The Partnership (Callaghan Green Series Book 10)

by Annie Dyer

  “Where shall I take her?” Rose was sleeping soundly. It was obvious that she would sleep anywhere, a bit like Shay.

  “The lounge, please. It’s the second door on your right. I’ve got a sofa in there which she can sleep on and I can work in there too. Shit!” She paused, spinning round to look at me. “I’ve left my laptop at work. Fuck.” Her eyes landed on her daughter.

  I raised my brows. I didn’t have the genetic skill of my brothers where they could raise just one; both went up, no matter what I tried.

  “That’s a good thing, because you’re not doing any more work today anyway. I’ll drop your laptop off in the morning and any files you need.” Most stuff was online, but solicitors generally liked to be a little old-fashioned and still have some stuff on paper as well.

  She groaned, taking off her coat. My eyes somehow stayed on her face, not drifting down to the top that had been revealed which clung to tits that were more than a handful.

  Obvious point: I liked tits.

  Some men would go for legs or arse, I liked it all, but especially boobs.

  Right now, I was holding Georgia’s daughter and I wasn’t going to think about what was under that top.

  “I have a ton of work to do.”

  “It can wait.” I pushed the door open into the lounge and spotted the sofa, which was difficult to miss being a four-seater that looked like a cloud. I lay Rose down, her head on a conveniently located cushion and pulled a blanket off the back of the sofa to cover her with.

  Her eyes fluttered open and she looked at me, sleep hovering. “Where am I?”

  “You’re home.”

  She smiled and curled up into a ball.

  Georgia lingered by the doorway. “Shay said it was fine for her to sleep.”

  “He did. Why don’t you sit with her and I’ll make us both a drink?” There was no way she was doing any work today. I knew from experience, that after a worry, anyone would be distracted, and work done wouldn’t be up to the usual standard. Hell, I was distracted, and Rose wasn’t my daughter.

  She shook her head. “I’ll do it. I know where everything is and I’d really prefer you didn’t judge me by the state of my kitchen. Will you be okay with her?”

  “She’s fast asleep. I think I can cope.”

  I used the time without her to look around the room, sat on the floor guarding Rose. There were photos, ones of Rose, some of Rose and Georgia together and a couple of the two of them with two other women who I assumed were Georgia’s mum and sister.

  None were of anyone who could’ve been Rose’s father.

  “Here. Tea.” She handed me a mug that looked like it held about a pint. “I was tempted to get the wine, but I’ll wait till Olivia’s home, just in case we need to drive anywhere with Rose.”

  She studied her daughter and I saw her shoulders relax and her face look less pained.

  “Thank you so much for today and I’m sorry I hadn’t told you about her. I get it was a bit of a shock.”

  I waited until she was looking at me. “It was. I don’t understand why you haven’t told everyone about her. She’s smart and gorgeous and clearly a great kid.”

  I felt the ghost of my mother’s slap at calling out on a woman who’d clearly just had a shit afternoon, but I wasn’t leaving it until tomorrow.

  Georgia sat down on the chair that looked as if it had been built to hold her. “You get judged as a woman with a child. It’s assumed you have to leave work or can’t do your job like a man can because you need to prioritise. Where I worked before taught me that and I didn’t want to start at Callaghan Green with the same preconceptions.”

  “Have you met Claire?”

  Georgia nodded. “I realised when I saw her in the partners’ briefing breastfeeding Niamh that things were different, but I couldn’t assume that, Seph. Most places aren’t. Women still have to fight to be treated as equals in a lot of cases.”

  There was something to her tone that told me there was more than this. I wanted to defend my profession and my gender; we weren’t all judgmental and not all of us compartmentalised so that home didn’t spill into work. My mother had made our family the number one priority from the moment she left New York and came to live with my four oldest siblings and our dad had finally understood that who you loved was more important than any client or file.

