‘You don’t owe me a thing. I told you that I’ve been paid.’
Jake scratched his head. ‘Am I missing something?’ This conversation felt as though it was going around is circles. ‘Look, if I’m not paying you, and the Ross Corporation isn’t, then please tell me how it is that you’ve been paid for your work?’
‘Someone else has been paying me instead.’
Jake looked up in surprise. ‘Who?’
Marty said, ‘I doubt you’d know her.’
Jake looked over Marty’s shoulder to the house beyond. ‘Robyn,’ he said having a good idea not just thewhom, but thewhy. ‘Robyn pays you.’
‘Yeah, she does now. You know Robyn?’
‘Nope.’ Jake looked back at Marty.
‘Gayle,’ they both said in unison.
‘But how do you know she’s the one who pays me to do this?’
‘Let’s just say it was a lucky guess.’ Jake thought of the doll’s house and the room they had stayed in at Lark Lodge. Marcus was right: she had stolen the ideas, she had plagiarised them, but by paying for the upkeep of the gardens, when she’d found out that Marty wasn’t being paid after all, she’d had the decency to give something back in return. Jake was sure that if he got the opportunity to meet Robyn, he would like her.
‘Aren’t you going to ask me why she does it?’ said Marty.
‘No.’
‘That’s just as well,’ said Marty, ‘because I wouldn’t know.’
Jake looked at the second blank cheque and thought of themoney that William was still paying into his bank account. He didn’t want money from the Ross Corporation, but he knew William would not take the money back. He eyed Marty, wondering when he’d ever afford a place of his own. ‘Are you still living with your parents?’
Marty shook his head, surprising Jake.
‘You’ve got your own place?’
‘Oh, no.’ His eyes momentarily shifted to The Lake House. He looked at Jake sheepishly. ‘My parents retired to Edinburgh. I was going to rent with a friend, but they let me down. Luckily I’ve got a room at Lark Lodge.’
‘I see.’ Jake hadn’t seen him there, but then he’d only been there one night, and he had skipped breakfast. ‘Here. This is for your father. It’s the bonus he should have had.’
Marty took the cheque. He looked up the moment he saw what that bonus was. He attempted to hand it back. ‘I think you’ve made a mistake. There are too many noughts on this.’
Jake waved that comment away. He signed another cheque. ‘Now, this is yours.’
‘I said that I’m being paid.’
‘Not by me, so consider this back pay, and a bonus too, all your Christmas bonuses for the next … oh, I don’t know … few decades.’
Marty stared at Jake, speechless.
For a moment, Jake thought he might not take the cheque. ‘I insist.’
Marty looked at the cheque in Jake’s hands. ‘The thing is, I wanted to get in touch with someone and explain that I have struggled to keep on top of the gardening job here. My father hired other gardeners to work in the grounds …’
Jake nodded. ‘You could hire some more gardeners to help. Of course I will pay for them. What about the gardeners who worked in your father’s business before he retired and passedthe business on you?’
Marty shook his head. ‘They retired too. I’m doing a horticultural course. There might be some students interested in a part-time job.’
‘That’s a good idea. They could get some experience while they are doing their course.’ Jake held out the cheque. ‘I think considering you have been managing all this on your own …’
‘Trying to …’ Marty corrected.
