Never Say Never (Lakeview Contemporary Romance Book 3) (16 page)

L
eah jumped
when the phone rang. She had been run off her feet all day trying to get a huge batch of product out to a regular supplier, and had been so immersed in her work that she had almost forgotten where she was. The chocolates needed to be ready for collection first thing the following morning, and with the way things were going, Leah thought, her face flushed from exertion, she’d be here till all hours trying to get it done.

The order had come in only that afternoon, but Bags n’ Bows were one of her best customers, and Leah had no intention of letting them down.

Still, at that very moment, surrounded by ribbon and tulle, Leah sorely regretted her decision to advertise her gift-boxes as ‘hand-wrapped’. Why couldn’t she have had generic boxes and be done with it? But Leah knew that much of her custom derived directly from the fact that the chocolate boxes looked so appealing.

She cursed inwardly as, partially-wrapped box in one hand and ribbon in the other, she reached for the handset.

“Hi love, what time will you be home?” Josh asked cheerfully.

“I’m not sure – I’m really up to my eyes here,” she answered, unable to keep the irritation out of her tone. She’d be home when she was home.

“Do you need a hand?” he asked, and Leah bristled. Of course she needed a hand but there was no point in Josh coming all the way over here to ‘help’. He had tried that before, and all he had succeeded in doing was to annoy Leah and slow her down. Not to mention the time he packed twelve full cases of chocolates, which Leah had first thought was terrific, until she realised that he had failed to include the protective bubble-wrap which kept the boxes from hitting against one another. The boxes had been squashed and completely ruined in transit, and the customer had been livid. Leah had spent almost a full day trying to calm the customer down, and the rest of the
week
replacing the order. Sometimes, Josh had absolutely no cop-on.

“I’ll be fine, Josh, thanks, but look, I can’t really talk – there’s way too much to do here.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to come over? I could bring a takeaway. It seems like I haven’t seen you in days.”

“Well, that’s because I’ve been very busy.” The shop would be fitted out and ready within a few weeks, and Leah was working flat out to get everything ready to move in.

“But you’re always busy, Lee. I know things are a bit up in the air at the moment, but who goes in to work on a Sunday?”

“Josh, it’s not as though I could get anyone else to do it, is it?” she answered testily. Yes, she had gone back to the workshop last Sunday, so she could get a head-start on the following week’s stock. Well, it was either that, or lounge around all afternoon on the sofa drinking tea and reading newspapers. If there was work to be done, then it had to be done, end of story.

“It could have waited. You need time for yourself too, you know – and for us.”

Great, the last thing she needed was a bloody guilt trip about how hard she was working these days. Of course, she was working hard. Wasn’t she trying to get everything ready for the shop, while at the same time trying to keep the day-to-day stuff running? Why couldn’t he understand that this was a crucial time for her, and that she just didn’t have the luxury of running home, just because he was bored and had no one to play with?

“Josh, I’m sorry but I just don’t have the time for this,” she said to him.

“Leah, it’s half-seven in the evening. You’ve been in there since six this morning. You’re killing yourself!”

Oh no! Leah thought, checking her watch. It couldn’t be! But it was, which meant that she would be home a lot later if she didn’t get off the phone.

“Josh, I really have to go, OK? You get whatever you want for dinner, I’ll grab something on the way home.”

“But what time will you be –”

“I’ll be home when I’m home, Josh, right?” Leah felt like a heel when there was silence at the other end. “Look, I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be short with you. But you have no idea how much there is to do between now and the opening.”

“What’s the point of putting yourself in hospital in the meantime, love? Because with the way things are going, that’s what will happen.”

“I know, I know, and look I promise this weekend we’ll do something, OK?”
Just please, get off the phone and let me go back to work
, she urged silently.

“OK?” she repeated, when Josh didn’t answer.

“Yeah, OK, see you later then.”

“Great.” Still holding the chocolate box in one hand, Leah hung up and returned to her work-desk. Of course she was working hard – with all that was happening at the moment, what else did Josh expect? Andrew Clarke had put a lot of faith in her by investing all that money in her business, and in her talents, and Leah was determined not to let him down.

“
H
e’s just being so
childish about it.”

A few days later, Leah tried to explain her annoyance to Olivia. This time Josh
was at work and, as she was up to date with her stock, for once she was at a loose end.

“From day one, he made it quite clear that he doesn’t agree with the fact that Andrew’s invested in Elysium,” she told her friend. “He doesn’t agree with Andrew full stop. For some reason he just seemed to dislike him on sight and, to be honest, I’m finding it a bit of a strain. I mean, here I am, working my ass off to get everything ready for the opening, and all Josh does is spend the whole time moaning about Andrew and what he has to gain, and why doesn’t he share some of the work.”

