The Partnership (Callaghan Green Series Book 10)

by Annie Dyer

  And wondered.

  I imagined if this was really our family, if Seph genuinely was in this for the long haul, whether we were a phase. Insecurity smothered me like an unwashed blanket. Rose was smiling and laughing, enjoying the attention as I knew she would do.

  But what if all of this was taken away from us? What if Seph decided he didn't want an already made family? Had we become too close too soon?

  Had I made a mistake?

  “So what have you got to tell me?”

  Olivia looked uncomfortable, and I noticed that she'd forgotten to apply her lipstick, which was always a tell-tale sign that something was on her mind, something she didn't really want to talk about but knew she should.

  “Shall we eat first?” Her smile was not in the slightest bit genuine, and I was concerned that this was going to be something serious.

  “I don't really have any appetite at this moment in time.” I put the menu down and stared at her. “How about we talk first and eat later?”

  She gave me the look that she always produced when she hadn't got her way.

  “Well let's at least choose something off the menu and get our order in.” She picked my menu back up and passed it to me. Clearly this was going to be a war, a battle of who was the most stubborn. And I wouldn't put bets on who would win.

  “No.” I put the menu back down. I knew what I wanted anyway, the same thing I always ordered when we came here. This was the cafe we visited whenever Olivia had news. I don't think she realised that, I reckoned she thought that she was choosing somewhere nice to try and obliterate any annoyance that she was about to cause, and she would be hoping that the strawberry tart and chocolate eclair I would inevitably choose for desert, would sweeten me up enough to not be mad at her. “I'm really not hungry and I want to know what you have to say.”

  Olivia glared at me again. If looks could kill I would now be six feet under, beneath a pile of moss, leaves, and possibly a gravestone with somebody else's name on it.

  “I really think you should order first.”

  “Not until you give me a hint of what this is about.”

  She rolled her eyes and huffed in exactly the same way that she had been doing since she was thirteen years old.

  “Fine, but if you're mad at me make sure you eat before you storm out.”

  “You sound like you're ten. I'm sat here thinking you've got something horrible, like some nasty diagnosis, or you secretly got married to that really horrible boy from primary school that you had that stupid crush on.” I couldn't remember his name, but I knew she would know who I meant.

  There was another huff. She got comfier in her seat and twiddled her fingers.

  “Just spit it out, Liv.”

  “Fine. You know how hard I've been working, and all the time I've been spending abroad?”

  I nodded. She had been working stupid hours, and travelling all over the place.

  “I've decided to take some leave and go and stay with Mum in Spain.”

  I frowned and stared at her. “That's your news?”

  Olivia shrugged. “I know you find it hard with work when you don't have anyone to pick up Rose. I felt really bad being away so much and leaving you to do it all. But I need to take a break, and sitting on a sun lounger for four weeks with just a book, a cocktail and the beach sounds exactly like what a doctor would prescribe. It just leaves you with a lot to manage.”

  I wasn't entirely sure what to do. I'd spent at least ten minutes seriously concerned that there was something wrong with my sister. Which clearly there was. She had a flair for the dramatic that was completely unnecessary.

  “Honestly, I've managed better than I thought I would with picking Rose up from Elspeth's every day. It's meant I’ve had to take more work home, but it's worked out okay. But you know what?”

  “What?”

  “How about I…” I stopped; my attention stolen elsewhere.

  Liv turned round, obviously trying to work out what I was staring at. Or who I was staring at.

  “Who's that?”

  My sister had never learnt the art of discretion.

  My heart had started to thud a little bit harder in my chest, hard enough that I figured most of the restaurant could hear it. I hated having this reaction, hated feeling that my emotions were completely unregulated and I wasn't in control.

  “Cassie.”

  “Cassie? Seph’s ex?” Olivia was really staring now.

  “Do you think you could make it a little less obvious that you're looking that way?” I kicked my sister under the table.

  “Ouch! For fuck’s sake, Georgia, did you have to get me right on my shin?”

  “Yes! You were staring at her like she was famous or something.”

  There was that huff and eye roll again.

  “But that's Cassie?”

  “The one and only. It feels like she's everywhere I go at the moment. Back in a minute.”

  I headed to the bathroom, needing to take two minutes away just to sort my head out and be able to put my game face on in case she recognised me. I went into the nearest stall and put the toilet lid down, sitting on it and staring at my nails. if I ended up with verbal diarrhoea to my sister about how Cassie had tried to get Seph to go for coffee with her, Olivia would end up cornering Cassie and giving her more than a piece of her mind. And it wouldn't include a nice piece of cake.

  In fact, I could just see Olivia starting a food fight across the café. There was a laugh as if a conversation was continuing.

  “So, what did he say? Did he agree to meet you?”

  I listened in, hoping for some gossipy distraction.

  “No, not yet, but I think that's because he's been seeing somebody else. I don't think it's serious though, I mean, from what I hear she's got a child and I just can't see Seph taking on somebody else's kid.”

  It was a good thing I was already sitting down. The people who’d come in the bathroom were Cassie and her friend.

