mrs Barley chuckled. ‘And Toby will help her whether she wants him to or not. That young man has a very kind heart.’
Libby was getting ready for the evening with her friend Allie when Joss came round to see her.
‘Got a minute?’
‘Of course.’
‘Henry says if you sell the ornaments, you can keep twenty per cent of what you receive, to pay for your trouble, plus any expenses you incur, and the rest should go into the trust.’
Her face lit up. ‘That’s even more incentive to drive hard bargains. Oh, I wish I had a computer! I could find out so much online.’
‘I should have thought of that. I’ve got an old computer you’re welcome to use, if you like, and I’m sure the trust would pay the cost of getting you online. It won’t be fast, but it’s always been very reliable.’
‘That’d be wonderful. You’re so kind to me.’
‘It’s my pleasure.’ Joss touched the bruised area of her face very gently. ‘It’s starting to fade now.’
She grimaced at the sight of herself in a mirror. ‘Yellow and purple aren’t my favourite colours. There’s no way of hiding this.’
‘You’re going to see Carina tomorrow, aren’t you? I’ll take you in if you like.’
‘There’s a bus.’
‘Which goes all round the houses. No, let me take you, because one of Giff’s friends has a car for sale. We can call and see it on the way back.’
‘How wonderful! It’s years since I’ve had a new car.’
‘Well, this one’s not new, but it’s only three years old and hasn’t had a lot of use. Giff assures me his friend wouldn’t lie to him. We’ll set off at nine-thirty. OK?’
She gave in and nodded. After seeing Joss to the door, she went to give Ned his tea. She had taken him for a walk into the village to tire him out and, to her delight, he went to bed without a murmur of protest.
Allie arrived on time, driven by her husband. She was brandishing a bottle of wine. ‘As I said, I’m going to walk back, so we can have a couple of drinks.’
Libby still didn’t like the idea of this.
Allie grinned. ‘Stop pulling a prune face. I’ll be perfectly all right. This is Top o’ the Hill, not central London. Anyway, I’ve arranged to give Pete a call before I leave. You can stand at your door and watch me to the end of the lane, and he will stand at the bedroom window and watch me come down the hill.’
‘That’s all right, then.’ She still wouldn’t walk out at night herself; she had to remain alert for Steven. Top o’ the Hill would be such a nice place to live. If only she could stay here!
When Steven arrived at work, his team leader’s secretary rang. ‘Can you pop up to see Bruce?’
‘Yes, of course. Something wrong?’
‘He just said he wanted to see you.’
Steven walked up the stairs instead of taking the lift, something more of his colleagues ought to do.
He was waved into Bruce’s office.
‘Ah, Steven. Thanks for coming so quickly. Look, the Human Resources people have been on to me about your leave. You’ve several years’ worth owing.’
‘I enjoy my work.’
‘Well, they want you to clear some of the leave. About eight weeks. This project will be finishing soon. That’d make a good time to start your holidays. All right with you?’
‘It’d suit me very well. I was going to ask for some leave anyway. Though eight weeks is too long.’
‘The HR Director is adamant. So … are you taking the family away?’
‘I’m not sure. We might do that.’
‘Good.’
The silence meant Bruce had finished so Steven smiled and edged backwards. ‘I’ll get back to work again. We’re nearly there.’
‘Yes. You’ve done well.’
They kept saying that, but they hadn’t offered him a promotion, had they? Steven thought as he walked back down the stairs. And they had offered one to Sam Cohen, who hadn’t been here as long as him. What the hell else did he have to do to get a promotion?
He sat at his desk and did some calculations. He’d give the bruising another few days to fade, then he’d set off. He downloaded an application for leave, sighing as he filled it in. Eight weeks. What the hell was he supposed to do with himself for eight weeks? It surely wouldn’t take that long to find Libby and bring her back.
He did have to teach her a lesson once he got her here, but even that wouldn’t take more than a week or two. He wouldn’t hit her, though. Not again. It left traces.
‘You look as if you just lost your best client, Pulford,’ someone joked as he finished filling in the form and left his office to take it to the HR section.
‘What is it? Surely not your resignation.’ Johnson twitched the paper out of his hand.
Steven stood still. They were off again, joking they called it; annoying him, he called it.
Carter looked over Johnson’s shoulder. ‘An application for leave? I thought you lived here twenty-four/seven, Pulford.’ She grinned at the others, more one of the boys than he was, damn her. Why her husband put up with the long hours she worked, Steven couldn’t understand.
He waited as they passed his form from one to the other. It never did any good to try to get back whatever they were teasing him about. He fixed a slight smile to his face, one he’d practised in the mirror.
‘We’ll miss you,’ Johnson said as he handed the paper back. He let out an affected sigh and placed his hand mockingly on his chest. ‘I shall be counting the days till you come back.’
‘Not!’ someone said loudly.
Steven couldn’t quite figure out who that was, so he ignored it and kept the smile on his face till he’d left the room. They were fools – childish, prank-playing idiots. But you had to pretend to get on with your colleagues.
He wished he could find another job, but so far he hadn’t been successful in his applications. He didn’t understand why.
Nine
The day of the grand opening dawned bright and sunny, for once doing what the weather forecast said. Emily was up by five o’clock, unable to stay in bed when there was so much to check.
Chad turned over and growled at her when she asked if he was awake. She envied him his ability to sleep at will and to go back to sleep in the morning after she got up.
With a fond look at the lump under the bedcovers, she went for her shower, then left the flat and switched off the security system.
The big suite of showrooms was full of delicate dawn light and the displays looked mysterious, some of them even magical. Then she heard a footstep and stopped enjoying the antiques to investigate.
