don’t doubt it,’ she said under her breath, and then, turning on her heel, she clomped out of the building in her ridiculous boots and vile yellow jacket, the little dog at her heels, and he followed her across the messy, stony site to the tin shed she called her office, feeling more alive than he had in years…
‘You mentioned a phone call,’ he said, and she wondered if she should tell him just how close the bank was to pulling the plug, or if she should spend a little more time getting him on-side and see if she could sweet-talk the bank for another day.
No. The time for that was over. ‘The bank,’ she said, and he nodded slowly and folded his arms, propping his long, beautifully proportioned body back against the wall and regarding her thoughtfully.
‘Are they pressing you very hard?’
She nodded. ‘We’ve had to pay bills and wages. Andrew said the money was coming—’
‘But it hasn’t, and you’re in the doo-doo?’
She felt her lips twitch. ‘You could say that. They’ve given me until close of business today.’
‘How much?’
‘Pardon?’
‘How much do you need now to get them off your backs and enable you to clear existing debts?’
She sat down at her desk a little abruptly. Was he seriously going to write her out a cheque for thousands of pounds just like that?
‘A lot,’ she said bluntly. She pulled the figures towards her, did a few calculations and turned, to find he was looking over her shoulder at the calculator.
‘Is that it?’
‘Roughly. For now,’ she said, and he nodded.
‘I’ll round it up a bit, give you some working capital and a bit of breathing room.’
She felt her jaw start to sag. ‘But I thought you were going to decide if we were to complete the build—’
‘I just did.’ He punched buttons on his mobile, spoke briefly to someone called Tory and handed her the phone. ‘My PA. Give her the details of your bank account,’ he instructed. ‘She’ll get the money moved before close of business today.’
She could hardly speak for relief. Her father was lying in hospital waiting for open-heart surgery, worrying himself senseless, the workforce had been fantastic but they were running out of patience, the bank had done all and more that could be expected of them, and she hadn’t drawn any salary for weeks.
With tears threatening, she gave Tory the details she needed, handed back the phone and stared hard out of the window.
‘Thank you,’ she said, and sucked in a huge breath. It was meant to steady her, but it turned into a sob, and after a moment of stunned silence he propped his hips on the desk beside her, pulled her head against his chest and rubbed her back gently.
‘Hey, it’s OK,’ he murmured.
She fought it for a moment, but the scent of his aftershave and the warmth of his body and the steady beat of his heart were too much for her, and she gave in and let him hold her as the tension of the last few weeks freed itself in a storm of tears the like of which she hadn’t cried since her mother died.
Then, suddenly overcome by embarrassment, she pushed away, stood up and went outside, pausing on the steps and staring at the sea while she sucked in great lungfuls of the wild, salty air and felt it fill her soul.
It was going to be all right. It was. With Nick Barron on board, maybe the project would succeed after all and her father’s whole career wouldn’t go down the pan…
A tissue arrived in her hand, and she blew her nose vigorously and scrubbed her cheeks on the back of her hand. It was going to be all right. She wanted to scream it out loud, to run into the sea yelling it to the gulls screeching overhead—
‘Would this be a good time for that tea?’ he murmured.
‘I’ve got a better idea,’ she said, turning to him with a smile that wouldn’t be held down any longer. ‘There’s a café round the corner—nothing fancy, no barista making designer bevvies, just good, strong filter coffee and the best BLT baguettes in the world. I reckon I owe you that at least—and I haven’t had breakfast yet.’
‘It’s ten to twelve.’
‘I know. My stomach’s well aware.’
He grinned, dumped his hard hat on the desk and held out his hand towards the door.
‘In that case, what are we waiting for?’
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