Never Say Never (Lakeview Contemporary Romance Book 3) (12 page)

“
H
e’s such a prat
,” Ben said, when they returned to their apartment later that evening. “Lecturing you like that – who the hell does he think he is?”

They had left the restaurant soon after, the thought of dinner no longer quite so appealing. Robin had been relieved in a way. She had ordered something simple, and something that shouldn’t be at all dangerous, but kitchen utensils could be switched and chefs could be careless, and you just never knew. Instead, they had picked up a pizza from a reliable place near the apartment – the proprietor of which often joked that of course he’d make sure it was safe for Robin – hadn’t she been keeping him in business these last five years?

“It wasn’t so much that – it was the way he lectured Sarah that annoyed me,” Robin answered, taking a huge bite out of her pizza. “Honestly, you’d wonder why the likes of Brian ended up having children at all – he’s never there for Kirsty and she adores him!”

Ben fiddled with a strand of her hair. “She adores you too, you know,” he said, “and wouldn’t you wonder why the likes of you and me don’t have children, when it’s obvious you’d be a terrific mother?”

Robin moved his hand away. “Don’t, Ben.”

“Don’t what?”

“Don’t start this whole kids thing again.”

“Robin, it’s just that I can’t understand why you’re so against having children when you’re obviously a natural with them. Kirsty adores you,
all
kids adore you and despite what you say, I know you love them too.”

Robin shook her head. She couldn’t
believe
this had come up now. Wasn’t it enough for him that she had agreed to settle down and buy a house together? Why did he have to bring up the kids thing again?

Ben took her hand. “Look, I know how you feel about it, and of course I’m not going to push it, but you know I’ve always thought your reasoning is crazy.”

They had been over and over this many times before and still Ben couldn’t understand it. He just didn’t get it. It wasn’t about not wanting to have them, it was about what they would have to go through if they did.

“Do you have any idea what it would be like trying to bring up a child suffering from my allergy?” Robin said. “It’s bad enough as it is – like tonight when I can’t go to a restaurant, or we can’t even eat at a friend’s house without there being a big fuss over what I can and can’t eat. Imagine what it would be like with a
child
like that!”

“Yes, but there are no guarantees that the allergy will be passed on –”

“But there is, Ben.” She had tried to explain this many times before but he just wouldn’t listen. “There is every guarantee that it will be passed on. The condition is hereditary, and because mine is so severe, I’d say there is a nine out of ten chance that it would be passed on.”

“But what about that ten per cent then? Don’t you think that having a child of our own would be worth taking that chance? It’s not as though you don’t like or want kids, Robin, I know you do, so why let this ruin your chances of becoming a mother? As you said yourself, it takes over so much of your life, so why let it extend to this?”

“Ben, it’s very easy to say that now, but you can’t possibly have any idea of what it would be like. You can see it with Sarah and Brian, how Kirsty’s asthma has put that relationship, that marriage, under severe pressure.”

“Yes, but that’s because Brian is an insensitive prat who doesn’t realise –”

“It’s not that, Ben, of course he realises! He realises but he doesn’t really understand.” She shook her head. “It was the very same with my parents. My mother had a terrible time with me and, as you know, was fiercely protective. My dad, although he knew that my allergy was very serious, still thought that Mum was overly cautious and hysterical.”

“I know all this,” Ben said, “and I know that sometimes your dad wasn’t cautious enough.”

Robin nodded. When she was six years old, her father had one day during the summer holidays taken her on a trip to Tramore Strand as a treat. After a pleasant day in glorious sunshine, with Tom helping her build sandcastles and teaching her to swim in the sea, Robin was ravenous. Her father, innocently but rather carelessly, Robin thought now, had bought them each a portion of chips from a roadside caravan, not even thinking to check what cooking oil they used. Robin had taken one bite of a chip, had an immediate reaction and within minutes started going into anaphylactic shock. Luckily, her dad had remembered to take some adrenaline with them, but had left it in the boot of the car. In the time that it took for him to go back and find it – leaving poor Robin lying in a semi-conscious state outside the chip-van, a crowd of horrified onlookers surrounding her – his daughter had almost died.

“Mum went crazy. Understandably she blamed him, and it eventually drove them apart.” It was something that Robin had always felt guilty about, despite the fact that her mother assured her it wasn’t her fault. Robin knew it was, yet there was little she could do about it. She wasn’t about to take that chance with a child of her own. It was too much of a burden.

She turned to look at Ben. “No matter what you might think, that of course you’d protect the child and make sure that nothing ever happened, you’d always feel as though you’re sitting on a time-bomb. Someone said that to me once and I thought it was the most appropriate description I’d ever heard. It changes your routine, your relationships – your whole life.”