  My heart raced to the extent I felt sick and I was glad I hadn't had anything to eat, otherwise it would’ve been coming straight back up. Cassie's voice was familiar even though I'd only heard it once before when we were at the function and I’d rescued Seph. But I knew it was her.

  “He was always good with kids though,” her friend said. “Didn't you say that once when you saw him with some kid or other?”

  “Yeah, but that's different. Seph wouldn't want to be tied down like that. You remember how much he liked to party and go out and do mad stuff.”

  “People grow up, Cass. Maybe he's changed. Maybe you just need to let this one go. Didn't Ryan at that accounting firm ask you out?”

  I was grateful for her friend. Not because of what she was saying to Cassie but because of what I was hearing. Seph had changed; his sisters had said as much and people at work had commented on how he was different, how he seemed to have grown up. I knew that wasn't just because of me, because the person I'd met when I first started was the person he still was now.

  I heard perfume being sprayed, the scent of it reaching me. It was cloying and overly strong.

  “He did and I might do. We'll see. I kind of wanted to see if I could go there with Seph again. I was surprised really that he said no.”

  I knew I should have felt relieved. This was confirmation of what he said, although I didn't need it; I had trusted him when he told me what happened. But I didn't feel relief. Instead, that same swirl of doubt, that had started at the weekend when we'd been at his parents’ house, became an eddy, a fast-moving whirlpool that made me want to clutch hold of the side and get out.

  “Maybe you're losing your touch.” Her friend said it with a laugh.

  “I doubt it.”

  There was the sound of a zip that suggested a handbag had been closed and then heels clicked against the floor and I was left on my own.

  I gave it a couple of minutes, not wanting to bump into them by accident and face an awkward meeting. I breathed, concentrating on each inhalation just
like a yoga teacher taught me years ago.

  Olivia was still sitting at the table, the soup she’d obviously ordered for us already there. When I sat down she looked concerned, but at least this time she didn't look over to where Cassie was.

  “What was all that about?” Her tone was sharp, an indication that she was worried.

  “I just needed a minute.”

  “She went into the bathroom straight after you. Did you see her in there?”

  “No, but I heard her. There's nothing to tell, though.” Because there wasn't. Only that I knew I could definitely trust Seph. “I've got an idea.”

  Olivia looked wary. “Does it involve me doing something?”

  “Not really. Why don't Rose and I come to Spain with you for two weeks? We can spend some time with you and Mum, and we haven't had a holiday so far this year.”

  Liv looked puzzled. “Wouldn't it be about the same time as you were meant to be going to France with Seph? For that wedding?”

  “Probably. But I haven't said for sure that we'll go yet. It's a family thing.” I’d been asked, by both Ava and Eli. Seph had an invite for plus one, and had mentioned me going and taking Rose, but we hadn't booked anything yet. As much as I liked Ava, and the rest of the Callaghan's, I wasn't sure I felt ready.

  Or maybe I was just running scared.

  Olivia eyed me curiously.

  “Okay, whatever you want.”

  I nodded, and changed the topic to what one of her friends was up to, which was a quickie wedding in Vegas, giving us the opportunity for some harmless speculation.

  “Seph! Seph! Watch me climb!” This had been all we'd heard for the last half an hour. Rose had clearly managed to sneak some extra sugar into her lunch box because she was absolutely buzzing with far too much energy, even after a day at school and a swimming lesson.

  Seph had joined us for swimming, encouraging her from the side. Rose wasn't particularly well coordinated, and she’d found swimming hard when she started, plus she'd been a little bit scared of the water. But now she enjoyed it at least, even if she was never going to be a competition winner.

  We walked home through the park so she could run around a little bit more, and of course she’d wanted to go on the climbing frame.

  “Ava was checking for numbers for her wedding,” Seph said.

  I knew this was going to come up. Eli’s stag do was at the weekend, and the wedding only three weeks away. They were getting married in the South of France, in a castle that was being hired with its own pools and accommodation just for wedding guests. It sounded both decadent and amazing, and I must’ve been a fool to not be going.

  I just had to tell Seph that.

  “How excited is she?”

  “I'm not sure. No one’s speaking to her at the moment. She's turned into bridezilla and everything’s a drama.” He shrugged, not looking particularly bothered. When it came to his family, Seph was fairly laid back. He'd accept Ava's moods and not judge her for them. “What I do need to know is whether you want Rose to have a bed in our room, or her own room. There's a suite we could have, that's got a lounge and two bedrooms, but if you'd rather just have her in with us, then Claire will have that room instead.”

  I took a deep breath in, watched my daughter as she tried to hang from the climbing frame onto the monkey bars. In about two minutes, she'd be shouting for Seph to help her.

  “We're not going to go to Ava's wedding.” I could add an excuse about needing the time to go and see my mum in Spain instead, but the venue for Ava's wedding was close enough to the Spanish border that really, we could do both.

  Seph didn't say anything. I'd learned this about him. Sometimes he could be reactive and respond straight away, but with me, if I said something he wasn't sure about, he'd stop and think. I'd realised that this was because he wasn't confident, that this sort of relationship was as new to him as it was to me, And he wanted to consider what words he would use instead of cocking straight up.

  It felt as if I had a ball of lead sat in my stomach.

