Morning Warwick, just wondering if there’s somewhere you could suggest for a quick breakfast, not too far?
The reply came quickly.Apple Tree, best café in town.
Issy sighed.Yes, I went there for lunch yesterday. I’m keen to try somewhere new.
Maybe she should go up to the Ashworth Park. They would have a buffet. Yes, that’s what she’d do. Best not to complicate things further. Interactions with the locals were fraught, clearly, and she couldn’t face another confrontation before she’d even had an oat milk latte.
All good, she typed.I’ll go to the Ashworth.
She showered in ten seconds flat and flicked through her limited selection of clothes for her most low-key outfit. Why had she packed so many dresses? She was working on a construction site, for Christ’s sake. What was she thinking? She made a mental note to ask Hugh to bring some more casual separates when he came down, and selected a pair of black linen shorts and a Camilla and Marc T-shirt. White. Not ideal.
Her phone beeped again as she was pulling on her platform trainers.
Spencer:Everything okay down there?
She frowned. Spencer was not the type for welfare checks.
Yes, fine. Why?
I heard you got off to a bad start.
She stared at the phone. Who the hell had he been talking to?
Three dots, then:Warwick is a mate, we went to primary school together.
Issy shook her head with disbelief, although it was typical of Spencer to stack the deck with old mates. Allies. He was the one who had hired Hugh! They’d been best friends at Dalton. She just didn’t think his network would extend to the acting project manager in Hartwell. She thought carefully, crafting the perfect response.
Really!she wrote eventually.What a coincidence. He seems like an absolute sweetheart. No one knew I was coming (weird!) which made my first day slightly tricky, but all good.
Spencer took his time replying.Any hope of meeting the deadline?Warwick reckons it’s impossible.
It’s looking unlik—She stopped abruptly, then started again, imagining every word getting back to their father.I’m confident we can get there.
Three dots.So you’re saying Warwick is wrong?
Issy scoffed. ‘Bloody Spencer.’
I’m saying I’m confident we can work together to meet the deadline. The launch is going ahead as planned.She hit send and watched the screen, but there was nothing else.
Right. She sent Warwick a message:Can you meet me on site in half an hour?
Breakfast would have to be a yogurt from the convenience store.
She was looking around for her bag when her phone rang.Dad.Crap. Spencer couldn’t have already spoken to him, could he?
‘Hi, Dad—’
‘Isobel! Cathy told me things aren’t going very well down there.’
Jesus Christ! ‘What? Everything’s fine, although it would have been nice if Warwick knew I was coming. Have you spoken to Spencer?’
‘Spencer? No.’
‘You said they knew I was coming down?’
‘Yes, they should have. But according to Cathy—’
‘Well, it put me in a difficult position. What’s Cathy even doing here?’
