He welcomed the diversion. ‘Just a bit.’
The understatement of the century. That’s why he was home, because this was going to become a full-time job. If he chose it. He looked around the kitchen trying not to acknowledge the fact that Lucy looked good here. Or, the fact that she had a right to be here that she didn’t even know about yet.
The first time Jamie had laid eyes on her she’d been hovering on the edges of the ballroom at the reception of the wedding he’d been attending. An old university friend who’d been marrying anAmerican girl from Las Vegas. A far more upmarket affair than their wedding. Even saying that in his head now made him feel slightly dizzy.
Lucy had been wearing black, presumably to denote she was working with the wedding events team, but to his mind she’d easily eclipsed all the other women there including the bride. The dress had been plain – sleeveless and with a respectably low V-shaped neckline, but its figure-hugging material had highlighted her athletic shape and curves.
Her hair had been pulled back and up into a chignon. She’d had an earpiece in her ear and a clipboard. High heels.
The maid of honour had been giving a speech and had started crying over her love for her friend. He’d watched Lucy roll her eyes, and she’d caught him looking, and immediately she’d blushed and cracked a sheepish smile and two dimples had appeared in her cheeks. He didn’t remember thinking all that clearly after that moment.
He’d managed to track her down and asked her when she got off duty...
Before he could let the past make him forget the very pressing present he said, ‘Look, the reason my solicitor contacted you was because I need to tell you something.’
CHAPTER 5
Lucy
Itried to brace myself for the conversation that should have happened way before now. Jamie was looking at me intensely. I felt like he could see right into me where meeting him again was stirring up too many memories. I blurted out, ‘Iwasgoing to do something about it too. I’ve just been busy, running my business and... It was just easier to ignore it.’ Because by ignoring it I could pretend that maybe divorce wasn’t the inevitable destination, and maybe knowing I’d harboured that shameful little desire for three years had galvanised me to rush up here with the divorce papers as soon as my assistant had scanned that letter from his solicitor and sent it to me.
‘I’ve been guilty of that too.’ He admitted.
I dived in and ripped the band-aid off. ‘So, I presume thesomethingis the divorce we need to discuss?’
‘Yes, and no. My father died six months ago.’
That wasn’t what I’d been expecting. ‘Oh. I’m sorry, Jamie, I had no idea.’
‘How would you? It wasn’t as if we’d kept the channels of communication open.’ He sounded a little bleak.
I kept quiet.
He ran a hand through his hair making it messier. He said, ‘He died suddenly and I’ve been caught up since then with that and then this place...it has to be managed. My sister and I haven’t fully decided what to do yet. It was left solely to us, our mother never liked the place.’
He’d told me before that he had a twin sister which had fascinated me because I was an only child and had always felt the lack of a sibling. Especially after my parents’ divorce.
He went on, ‘My father and I weren’t all that close in the end. Not that it wasn’t sad but...’
‘It’s OK, I get it.’ And I did. I wasn’t exactly massively close to my folks. They weren’t a part of my day-to-day life in a way some people experienced.
He looked at me. ‘The thing is that as my wife, you’re now entitled to my share of this estate if anything happens to me.’
I blinked at him. The words literally didn’t make sense, and then they did. And it hit me so hard I was breathless. So this was why he’d got in touch –through his legal people – because now there was an asset at stake. An asset I might lay claim to?
The thought made me sick. It drove me to my feet. I looked around, ‘Where’s my handbag?’
Jamie looked at me a little warily and went to the boot-room. He came back with my bag. I rooted around until I found the large manila envelope. I opened it and pulled out the sheaf of papers that had colourful little tags sticking out on the pages that had to be signed.
I put the papers down on the table and pointed at them. ‘All we need to do is sign these papers and divorce proceedings can be initiated. That’s all I want. Nothing else. I have no right to this estate. That’s not why I’m here.’
‘I’m not suggesting you would want any part of it but you do need to know about it.’
I was feeling panicky because this little non-reunion was already showing me that there was a veritable ocean of unresolved emotions and yearnings and desires andquestionswhere this man was concerned and a serious amount of hurt I shouldn’t even be feeling. The longer I was here the more afraid I was that it would all come spewing out.
‘Look, if you just sign your bits then I can get out of here and we’ll be divorced within a few months and you can forget all about me and this...joke of a situation completely.’
But he just said, ‘You’re not going anywhere.’