“Robin, I’m not being funny, but surely parents of so-called ‘normal’ children could say the same thing? Children will change your life, no matter what. There’s always the chance that they could run out in front of a speeding car, or pull a boiling saucepan down on top of themselves or …” He trailed off, exasperated. “I think you’re imagining the worst-case scenario here, and after what you’ve been through yourself as a child, I can completely understand that. Still, I don’t think you should deny yourself or me the chance to become parents simply because you think it will be hard work. It’s hard work anyway. And look, there’s always that chance that a child of yours might not inherit the condition, isn’t there?” Ben caught her hand, and looked her in the eye. “Isn’t there?”

Robin sighed deeply before looking right back at him. “For me,” she said, “that small percentage is way too much of a chance to take.”

A
few days later
, Leah was sitting in her workshop going through a supplier catalogue when the phone rang.

“Hey,” Andrew’s cheerful tones came on the other end, “how’s the head?”

“Oh, you’re a bad influence on me, Andrew Clarke!”she exclaimed, recalling their recent heavy night’s drinking. “Josh is barely talking to me – still!”

“I’m surprised he’s still with you, considering. Anyway, I was in the same boat – Amanda was livid that I stayed out so late.”

“What time was it?”

“It must have been four or five by the time I got in. I can’t believe they stayed serving that long.”

“Well, why wouldn’t they, when you put your gold card behind the bar and kept buying rounds for everyone?”

“Ah feck it, don’t tell me I was in flash-git mode that night, was I? That was your fault for making me out to be some hotshot businessman.”

“But you are,” Leah teased him, knowing Andrew did tend to lay it on thick but only when he was drunk. Anyway, why not? He was a successful businessman so why shouldn’t he show off a little?

“Give it up. Look, I can’t talk long but I’m meeting with the accountant soon about what we talked about that night. Can you give me some sort of idea of how much you need?”

“What?” Leah’s heart stopped. “Andrew, I was only joking – please don’t think that I was begging or anything …” She trailed off, mortified.

“What are you on about, you eejit? Wasn’t it my idea in the first place? Anyway, I made some enquiries about a premises this morning and –”

“What?” Leah squealed. “A premises – what for?”

“For the shop, of course. Leah, I know we had a few that night, but don’t tell me you’ve forgotten the entire conversation!”

“But I thought it was just a joke, I didn’t seriously expect you to –”

“Look, you have the basis of a very good business there, but in order to go further you need to expand. You said yourself that your stuff would fly out the door if you had a retail premises. Well, that’s what we’re going to do.”

“Andrew, I just couldn’t take –”

“You’re not taking anything from me – I expect a good return on my investment. I know a good business when I see it, Leah, and I trust you to make a go of it. Despite the fact that you lot think I’m just a jammy sod who got lucky a few years ago, I do know what I’m talking about. Anyway, you’re a good friend and I’d rather put my faith in you than some fresh-faced business graduate that doesn’t have a clue about the real world. You’ve been working in this kind of business for a while, you know what it takes. And if you’re willing to take me on as a business partner, a silent partner, mind – I don’t want to stand on your toes – then I think we can make a real go of this.”

Leah was speechless.

“Well, are you going to get me some figures or what?” Andrew went on.

“I’m just … I’m just amazed at all of this. What’ll Amanda think?”

“Leah, I’ve invested in a couple of ventures over the years – you’re not the first one.”

“Oh, I know that – I didn’t mean …” It was weird – all of a sudden Leah felt as though she was taking to her boss, not her mad old college friend Andrew, Andrew who could drink her under the table and who used to let her cry on his shoulder whenever her latest squeeze dumped her.

“No,” as if sensing her thoughts, Andrew spoke softly, “what I mean is, that I make the business decisions. Nine times out of ten Amanda doesn’t know what I do with my money and, to be honest, she doesn’t want to know. As long as there’s enough in the joint account or on the credit card to keep her stocked with clothes and shoes, that’s all she cares about.”

“Andrew – are you absolutely sure?” Leah was feeling a curious mixture of fear and adrenaline. With Andrew on board there was no telling what she could do. She could take on staff, and spend more time on her chocolate recipes without having to worry about accounts and suppliers. And an outlet – an actual store – wow, imagine how things could go then? Anything could happen!