  So we’d changed how we did it. Our employees had families. Help them look after their loved ones and we’d be rewarded with loyalty, people would be happier, they’d be more productive and less stressed. Parental leave was good, paternity leave was encouraged. We trusted our employees to make up time if they needed to leave work to pick up poorly kids or look after relatives, within reason, because we also knew that there were always the piss takers. It was finding that balance.

  “True. But I’m hurt that you thought I’d assume that because you had Rose you wouldn’t give your all. She’s going to make you want to give everything.”

  Georgia nodded but didn’t look me in the eye.

  “She does.”

  There was the sound of the front door opening and hurried feet against the wooden flooring.

  “The small elephant you can hear is Olivia. She got kicked out of ballet for being too flat footed.”

  The small elephant slowly pushed open the door into the lounge. “Hey.” She spoke quietly, looking at Rose. “How is she? I only heard your voicemail half an hour ago, else I’d’ve been here sooner.” She transferred her gaze to me. “Seph?”

  “The one and only.” I held up my mug of tea to say cheers. “Olivia?”

  “Definitely the one and only.” She crouched by the sofa, coat still on. “She looks okay.”

  Rose was still fast asleep.

  “Is she okay sleeping? I thought you were meant to keep concussed kids awake?” Olivia looked between me and Georgia.

  “Sleeping’s fine. There’s a long list of things to look out for, but Shay – Seph’s cousin – said he thinks this is just a bang on the head and not a concussion, or if it is, it’s mild.” Georgia smiled. “How was your meeting?”

  Olivia nodded. “Good. I’m not moving to New York. I’ve decided to stay here, so you’re stuck with me a bit longer.” She sat down in the other chair. “I expect a huge party to be held in my honour.”

  Georgia laughed. “No party, but I’ll make you a cup of tea.”

  “That’ll do.” Olivia smiled.

  Her eyes went to me as soon as Georgia left the room. “She didn’t tell you about Rose. I told her to.”

  “I get why she didn’t. But my sister would use the innards of anyone who suggested that having a child meant you didn’t care about your career to make soup. And my mother would help.” And I probably would too.

  “Good to know.” She assessed me, looking me over as if I was a specimen in a lab. “Thank you for looking after them. Georgia goes to pieces if Rose is ill. When I heard the message she left I was worried about both of them.”

  I didn’t respond, not at first. I wasn’t a parent; I couldn’t directly sympathise and to say I knew Rose would be okay would be crass. “I banged my head a few times as a kid. By the third time my mum didn’t take me to casualty, but I remember how upset she’d been when Ava – my little sister – broke her ankle at school. For about five minutes – then practicalities kicked in.”

  “We got to pick Rose up quickly and we didn’t have to wait at the hospital too long to be seen.” It was weak, but an explanation of sorts.

  Olivia nodded. “Thank you. My sister hasn’t had an easy ride; I’m hoping it gets better now.”

  The nod I gave was all I could manage because I knew that I was going to do everything I could to make sure Georgia found things better from now on.

  Chapter Ten

  Seph

  I had a strange sense of deja-vu as I knocked at the door to Georgia’s home. Not too long ago, I’d been trying to get hold of Ava when she lived here and standing on the doorstep in the same way when she hadn’t been expect
ing me.

  Georgia wasn’t expecting me right now, but I was here, two laptop cases in my hands and a bag of files over my shoulder.

  The door opened and an unmade up Georgia stood in front of me, her hair wild and lose about her shoulders, her eyes wide with surprise.

  “What… why are you here?”

  I grinned. “I have our laptops and files, and I wasn’t sure if you had a printer, so I’ve put one of the small ones in the car and I can set it up if we need it.”

  Her mouth opened and closed a few times.

  “I figured we could both work from here and then if you need to make any calls, I can watch Rose so you don’t need to worry.” I’d exchanged numbers with Olivia yesterday, and she’d texted saying Georgia was beside herself, wanting to come to work and stay at home with Rose. I figured I’d make the decision a moot one.

  “Seph…”

  “So are you going to let me in or not?”

