Not daring to drive after a few glasses of wine Paige was contemplating what to do next when the front door banged open against the hall wall.
Olly charged in. ‘I saw him leave,’ he said, striding along the hallway towards the kitchen. ‘What happened?’ Paige opened her mouth to speak. ‘He looked furious when he raced out of here.’ She could hear Olly come into the living room. ‘There you are,’ he said. ‘Hey, are you crying? What happened?’ Olly pulled her into his arms. ‘Did that bastard do something to you?’
‘No, of course not,’ she said, gently pushing him away and explained about the fire. ‘I have to get to the shop,’ she said tearfully. ‘I need to check if my stock is OK.’
‘Fine, if you insist. But I’m driving; you’re in no fit state to.’ When she went to argue with him, he added. ‘I barely touched my drink. Come on, let’s go.’
Paige wished he’d slow down. She might need to get to De Greys as soon as possible, but they’d have more chance of doing so if he drove a little slower.
‘Bloody hell,’ she breathed in disbelief as he stopped the car down the street from the shop entrance. ‘Look what they’ve done.’ Paige tripped out of the car, grabbing the door to stop her falling before pushing past the crowd of onlookers. Her route to the front door was stopped by a tape barrier pulled tightly across the front of the ornate building and looped between four lampposts.
Paige looked up at a light wisp of smoke escaping through a panelled window. Three fire engines, their blue lights still flashing, were parked outside on the pedestrian paving. Firefighters strode purposefully into the building, their breathing apparatus strapped to their backs. More people assembled, craning their necks, and watching the scene unfolding. She could hear some exchanging theories about the damage inside, others speculating the cause. Paige couldn’t believe there were bystanders taking photos and filming with their mobiles.
‘Why are there so many people standing out here like ghouls?’ she shouted to Olly. ‘I don’t recognise any of them from the shop. Why are they here?’
Olly stood protectively behind her, rubbing her arms. ‘People can’t help being fascinated by drama. It’s just news to them.’
Paige pushed her way to the nearest policeman. ‘Excuse me, I have a shop in there and I need to get inside.’
He shook his head and held up a hand to stop her moving any closer. ‘I’m afraid you’ll have to wait until we’re sure this structure is safe. I suggest you come back tomorrow. Or you could contact whoever’s in charge of the premises. I very much doubt this place will be open for business for a while yet.’
‘You don’t understand,’ Paige argued. ‘I have to go…’
‘No. You don’t understand,’ he said, his pockmarked cheeks reddening. ‘No one is going in there until I get the nod that it’s for them to do so. Now, why don’t you do as I’ve already suggested and go home?’
‘Hang on a minute.’ She took a step closer to him, only for Olly to pull her backwards and away from the shop. ‘Olly, stop it!’ she shouted, trying unsuccessfully to shrug him off.
‘Paige, give up. There’s nothing you can do tonight.’ He held on to her ignoring her protests as he pulled her away. ‘You’re only upsetting yourself staying here. Come home, and calm down.’ Letting go of her, he hugged her tightly. ‘Take it easy,’ he said into her ear. ‘You’ve had a nasty shock and whether you like it or not, I’m taking you home.’
As Paige opened her mouth to retaliate, she glimpsed Sebastian striding out of the front door, smudges of soot blackening his face beneath his yellow hard hat. He appeared to glance at her, as Olly stopped speaking and began leading her away.
She would have liked to speak to Sebastian, but by the look on his face he was not in any mood for talking.
Sebastian watched in silence as Olly led her away. Didn’t that guy ever leave her alone? He looked around to see if the store manager had arrived, then unable to spot him, went back inside. The fire was out and even he could tell there’d been no structural damage to the building. The small shops inside were another matter. He knew that Paige would want to know the state of her own space. He walked down through the arcade towards her doorway.
He didn’t intend lying to her about the extent of the damage. From now on whatever her reaction would be Sebastian decided that the truth would always have to be his priority. Lies were just a way of putting off the inevitable truth, he reasoned striding past the blackened pillars towards her shop.
There in front of him, virtually untouched, was her pride and joy. The thought of her spending time designing each pair of shoes and boots she’d then displayed so thoughtfully made him proud of her. Beautiful, as well as talented, he mused, saddened to know that even though her contents appeared untouched by the fire, smoke could do as much damage ensuring her valuable stock would probably have to be discarded. He hoped her insurance policy was good. She was probably going to need to make a big claim.
Sebastian knew enterprises such as Paige’s could rarely afford setbacks as expensive as this one would potentially be. He walked over to the nearest shelf and lifted a green leather boot, holding it to his face to smell the suede. He groaned as a definite odour of smoke instantly wafted up his nostrils. He put the boot back down again, hearing two of the security guards being questioned by one of the firemen.