“Of course I’m sure. Look, I know it was a drunken conversation, so I can understand that you find it a little weird but, Leah, I promise you, once I put up the money, there’ll be no interference from me. It’s still your baby and I trust you completely. If you’ve any doubts in that regard, don’t, ‘cos I don’t want anything to do with it – unless you’d prefer that I did, in which case I’d have to withdraw the offer as I just don’t have the time – ”

“No, no – that would be perfect! I mean, that’s exactly how I’d prefer it too. I’m just finding it so hard to get my head around it but, wow, I haven’t even said thank you. Andrew, thank you, thank you, thank you!”

“You’re welcome. Now, do you think you could stop thanking me for a second and get your ass down to Blackrock and have a look at this premises I have in mind?”

“Blackrock? You don’t mean Blackrock, Dublin, do you?” Leah knew that in that trendy upmarket village, her produce would literally run out the door.

“No, I mean Blackrock, feckin’ Cavan, where else? Anyway, I’m meeting with the estate agent about another place at two, and then I was hoping we could pop out there for a look – what do you think?”

“What do I think?” Leah repeated, exhilarated. “I’ll be there!”

“
S
eems a bit sudden
, doesn’t it?” was Josh’s response when later on that evening Leah told him the good news. “I mean, you haven’t seen this guy since his wedding, and then all of a sudden he wants to make a huge investment in your business?”

“But he’s an old friend,” Leah said, her spirits dampened slightly at his less than enthusiastic reaction. “We’ve both been very busy with our own lives, you know how it is, but we’ve always been close and if Andrew Clarke has enough faith in my talent to invest his money there, well, I think I have a right to be pleased about it.” She knew she was sounding petulant but she didn’t care. Sometimes, Josh got a little bit funny about Leah’s work, probably because he had always worked for his father, who ran a popular chain of DIY stores. Josh hated working there and was always looking for any excuse to get out of it, yet the pay was good and the hours were flexible and, having done nothing more than an Arts degree in college, he wasn’t qualified to do much else.

“So what’s he planning?”

“He isn’t planning anything, Josh, it’s entirely up to me. But we went out this afternoon to have a look at the premises he had in mind for the shop and oh, it’s just perfect! Blackrock, can you believe it?”

Kate certainly couldn’t when earlier over the phone Leah had told her about Andrew’s offer. “Blackrock is just perfect, Leah, such a busy little area, and upmarket too, just perfect for Elysium! And,” she added, with a laugh, “it passed the cappuccino test a long time ago!” Kate was a huge fan of property tv shows, which often advocated that a good indicator a particular area was on the up-and-up was the prevalence of coffee and cappuccino bars springing up here and there.

Leah knew well that Blackrock wasn’t on the up-and-up, but indeed was one of the most desirable places to live on Dublin’s Southside. The affluent and discerning inhabitants of the village and surrounding areas would be the ideal clientele for her. It would be a terrific start and she couldn’t contain her excitement at the prospect.

“So what happens now?” Josh asked her. “Are you going to go for this place or what?”

“Well, Andrew is hammering things out with the estate agent about the lease, but based on the figures we went through this afternoon, we should be well able to manage things. I’ll need to take another look at my range, see how I’m going to manage fridge displays and all that, so I’m going to take a pop into town tomorrow to check out some of what will soon be my competitors!” She hugged Josh delightedly. “Can you imagine me, with my very own store? Honestly, Josh, I knew I was doing OK with supplying trade, but retail will just take the business to a completely different level!”

“I know it will love, congratulations,” Josh returned her hug, but decidedly half-heartedly.

Leah hugged him even harder, trying to get her enthusiasm to rub off him a little. She knew it was hard for him knowing that she would be working a lot more than usual to get the shop set up, but the way Andrew was driving forward, it shouldn’t take much longer than a few weeks before they were open for business. Yes, she would have to work like a demon between now and then to satisfy existing suppliers and come up with new stock for the outlet, but at least things were moving forward. If Leah had her way, the business would get to the stage where maybe Josh wouldn’t need to work with his dad any more, and she would be able to support both of them – well, not
she
– she knew Josh wouldn’t like the sound of that – but the business certainly would. Her margins were terrific as it was, and once she started selling direct to the public there would be no stopping her. Yes, she would have to sacrifice a lot of her home and social life to get there, but wasn’t that what all business people had to do to be successful? Then when everything had settled down and the business was more or less running itself, she and Josh could slow down and take things easy, maybe go on a nice holiday to the Caribbean or go and visit Robin in New York or something. Josh would get used to it – it might be weird at first but he
would
get used to it. He’d have to, wouldn’t he?

“September,” Leah decided then, her eyes shining at the thoughts of it. “I’m determined to have the very first Elysium chocolate boutique up and running by my thirtieth birthday.”