She simply couldn’t bear to witness her boss watching her whilst she wept her heart out. No doubt she was making a fool of herself. No doubt he thought she was a typically sentimental female to cry over a man she hardly knew.
The feel of strong male arms suddenly pulling her into a comforting embrace shocked Abby rigid. She certainly hadn’t expected a hug. Not from her very aloof boss. Unfortunately, his uncharacteristic kindness only made her weep all the more.
‘There, there,’ he said, patting her back as she clasped the lapels of his suit jacket and sobbed into his shirt. ‘No need to cry. Craig had a good life, with no regrets. He wouldn’t want you crying over him. Craig wasn’t one for tears.’
Abby could hardly explain that it wasn’t just Craig’s death which had set her off, but the way he’d died. All alone.
Oh, God…
Abby was gritting her teeth and doing her best to pull herself together when Jake stopped patting her back and slid his arms right around her, holding her quite close. No doubt he was still just trying to comfort her but for some reason Abby no longer felt comforted. She felt very discomforted. Because she liked him hugging her like that. She liked it a lot. The urge to slide her own arms around his back was acute. She wanted to hug him back, wanted to bury herself in the solid warmth of his very male body and…and…
And what, Abby? Make an even bigger fool of yourself? For pity’s sake, get a grip, girl.
Taking a deep gathering breath, Abby lurched backwards, releasing the lapels of Jake’s jacket as she gulped down a sob of shame.
‘I’m so sorry,’ she choked out, her face flushing as she spun away from him and grabbed a handful of tissues from the box on the kitchen counter, not saying another word till she’d blown her nose and composed herself. She did note rather ruefully, however, that Jake didn’t wait long to hurry back to the other side of the breakfast bar.
Her groan carried more shame. ‘I’ve embarrassed you, I can see. It’s just that… Oh, never mind.’ Her fisted right hand came up to rub agitatedly at her mouth. For a moment she was tempted to confide in Jake about Wayne’s tragic death. But only for a moment. Maybe, if he’d been any other kind of man she might have explained why she’d been so upset at the news of his uncle dying alone like that. But Jake didn’t invite confidences. Why, he’d never even asked her how her husband had died!
Despite his hug just now, Jake didn’t really care about her. She was just his employee, hired to look after his house. His housekeeper. A glorified cleaner, if truth be told.
Craig hadn’t treated her like that. He’d been genuinely interested in her life. Not that she’d told Jake’s uncle the total truth. Abby had become masterful at blotting out the really painful parts in her past. Talking about them wouldn’t have achieved anything, anyway.
‘The thing is,’ she went on, compelled to make some excuse for her emotional display, ‘I really liked your uncle a lot.’
‘He must have liked you a lot too,’ Jake replied.
‘Well, yes,’ she said slowly. ‘He seemed to.’
‘You haven’t asked me what he left you,’ Jake went on, his eyes on her.
‘What? Oh… Some books, I suppose.’
Jake frowned at her. ‘No, no books,’ he said. ‘Nothing as mundane as that.’
‘Then what?’ she asked, perplexed.
‘To be honest, he didn’t leave you anything directly. He left a letter for me with instructions of what he wants you to have.’
She blinked, then frowned. ‘That sounds…weird.’
‘Yes, I thought so too,’ he agreed drily. ‘But Craig was never a conventional man. Look, why don’t we both drink our coffee before it gets cold? Then, afterwards, I’ll fill you in on everything.’
When Jake picked up his coffee mug, Abby did likewise, sipping slowly and thoughtfully. A hot drink always calmed her. And brother, she needed calming after that crazy moment when she’d almost hugged her boss back.
‘I would have liked to go to his funeral,’ she said after a suitably calming minute or two. ‘Was he buried or cremated?’
‘Buried,’ he said.
‘Where?’ she asked.
Jake’s face looked grim as he put down his coffee. ‘Rookwood Cemetery.’
She wasn’t sure where that was. She didn’t have a GPS in the ute and often got lost. ‘I’d like to go and visit his grave some time. Pay my respects. Say a prayer or two. Would you take me?’ she asked him before she could think better of it.
Jake’s sigh suggested that was the last thing he wanted to do.
‘Okay,’ he said with a resigned shrug. ‘But I can’t go till next Saturday. In the meantime, wouldn’t you like to hear about what Craig wanted me to give you?’
‘Oh, yes. What is it?’
‘Well, first of all he wants me to buy you a new car. Something small and stylish, with a decent warranty.’
Shock at this news was swiftly followed by confusion.
‘But that doesn’t seem right,’ she said. ‘As much as I would love a new car, why should he ask you to pay for such a thing?’
‘It’s basically Craig’s money, Abby. He left most of his estate to me. Trust me when I say that my inheritance was considerable. So it’s no hardship on me to spend a seriously small portion of it on you.’
‘But why didn’t he just leave some money to me in his will to buy my own car?’
‘I have no idea. It might have been simpler all round if he’d done that. Apparently, he was worried that you might not spend it on yourself—that you might give it away to relatives.’
‘Oh, dear,’ she said, embarrassed. ‘I suppose it’s because I told him about paying for Timmy’s operation.’
‘No. He didn’t mention anything specific. Who’s Timmy?’
‘My sister’s little boy. She’s a single mum and doesn’t have any private health insurance. Timmy needed his tonsils out but would have had to wait eighteen months to have it done. She couldn’t afford the operation so I paid for it to be done privately.’
‘I see,’ he said, his tone sceptical.
A degree of anger pushed aside Abby’s embarrassment. ‘Please don’t think my sister’s a user because she’s not. She’s doing the best she can under the circumstances. Megan didn’t ask me to pay for Timmy’s operation. That was my idea. She won’t come and live with me, even though I said she wouldn’t have to pay any rent. Your uncle got the wrong idea.’
‘Possibly, but that’s irrelevant now. I have no alternative but to follow through with Craig’s dying wishes. He was most specific in his letter about what he wanted me to buy for you. A new car is the first