‘You’re sure,’ the fireman repeated.
‘It looked like a body. No idea who it could be though.’
Sebastian hurried over to them and introduced himself. ‘I need to know everyone is accounted for before I leave.’ He waited and when the fireman didn’t reply, added. ‘I know the layout of this store, surely that will save you time looking around.’
The fireman shrugged. ‘Fine, let’s get a move on.’
Without waiting for him to change his mind, Sebastian took the stairs two at a time, finally reaching the fifth-floor storeroom to find what did indeed look like an inert body on the floor over by the window. ‘Shit.’
The head store man was already there. Noticing Sebastian approaching he held up his hand. ‘It’s OK, it’s a mannequin.’
Relief coursed through Sebastian. He hadn’t noticed he’d been tensing most of his muscles until the relief of this statement allowed him to relax. ‘Thank God.’
‘Too right,’ said the fireman coming up behind him. ‘It makes the investigation a lot easier when there aren’t any casualties.’
Sebastian sighed. ‘Right, I’ll leave you to it. I don’t suppose the store’s going to be opening again in a hurry?’
The taller fireman shook his head. ‘You can tell your tenants not to expect to be able to return to this building, at least for a few days. We’ll let you know when they can come and check their stock, then it’ll be a while after that before work can be carried out to clean up the mess.’
‘Thank you,’ Sebastian said, pulling his mobile from his jacket pocket. The first person he wanted to speak to was Paige. He knew by the look on her face earlier that she was in a terrible state. He didn’t want to keep her in suspense for a moment longer than necessary.
As he moved through the parting crowds towards his parked car, Sebastian visualised Paige’s shop. It broke his heart to think that she could be put into financial difficulties thanks to some vandal. She didn’t deserve this. He understood how hard she’d worked to be able to start up her own business, with no backing from anyone else. It had taken hard work and determination to push her forward. She was going to need that tenacity even more so now.
It had all seemed so easy in Sorrento, and it saddened him to think that their reunion hadn’t gone according plan. In fact, nothing had since his arrival in Jersey.
‘Paige,’ he said as soon as her answer phone message had finished. ‘It’s Sebastian.’ Leaving a message for her, he arrived at his car. Of course, he realised, she was probably being comforted by Olly. What was all that about? He seemed very attentive for a friend. He terminated the call with more vigour than was necessary on the
touch screen. So much for their evening together.
Sebastian stepped into his Mercedes and started the engine. He had a lot of planning to get through before tomorrow. He may as well get started now. He liked to be organised and, if nothing else, it would keep his mind busy and stop him from thinking. He hadn’t realised how deeply Paige had affected him. Sebastian sighed. He shouldn’t have fallen for her, not with the decisions he was going to have to face in the immediate future.
‘Do you think my insurance policy is going to cover all the damage to the stock?’ Paige asked Olly as they drove home. She couldn’t afford to be out of pocket, and began to feel sick at the thought of what she could have lost in the fire. Those shoes were a culmination of years of demanding work, designing, sourcing materials, and concentrating on intricate details.
‘I’m sure you’ll be properly covered,’ he soothed. ‘You went through the estimates with a fine-tooth comb before making your final choice.’
As Paige stepped into the warmth of her narrow hallway, she immediately noticed the flashing light on her answer phone machine. Pressing ‘Play’, she felt her stomach flutter as she listened to a message from Sebastian.
‘Paige, I noticed you came to De Grey’s,’ he said, his voice huskier than usual, which she assumed must be due to the smoky atmosphere he had just been in. There was a slight pause before he continued. ‘The centre will definitely be closed for the rest of the week. Give me a call if you want to inspect your stock at some point, but I doubt you’ll be able to go in there for at least another two days. There’s a lot of clearing up to do, which can only be started once the police have completed their investigations.’ There was another pause. ‘Try not to worry too much.’
Paige threw her coat onto the arm of the sofa, while Olly poured her a glass of wine from the bottle Sebastian had brought earlier in the evening. Unable to believe so much had happened in such a short time, she stood next to Olly as they listened in silence to Sebastian’s message once again.
‘This is horrible, especially when you spent so much money on those flyers for me. What a waste.’
‘It’s Sod’s Law.’ He passed her the glass. ‘Why would anyone start a fire deliberately? Morons.’ He glanced over at the worktop. ‘I’m starving. Shall we have something to eat?’
Paige shook her head. She didn’t have the stomach for food right now. ‘I don’t want anything,’ she said, going into the lounge and slumping in her armchair.
Olly shrugged. ‘Can I make a sandwich then?’
