Page 64 of Second Chance Summer
Richie’s lips parted in amazement. ‘Youdo?’
‘Of course. Now, if anything genuinelyurgentcrops up while I’m on Stark, there’s always the radio. You have Elspeth’s number, and she’ll contact Sam and me if necessary. So, we’re good?’ she added firmly.
‘Yes, I think so …’ Richie’s pen-clicking increased in tempo. ‘You’ll be back in the office a week on Tuesday, then?’
‘Of course.’
‘OK, then. See you soon.’
She knew Richie too well. The hesitation in his voice, the frantic clicking – he was wondering if she would be going back at all.
Judging by the butterflies in her stomach, Lily was wondering the same.
Immediately, she dismissed the very notion. Giving up her business wasn’t an option. Too many people depended on her. She loved being her own boss and she’d worked far too hard to reach this point, to pack it in.
Yet she was also determined that her real obituary – no matter how far off it might be – would not read like the one that had been prematurely released.
Richie cut into her thoughts. ‘Is there anything else, hun?’
‘No, I don’t think so. I’m happy to leave everything in your capable hands. Byee!’
She ended the call, grinning like a Cheshire Cat at the look of amazement on his face.
Now, all she had to do was ask Sam if Étienne and the girls could stay at the retreat. To think, only days ago she’d have moved heaven and earth to leave this place. Now, she was rearranging her life so she could stay.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
On Saturday morning, Sam was up at five-thirty, taking advantage of the fine dry morning to put some final touches to Samphire. All it needed was some bathroom fixtures and fittings, which he could complete before making breakfast for Lily.
In the end, she had beaten him to it, turning up with a flask of coffee and a bag of pastries that made his mouth water. Lily herself looked edible to Sam in her denim cut-offs and an oversized T-shirt he’d loaned her.
She rattled the paper bag. ‘Found these in the freezer and bunged them in the oven,’ she said. ‘I baked three for you, thought you’d be hungry.’
‘You thought right,’ he said. ‘Thank you. I was ready for this.’
They ate on the terrace, watching the sun climb higher and the glittering sand flats appear as the tide retreated.
‘Thank you for letting Étienne and the girls be your first guests in Samphire,’ she said. He had agreed to let them stay in the cottage and had let her use the radio to get a message to Étienne.
‘It’s not a problem. They can be my next guinea pigs.’
‘They’ll be so excited! I can’t wait to talk to them laterwhen they’re back home from school. Their nanny is going to set up a FaceTime. Étienne works such erratic hours as a doctor, and my parents live too far away to be more than occasional babysitters, so he has to have a live-in nanny.’
‘It must have been tough for him, suddenly being a lone parent.’
‘I don’t know how he’s coped. He’s wrestling with his own grief yet having to put on a brave face for the girls and hold down a tough job.’ She smiled at Sam. ‘You’ll like him,’ she said, with steel in her voice. ‘Everyone does.’
Sam got the message that liking Étienne was non-negotiable. Briefly, he experienced a pang of jealousy and wondered if Lily felt something more than brotherly love for the man. Then he dismissed it: even if shedidhave feelings for her brother-in-law, it was none of Sam’s concern. He wanted her to be happy – and she could never be happy with him.
There had been moments when he’d sensed a spark between them – moments when they’d been working together, eating together, laughing together and putting the world to rights. She was devoted to her family, cared about her employees and was deeply loyal. All of those things he valued and shared – yet he was acutely aware she was only in his world for a fleeting time, living a fantasy that he dared not allow himself to share.
He was providing that escape: he should be thrilled it was working and forget the cost to himself.
‘Sam?’
Lily was on her feet, flask and mugs in her hands and a serious frown on her pretty face.
‘Far be it from me to crack the whip but shouldn’t we get back to work?’
