Each morning, when she arrived at Essie’s flat, she opened the front door and stood in the hallway. Liv closed her eyes and breathed in the silence. The serenity of the space felt like cool water trickling over her skin during a heatwave. It smelled of lemon rather than men’s socks and toast. With Tarkers’s comments about her abominable dress sense still ringing in her ears, she wore trousers and a white blouse instead of her jeans and T-shirt.
When Liv finished typing up the manuscript, there was still so much work to do it scared her,especially writing anything herself, but it was satisfying seeing everything on screen in black and white. On her way home, she bought a chocolate cake from Bentley and White to celebrate.
Jake rattled around in the kitchen, wearing her pink apron again. A bag of dried pasta and a can of tomatoes sat on the worktop. ‘Hey,’ he said wearily. His eyes narrowed when he saw the cake in its cellophane-topped box. ‘Is that for us? How much didthatcost?’
‘Don’t ask,’ Liv joked, still shaken by the price.
Jake’s lips thinned. ‘I mean it.’ He pointed to the ceiling where water trickled down the wall. ‘I think we’ve got a burst pipe in the bathroom.’
‘Oh, God.’ Liv looked up. ‘It’s like Niagara Falls. Thank goodness we’re insured.’
A flush of red circled Jake’s neck and he fixed his eyes on the ceiling. ‘Um, I don’t think I renewed it this time.’
Liv frowned at him, unsure if she’d heard him correctly. She slid the cake onto the worktop.
‘Plumbing insurance is expensive, and we never used it.’ Jake’s cheek twitched.
‘We’ll have to call for an emergency plumber.’ She plunged a hand into her handbag to find her phone.
‘No way, it’ll cost a bloody fortune. I’ll try to patch it up myself. I need to eat something first, though, I’m starving.’
It was the third time he’d cooked pasta that week, and Liv longed for something different. She felt the chunk of cash in her bag, having carried it around since Anthony gave it to her. She wasn’t sure when her new full-time pay would land in their joint bank account.
Liv glanced up at the streaming water again, and at Jake gnawing his lip. The weight of keeping Essie’s death a secret from her family felt like shackles around her ankles. She took out the envelope and felt like a drug dealer when she slipped it into his hands. It was open, revealing the money inside.
Jake’s eyes shot open. ‘Where the hell did that come from?’ he gasped. ‘Have you robbed a bank or something?’
‘I’m helping Essie with her work,’ Liv said, her cheeks flushing. ‘It’s my expenses.’
‘When did cleaning paythatmuch?’
‘There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you…’ She swallowed away the temptation to tell him about the author’s death. ‘Essie’s asked me to be her personal assistant.’
‘You?’ he said. ‘Why?’
Although Liv constantly asked herself the same thing, his questioning stung.
‘She knows I’m interested in her books and I know her characters inside out. In fact—’ she hesitated for a moment, considering how much she could say ‘—she wants me to work for her full-time, in the new role.’
He nodded at the cash. ‘So, that’s your pay rise? Wow.’
‘Not really, this is more for…’ She couldn’t think how best to explain it. She certainly couldn’t tell Jake she was completing Essie’s book. ‘I’ve packed in my other two cleaning jobs.’
Jake raised an eyebrow. He turned a dial on the oven and took the pasta off the hob. ‘When did all this happen?’
‘Hmm, a while ago.’
‘And you’re only telling me now? Didn’t you want to discuss it first?’
‘You’ve been busy with Paperpress,’ she said. She’d hoped for a nice family meal with posh cake,not having to justify herself. ‘Congratulations might be nice.’
Jake shook his head as if stunned. ‘Yeah, sure, well done.’ He rubbed her arm absentmindedly before flicking through the money in the envelope. ‘This is brilliant. We can pay for the plumbing, and an electricity bill has just arrived. We’re a bit short on the Paperpress wages this week.’
‘Hold on a minute,’ Liv said, snatching it back. ‘The leak is an emergency, and we’ll have to pay the cash back.’
Jake scratched the back of his neck. ‘Why?’
‘This money is for things I might have to do for Essie. We’ll just borrow it for a short while until I receive the extra pay in my salary. And we don’t want to spend it all on bills anyway. What about a nice meal out, or a weekend away? We’ve not done that for ages.’