‘Yes, help yourself to whatever you can find in the fridge.’
‘Sure you don’t want one?’ he shouted from the kitchen.
‘No, thanks.’ Paige took a sip from her glass. All she could think of was having her shop back to how it had been when she’d closed earlier that afternoon.
Olly returned with a plate of toast covered with bolognese sauce. He switched on the television on his way to sit down. His phone bleeped. Taking it out of his trouser pocket, he read the message, raising his eyebrows as he did so. ‘Apparently, when the guys from the fire department first arrived at the scene, they thought they’d found a dead body in one of the larger storerooms.’
Paige shivered. ‘Someone died? That’s horrible. Do they know who it is?’
Olly waved his hand at her. ‘Calm down. I said they thought that was the case. It turned out to be an old mannequin.’ He laughed, looking as relieved as she felt. ‘I remember the blokes in there used one as a coat rack in the winter.’
‘Don’t frighten me like that, you dope.’
‘You have to see the funny side,’ he said pulling a silly face at her.
She didn’t smile. ‘It’s been a strange day all round. Don’t let’s talk about it anymore.’
‘I’ve just thought,’ he said, stabbing his fork into a mouthful of food. ‘That mannequin could have been me.’
Paige frowned, unable to see how. ‘Seriously?’
He nodded. ‘I’ve been working late for weeks, only finishing on time for the past few days.’
‘Olly, stop, or I’m going to have nightmares.’ She grimaced at the thought. ‘Anyway, you would have escaped from the building, everyone else did, and let’s be honest, you’ve never bothered to work that late.’
‘I have actually. My workload has increased massively since this bloody takeover. Mr Perfect has wanted reports on everything. I know he’s trying to find a way to cut costs, but I have spreadsheets coming out of my ears. I walked in on the secretaries moaning about it, the other day.’ He grabbed the remote control. ‘Let’s keep the news on, see if we can find out anything else.’
There was nothing new to report. All the newsreader did was to reiterate that the shop would be closed to clients, as well as staff, for the rest of the week until a structural survey had been carried out and tests performed.
Paige tried to concentrate on making a mental note of her stock, but her mind kept wandering back to the haunted look on Sebastian’s face. She’d begun to imagine them spending time together ever since those carefree days in Sorrento, and even tonight, with his face flecked with soot, she couldn’t help thinking how attracted to him she was. Paige sighed, taken aback at how soon she’d managed to get over Jeremy.
‘What’s wrong?’ Olly mumbled, placing his empty plate on the table in front of him and rolling over onto his side on Paige’s sagging sofa.
‘I’m fine,’ she said, picking up his plate and grabbing him by the arm. ‘I’m just tired and I think it’s time you went home.’ He opened his mouth to argue. ‘You live next-door, it’s not like you have a commute, now go.’
‘Fine,’ he said groaning as he stood up. ‘See you in the morning.’
She phoned Sebastian on his mobile as early as she dared the next morning, unable to stop the feeling of frustration when her call was sent straight to voicemail. Clearing her throat, she said, ‘This is Paige. Thank you for letting me know about the shop. You’re bound to be busy over the next few days, so I’ll call you soon to arrange a convenient time for me to inspect my stock.’
Olly knocked on the front door and walked in to the kitchen just as Paige was opening a pack of bacon. ‘Your timing is incredible,’ she said laughing. ‘I won’t bother asking if you want breakfast.’
She made them both a bacon sandwich and strong mug of tea and carried hers through to the living room. Pulling open the curtains and French doors to let fresh air in to the room, she sat down and smiled at him. ‘You look like you had a bit more to drink when you got home last night.’
‘I feel rough,’ he groaned, holding his head in his hands. He took a sip of the tea. ‘This should sort me out a bit though, thanks.’
Paige turned on the television. ‘The news will be on in a minute. Maybe there’ll an update?’ She was hoping to find out more information, but knew she’d have to physically go to her shop to understand the full extent of the damage to her stock.
‘You’re not going to try and go in today?’ he asked, munching on his food. Paige shook her head. ‘Me neither, not much point I suspect.’
There was only a repeat of the previous night’s information on the news with a short extra confirming that staff should not to go in for the rest of the week.
‘Great,’ Olly said. ‘You don’t need to tell me twice.’
‘Maybe there’ll be more in the Jersey Gazette later?’
‘But that won’t be out in the shops until at least two o’clock this afternoon, I can’t wait until then.’ Olly gulped down the last of his tea. ‘I’m going home to shower and make a few phone calls. Someone must know something.’
‘You’re just nosy and want to know any gory details.’ Paige dreaded the thought that anyone could have been hurt. ‘Call me later.’
The Jersey Scene series box set Page 41
