“Hey, I really appreciate you coming back to Braebeach with me, and I’m sorry for what you’ve gone through lately with Chelsea and me.”
“It’s okay.” She smiles and shrugs.
“I’m pretty sure it wasn’t okay. It was probably difficult listening to us fight, and I’m sorry if we made you feel uncomfortable.”
“Actually, Mr Graham, I always felt bad for you. MrsGraham… she’s quite difficult, especially when you’re not around.”
I furrow my brow. “Are you trying to say she was rough on you ?”
“Well, maybe a little.” She shifts in her seat.
I grit my teeth before I reply as calmly as I can, “I’m sorry that happened. If I had any idea she treated you badly, I would have sorted it, I promise.”
“I know, but I didn’t want to cause any more trouble. It was easier to stay quiet.”
I nod in understanding, but it still makes me feel bad. I bet she hated working for us some days. “Look, Connie, can you do me a favour? Can you drop the Mr Graham thing? That was all Chelsea’s idea, and I was never really on board. It’s way too much for me. I’m just Tommy, or even Tom if you want, okay?”
“But what if Mrs Graham comes back? What do I do then?”
“She won’t be coming back. Not to me anyway. Obviously, if you come into contact with her, you’ll probably have to stick with the formalities, but never again with me. Okay?”
“Mr Gra—” I raise my brows towards her. “Sorry, Tommy. I’m going to slip up, you know that don’t you?”
“It’s okay, you’ll get used to it. What did you want to say?”
“Oh, yeah. Who do I answer to? Do I work for her? Or you? What happens now?”
“I haven’t had a chance to go into the practical stuff with Chelsea, but I know I want you to work for me, permanently and full-time. If Chelsea has any other ideas, well, that’s up to her, but I want you to stay on my payroll. If she agrees, and you’d be willing to put up with her, I’d like it if you could stay with Oz when he visits his mum. He needs some kind ofconsistency in his life and I need peace of mind that he’s being well looked after.”
“I understand, but will you continue to live in New York?”
“I haven’t thought about it. I’ll keep the apartment, and Oz is due to start school soon, so I guess so, at least for now. But I hope, however it turns out, you’ll stay with Ozzie wherever he is. How would you feel about shifting from one house to the other on a regular basis? There could be a lot of travelling involved.”
A huge smile slowly forms on her face. “I’d be totally honoured, Mr—Tommy. Jesus, this is difficult.”
I laugh at her slip-up. “Thanks, Connie. That means a lot.”
“It’s okay. I love Ozzie. He’s such a great little guy.”
“I know. He’s all me.”
She giggles, and now her mood is a little lighter, I try to find out why she was upset yesterday. “Listen, I hope coming to England didn’t cause you any problems, you know, personally.”
“No, everything is fine. I wanted to see my family anyway.” And there’s that tight-lipped smile again.
“And your boyfriend? Was he okay? I bet he’s going to miss you.”
“He’s not exactly my boyfriend. We’re not official or anything like that. I don’t really know what we are.”
“Right. Sticky situation, huh?” I raise my brow in question.
She shrugs. “I guess.”
“You know, this trip could bring him to his senses. Not being around might kick him into touch.”
“I doubt it.” Okay, there it is. Her bottom lip is quivering.
“Connie, I just want to know that you’re okay and he isn’t being an arsehole.”