  I’d thought about this. Persuading people to do something gently, or guiding them to agree to what I wanted, was a skill I’d acquired through years of negotiating with my family, but that wasn’t what Georgia needed. She was used to that approach and she’d read it well.

  Direct and decisive was the tactic I was using here.

  Before leaving yesterday, Olivia had told me that she was heading to New York for five nights, leaving Georgia on her own with Rose. It was a sudden trip, not ideal with Georgia starting her new job and Rose banging her head, but shit happened.

  I’d promised Olivia to help Georgia out, hence I was here with laptops, files and colouring books and new pencil crayons for Rose. In an hour, there would be a delivery of books for her, for when she was allowed to read again.

  When I woke up this morning, I’d thought first about Georgia. I’d wanted to know how Rose had slept, whether Georgia had and I still wanted to know how that hair would feel wrapped around my fist.

  And that was a problem.

  The very same problem that stood on her doorstep, her hair wild and her expression even more so.

  “Why are you here?”

  “You said you needed your laptop. I’ve brought your laptop.”

  She looked at the bags.

  “You’ve brought two laptops?”

  “Well done. Counting is a good skill to have. So’s making coffee and I haven’t had my pre-eight o’clock fix yet.”

  The glare she gave me was one I associated with impending death.

  “Are you going to let me in?”

  She stood aside and let me through. I headed straight for the lounge, needing to not look at her for a few seconds. She looked as if she hadn’t been that long out of bed, which gave my reptilian brain a lot of images to conjure up.

  The part of my brain which was rational and didn’t want Max to paste me against a wall in the gym was fighting ideas of Georgia in that bed. I didn’t need to be having thoughts about what she looked like with her hair lose about a pillow, or how her tits would look as the sheets dripped down past them.

  Why was I here? Because I was a good boss and I was worried about Rose? Yeah, for sure that was part of it. But I wanted to spend more time with her and if we couldn’t do that in the office then the office would have to come to her.

  “Seph, thank you for dropping off my laptop but…”

  “You okay with this being our office for a couple of days?”

  “What?”

  I sat down, put her laptop near to her and opened my laptop case. “I have a meeting at eleven, but I’m doing it virtually. You have one at twelve-thirty and four. I can watch Rose while you do them so you don’t need to worry.” Problem solved.

  “I’m very confused.”

  “Georgie, go get yourself changed. I’ve got some stuff to look through on the Hartford case that I want to run by you. Where’s Rose?” I kept my tone busy, factual, not leaving any opening for an argument.

  “She’s listening to an audiobook in bed. Are you sure you can be here? Seph, what are people going to think of you being here? It’s my second week at work and…”

  “And nothing. They know Rose banged her head and you need to be around to watch her.”

  Her cheeks pinked and she folded her arms, which only led to her breasts being made more prominent. My eyes dropped to them and a rush of blood left the head on my shoulders to go elsewhere.

  Max’s voice threatening HR action rang through my ears.

  “Would you mind getting changed?” The top she wore clung and she wasn’t wearing a bra. Georgia was giving me enough material to keep me busy every evening for a week.

  When I looked up, I saw her skin had grown pinker, her eyes wider and pupils dilated. She’d caught me looking, but by the sight of her, she didn’t mind.

  “Give me half an hour. I’ll have to get Rose settled down here. And shower.” She didn’t smile or call me out on my comment.

  Neither did I. I didn’t want to think about Georgia in the shower.

  “Can I suss out your coffee machine?” I’d noticed it yesterday.

  There was a smile and a gentle laugh. “Sure. It isn’t brilliant but it makes a decent cup of coffee. I’ll be as quick as I can.”

  I nodded, not trusting myself to speak because I was trying to dampen the flame that was now turned up to the max, thinking about Georgia in the shower.

  “Cool. We’ll get on with the Hartford file as soon as you’re ready. What does Rose have for breakfast?”

  Georgia looked slightly gobsmacked and I wondered how long it had been since someone else took control, or if she ever did let anyone else take it.

