I’d been with a client for three hours yesterday, until just before seven, when I’d raced back home to be there to give Rose a bath.
“Are you taking on the case?”
He nodded. “Not without reservation, and I was really clear about that.” He sighed slowly. “The brothers have been in business together since they were teenagers. They’ve had a massive argument and don’t want to be partners anymore, but neither will either of them sell to the other.”
“What was the argument about?”
Seph shrugged. “I think it had something to do with Ron’s wife, but I don’t know anymore.” He looked at me, confusion etched on a face that was far too handsome. “I can’t imagine ever falling out with any of my family like that. Don’t get me wrong, they can be infuriating and make me want to bang my head against a brick wall very hard sometimes, but I can’t imagine them ever doing anything that would hurt me enough to not want to know them.” He looked almost pained at the thought.
“My sister’s like that. We get on each other’s nerves, but we’d never fall out. I don’t know what I’d do without her.” Olivia had really gotten on my nerves last night by leaving the bathroom in a mess that looked like a teenaged girl had exploded in there. She was meant to be on a date straight after work tonight so all the preparation for it had taken place yesterday. Rose was staying a little later for tea with Addy at Elspeth's, more for Addy’s sake as her parents had some late-night event and Addy was actually staying over there.
Rose had begged for me to let her stay too, but I wasn’t ready for that yet. Besides, I had no other plans or even the prospect of one.
“What’s your sister called?”
I realised I’d shared barely any personal information at all.
“Olivia. She’s a couple of years older than me and works in the City.”
He gave a nod. “Is it just you and her?”
“Just the two of us, unless I have a half brother or sister somewhere, which wouldn’t surprise me. Our dad was a bit of a one when he was younger.”
“Are your parents still around?”
Our drinks and my cake were delivered by a different staff member with no more than a smile.
“My mum has just moved to Spain to live with her girlfriend, and my dad’s in California with his latest wife.” I grinned. I got along well with my dad, or I had since I understood that he was a serial monogamist. He loved me and Liv, and Rose, dearly, but he tired of relationships quickly, nearly always having the next woman to move onto.
“Girlfriend?”
I laughed. “That’s the bit you picked up on?”
His broad shoulders shrugged again, and his hand moved, nearly knocking over his coffee. I’d already seen him destroy several papers with knocking over drinks this week.
“After my parents split – which was amicable, by the way - my mum was quite open about dating men and women. It was never anything serious enough for her to move in with someone, until she met Danica whose main home’s just outside Barcelona.” I smiled, thinking of where my mother was now. We’d visited Danica last year for a holiday, and it was a great place with a pool and terrace with a view.
“Main home?” Seph squinted at me.
“She has a place in Norfolk too. She works as a software developer and can be based anywhere. My mum’s an editor for a publisher, so she isn’t tied to one place either. They’re both doing okay.” More than okay, which was one less thing to worry about. “Both your parents have retired now, haven’t they?”
“Pretty much. My dad pretends he’s still a consultant, although he tends to badger us for reasons to come into the office, and I think that’s to get away from Mum. She does a few days a month to help Claire out while she’s on mat leave, and she usually keeps a couple of files on the side. I don’t think she’ll ever properly stop.” He shook his head. “I think she does it to piss my dad off half the time.”
“How did she work and have all of you at home?” I struggled with just having Rose, but to have seven was beyond my imagination.
Seph laughed. “She wasn’t conventional. She was part-time while me, Payton and Ava were at primary school, doing two or three days a week. As soon as Ava was in high school, she went back full time but not on the crazy hours that my dad did. She made him reduce the amount of time that he was in the office for then too, and by that time, Max was at university and Jackson and Claire were about to start. We grew up in this mad chaos, where if we were all alive, fed and relatively clean, it was considered a success.”
I totally understood that. Goals.
“How did your parents feel about Ava and Callum not becoming solicitors?”
Seph stirred the milk into his coffee. “Mum was happy, kind of. Ava didn’t tell anyone, but she applied to university in New York. We found out a couple of days before she left. We all knew that Cal wanted to work with animals, but Dad just ignored it, thinking he’d change his mind. I don’t think he spoke to him for about six months after, but Cal and Dad were always a bit weird with each other.”
There was more to it than that, I could tell with how Seph seemed to gloss over thebit weirdpart, but it wasn’t my place to pry.
“Are they okay now, though?”
Seph’s smile was big. “Better than ever. Cal lives a few minutes away on this big farm he bought. Him and his wife run a vet practice that basically looks after any sort of animal. They both help on projects abroad too. Where does your sister live?”
