‘I don’t blame you. I meant what I said: come to me if anything at all is worrying you. Like now – I’m glad you’ve asked me about this.’
‘Me too. I feel better for having talked about my worries. I suppose that was all I needed.’
Zoe considered Shabana’s remark for a moment. If only she herself was as good at taking advice as she was at offering it, she might already have shared her problems with a willing listener and she might already feel better about them. For a split second, she considered the possibility that Shabana might, unexpectedly, be the person to confide in. But she quickly dismissed the idea. They were becoming friends, but they were hardly familiar with one another. It didn’t seem professional, and it certainly didn’t seem fair to burden Shabana when she had worries of her own.
Shabana got up. ‘Are you coming for lunch?’
‘I’ll be there in a couple of minutes.’
Zoe watched her leave, the office plunged into a humming silence once more. Then she got out her phone and drafted the message she’d tussled over. If it prompted a discussion they needed, it would force her to have it. And so she gave herself a mental slap, forced herself to stop overthinking it and then hit send.
Nothing to fret about, but later we need to talk. Don’t let me off the hook even if I say I’ve changed my mind. x
With the die cast, she collected her things and went to join the others in the kitchen.
21
She was ready. Zoe got out of the car and walked steadily to the house, the first sentence of her admission rehearsed in her mind. Alex would be fine. He’d understand. He’d support her, and she wondered now why she’d ever worried that he wouldn’t. They’d had a lovely weekend, back on track, back to being a team, after that initial spat, and he’d proved just how supportive he could be. There had been bumps in the road, that was all, and even the most solid of relationships wobbled when they hit a snag. His reply to her text earlier in the day had reassured her of that, he’d take the time to listen to what was on her mind and they’d work things out whatever it took.
Everything was forgotten as she walked into the kitchen to find Virginia there. But this time they weren’t sharing wine or tea and neither of them was smiling.
Alex turned at Zoe’s entrance with a grim expression, waving a letter at her. ‘They went there.’
‘Who?’ Zoe glanced from Alex to Virginia.
‘Alex,’ Virginia said, ‘I’ve told you a dozen times since I got here, we’ll figure it out.’
‘But what if we don’t? I can’t afford an out-of-court settlement – it will bankrupt me!’
Zoe closed the door behind her and stood at the table. ‘Can someone tell me what’s going on?’
‘That bloody party we had – they’re suing us for damages.’ Alex tossed the letter at Zoe, who caught it as it floated to the ground.
She read quickly, getting the gist and paying no heed to the rest. And then she looked up. ‘They can’t? Didn’t you say they’d wandered onto land that wasn’t part of the camping field? So how can they hold you responsible? Surely people would be sued up and down the country for every rabbit hole if this was legal?’
‘It’s one of those no-win-no-fee companies,’ Alex said. ‘They’ll have a good bloody go if there’s the slightest chance they might make some money from it.’
‘It isn’t much of a case,’ Virginia said, though she addressed Alex and not Zoe, despite it being Zoe’s question in the first place.
‘But it’s not watertight,’ Alex said. ‘Not from our perspective. There’s a chance?—’
‘Tiny.’
‘But still a chance it will go against us.’
‘Let me put the feelers out, get you connected to someone who knows this area of the law better than me.’
‘I’d have to pay them.’
‘Well, yes, but…what about your insurance? Don’t they sort this out? I mean…’ Zoe looked to Virginia to back her up, but the solicitor’s features were impassive. Zoe presumed they’d already visited that possibility, but she didn’t have anything else to offer except to ask the obvious and wait for what would doubtless be the obvious answer.
‘I haven’t got the right insurance. Money was tight and…’ He gave a helpless shrug. ‘I cut corners. I thought I would be all right.’
Zoe’s mouth fell open. ‘Why would you do that?’
‘How could I have seen this coming?Whowould seethiscoming?’
‘Well…’ Zoe looked to Virginia again and then back to Alex. ‘Can you redo the insurance? Talk to them and explain what’s happened and see what they can do?’