  “Dr Shay said to keep her on light food, nothing heavy, so just cereal. Rice Krispies should be okay.”

  I’d wondered if she’d try to cover up her tits more, if she’d feel self-conscious after what I’d said, but there was no sign of that.

  “Rice Krispies it is.” I held her gaze, saw her lick her lips.

  Shit.

  This was exactly what I shouldn’t be doing.

  An alarm bell busted through my brain in pretty much the same way Max’s fist would if he knew what thoughts I was having right now.

  Georgia smiled and backed away, leaving me in her kitchen, one which I was vaguely familiar with.

  Five minutes later and a pair of big eyes looked at me, eyes that knew I was already beholden to fulfil any request the owner made.

  “Mummy said I had to sit quietly in the kitchen and have breakfast.” She wore a unicorn onesie and her feet were bare.

  “Don’t you need to put something on your feet to keep them warm?” I looked down at her toes.

  Rose shook her head. “Not in the house. I don’t like having things on my feet.”

  “Okay. So when your mum comes down, she’ll be okay with no slippers or socks?” I had my doubts.

  Rose nodded and jumped up on a chair. “I’ll put my feet like this then they’re warm.”

  She tucked her feet under herself which basically meant that she was meant to have slippers on. I glanced around the kitchen and saw a tiny pair of them, slightly battered.

  “Here you go.”

  She scowled at me in the same way her mother had last week when I’d eaten a piece of toast with Marmite on it.

  “What’s that face for, Rose Amelia?”

  Georgia’s voice made us both jump. I looked to the kitchen door where she was standing, still in the same clothes that she’d answered the door in.

  “Nothing, Mummy.” She pulled the slippers on.

  “Hmmm.”

  I recognised that hmmm. My own mother made the same noise.

  “Do you remember Seph from yesterday?” Georgia looked at me. “She was meant to wait for me to bring her downstairs, but Little Miss Rose doesn’t like to wait.”

  “I’m hungry, Mummy.” There was a practiced whinge to her tone.

  I laughed. “Rice Krispies coming up. Are you okay if it’s me and you while your mum gets a shower?”

  Rose nodded. “Can I have
scrambled eggs?” She looked hopefully at me.

  I looked at Georgia, who shook her head. “For lunch. Cereal for now. Are you okay with her?” Her voice was soft and I heard concern filling it.

  “We’ll be fine. Shower. Get dressed. I’ll sort coffee.”

  “Thank you.”

  I didn’t think about her in the shower when I heard the noise of it from above us. I didn’t imagine being in there with her as I gave Georgia’s daughter breakfast. I didn’t think about how she’d smell of her soap afterwards and how that soap had been rubbed over her skin.

  I didn’t think of any of that.

  I was a liar.

  “I want to paint my bedroom, but Mummy says we have to ask the person who owns it first.” Rose was bored. TV was banned and she wasn’t allowed to read. She wasn’t a kid who was bothered about electrical devices, so that was one less thing to stop her from using, it was just the not being allowed to read that was making her start to climb a wall.

  “I’m sure you’ll be allowed to paint your room.” I made a note to tell Ava to tell Georgia that they could decorate how they wanted. I could tell them now, expose myself as the person who owned the home they were creating, but I felt weird about it, as if I was trying to have power over them.

  Rose snuggled further under the blanket she had over her. “Mummy will be too busy and Auntie Liv is bad at painting.”

  “Why’s Auntie Liv bad at painting?”

  Rose shrugged. “Mummy said.”

  The joys of being young. No detailed explanation needed.

  I pressed send on an email and closed my laptop when I was sure it had gone. For the last three hours, Georgia and I had bashed out what felt like a day’s worth of work. Rose had switched between napping and playing with a set of toy ponies on the lounge floor, keeping herself entertained, while we’d made up for yesterday. I’d taken a phone call and Georgia was now in a virtual meeting in the small study opposite while I kept an eye on the patient. The patient who seemed to be back to full health.