  “What’s this about, Georgia?” His voice sounded deep and huskier than normal. “I know you hadn't said you would definitely come yet, but everyone's worked out enough to assume that you would be. What’s going on?”

  I licked my lips, stared at the ground.

  “I feel like we need to slow things down.”

  “Okay.”

  I looked up, surprised by his reaction. “I just feel that things have moved really quickly. Going on holiday with your family for your sister’s wedding is a big thing. We haven't been together that long, and I just think we're moving too quickly.” I'd probably over explained things now, made things more complicated than they needed to be because I had a talent for doing that.

  “I don't.”

  “Don't what?”

  He looked up at the sky. “Think that we're moving too quickly. It's been more than six months; we spend pretty much all day at work together, and most of the evenings too. If we'd only seen each other a couple of times a week, then yeah, I don't think we'd be at this point that we are now. But I know you better than I've ever known anyone else apart from my family. I'm not going to force you into something though, that you're not ready for.”

  He was upset, I could tell. Disappointed. My heart ached, because I never wanted this man to be upset or disappointed.

  “I don't want us to split up. I just think we should slow things down a little. Have some space.”

  He nodded, and said nothing, walking away from me towards Rose and holding on to her hips so she could swing from monkey bar to monkey bar, reaching the end that had been her goal. She wouldn't have done it without him, and I wasn't quite tall enough to be able to help her.

  There was a little laugh from her, and she flung her arms around him when she reached the ground. I watched as he bent down to whisper something to her and he pressed a kiss to her forehead then waved her goodbye as he walked off in the direction of his own home and away from us.

  Rose ran over to me, looking happy enough. “Why does Seph have more work to do, Mummy? Why can't he come and do it at our house with us?”

  I sighed deeply, wishing he was telepathic, and he could mind read the thank you I was giving him now. I knew he would never upset my daughter, even if I’d just upset him.

  “I think he needs to concentrate, and he can't do that with me and you chattering so much. Why don't we go home, and watch Cinderella curled up on the sofa?”

  She giggled and grabbed hold of my arm, perfectly happy with the idea.

  I just wished I was.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Seph

  “Who ordered the chilli beef?”

  Nobody answered. Not one person looked up from their cards to respond to Killian as he stood at the doorway with the tray in hand and puzzled expression on his face.

  “I thought it was the deep fried crispy beef that we ordered. Can anyone remember?”

  It was as if he was talking to tumbleweeds.

  “Is anyone actually bothered if we get the right order?”

  “I'm out.” Jackson put his cards down on the table.

  Maxwell briefly looked up. “Seph, you still in?”

  I nodded. Tonight wasn't the night for folding. I could lose badly in the end, but I wasn't going to give up.

  It wasn't just a strategy I was using for cards.

  “Jackson, if you're out, can you give me a lift with the Chinese?” Killian seemed to be clueless in terms of sorting out food, something I knew my sister would agree with in general.

  Jackson sighed and got up from his chair, leaving the rest of us to it.

  Eli hadn't wanted to go out for his stag night. We'd had several stags or bachelor parties in recent years, ranging from the straight-forward getting mindlessly drunk and collapsing in random places, to a joint one with the bride-to-be that involved a cringe-worthy strip show that unfortunately none of us would ever forget. Max and Victoria had both ended up on the same minibreak in Ic
eland with Max having purposely booked the same destination as Vic. Somehow she'd ended up not murdering him for doing so.

  Tonight was simple. Takeaway, poker and whiskey at Eli’s house, with Ava having cleared out for the night to stay with one of her friends where she could bridezilla to her heart’s content, and those of us without children could just find somewhere to sleep off the whiskey and a potentially expensive loss.

  And in my case, sleep off the shitty feeling I’d had since Georgia had told me in the park that she wouldn't be going to the wedding.

  Ava knew. I'd had to tell her, but I hadn't made a big deal over it; I didn't want her sympathy or any of them worrying, and it wasn't like we'd split up. We'd still seen each other a couple of times during the week outside of work. I'd gone with her to pick up Rose from Elspeth's, and we'd taken her for dinner at the Italian restaurant where we'd gone for our second date. But we hadn't really talked to each other. The conversation had been through Rose; it was about her day, what she'd done in school, the book she was reading. Georgia seemed to avoid talking to me, and I hadn't gone back to Georgia’s after dinner, which Rose’d picked up on and moaned about.

  In work, it almost felt like normal. We bounced ideas off each other, checked through each other’s work, both tackled the problem that was one of the trainee solicitors who really wasn't doing a very good job, and things felt pretty much like they had done the previous week or the week before. I held her hand when we went out for coffee, and she didn't stop me from kissing her one evening when she had been standing next to her desk, studying some document, and looking so incredibly beautiful that any words I'd had, I’d not been able to say.

  But things didn't feel right. I didn't want anything to slow down between us, in fact, I wanted the opposite. I wished I'd had the courage to tell her those three words that I'd never actually found the right moment to say.

  “Seph, it's you. Are you sure you're with us here?” Callum elbowed me a little too hard.

  I nodded and threw in another ten-pound note. The stakes were low so far. “Sorry, got distracted.”