“And do you think Andrew should?” Olivia asked. She knew that Leah was desperately looking forward to getting the store up and running, but she suspected that her friend was doing way too much on her own.

“No, of course not. I don’t want Andrew involved, Andrew doesn’t want to get involved. That’s the only reason I agreed to do this in the first place. The business is mine and Andrew is simply a silent partner. Josh can’t understand that. As much as he seems to dislike Andrew, he still thinks that he should be more involved, that he should help me more.”

“Well, maybe he does have a point. I know how difficult it must be to run everything yourself. What about giving Alan some of the load?” Leah had recently taken on a part-time assistant, a shy quiet young man called Alan who went about his work diligently, eager to learn all he could from his boss.

“Alan is just an assistant – he doesn’t really have the know-how when it comes to running a business.”

“Well, maybe he might surprise you. You should give him a chance – that’s what you’re paying him for, surely?”

“No, it would take way too long to train him to do everything.” Leah said, dismissing the idea. “There’s no point in doing that at this stage anyway. I’ll get it done quicker by myself and that’s the end of it.”

Olivia knew that sometimes Leah found it difficult to let go of the business she had built up from the very beginning, that she found it hard to assign control to anyone else. She worried now, looking at Leah’s tired and gaunt face and the determined look in her eye, that with this new store, she might be taking on way too much. Josh had every right to be concerned.

“Well, look, try not to worry about the deadline too much. Surely a week or two later won’t make too much of a difference?”

Leah sighed. “No, I don’t suppose it will, but at the same time this is the date that Andrew and I agreed. I don’t want to let him down.”

“I’m sure Andrew wouldn’t mind one way or the other. Didn’t he say that it’s yours to run whatever way you choose?”

“You’re starting to sound like Josh.”

“I know, but like me, Josh doesn’t want you running yourself into the ground over this. I can’t say I’ve had any experience with building an empire, but I know the Romans slept sometimes too.”

Leah laughed. “You’re right. I do take it way too seriously sometimes. Things will be fine, and Josh is just teed off because I don’t spend any time with him in front of the TV any more.”

“You are making some time for yourselves surely?”

“It’s very difficult.” Leah shrugged. “I’m at the workshop as often as I can, so now he’s started to do some more shifts at Homecare. You know Josh – he’s one of those people who hates sitting in on his own.”

Olivia refilled her coffee mug. “Still, you two should try and calm it down a bit, go for a weekend away or something.”

Leah laughed. “At the moment, there aren’t enough hours in the day, let alone wasting time going away for weekends. But look, things will get better once the business opens. Josh just has to bear with me for a while, that’s all.” She looked at her watch. “Anyway, I’d better leave you alone to get ready for work. Do you want me to drop Ellie over to Eva’s for you?”

Olivia was due at the work at twelve, and usually dropped Ellie off at her mother’s beforehand. “Um, no thanks, we’ve got loads of time,” she said, only too well aware of Leah’s limitations as a driver.

“Right – well, I suppose the next time I see you will be at the launch party?”

“Probably. But look, try to take it easy in the meantime, won’t you? I’m sure it’s tough for Josh too.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll be fine,” Leah assured her.

As she closed the door behind her friend, Olivia really hoped that they would be. Then again, she thought, going upstairs to get Ellie ready for her granny’s, she was probably just being silly worrying about them. Leah and Josh had been through much tougher times than this and hadn’t they come out of it all just fine?

T
hrough her front window
, Catherine watched that woman from across the green trying to bundle her child into the car.

Pathetic, she thought, so pathetic the way she kept making big eyes at Matt, fawning all over him whenever they happened to bump into one another.

Which, Catherine thought, rather worriedly, seemed to be happening a lot lately. Only the other day, when Matt should have been tucking into the gorgeous beef stew she had spent all afternoon preparing, Catherine had again caught the two of them chatting easily at that woman’s front gate.

She’d have to put a stop to that – and quickly. She didn’t want Matt getting too friendly with the neighbours, especially unattached female neighbours. They’d had that problem before, and if it weren’t for darling little Adam, she would have been none the wiser. No, there was no letting him out of her sight this time; that was for sure. She and Matt had been through too much together over the years to have it all ruined by some desperate slapper living across the way. No way.

Didn’t the woman have any shame? She shook her head in disgust as she watched her drive away. Laughing and flirting with him in full view of the green and all the while knowing that he had a family – that he had a son! The cheek of it. Catherine had a very good mind to just go over there some day soon and give the silly cow a piece of her mind. But Matt would go mad if she did that. He flew off the handle altogether over that last woman, didn’t he? No, she would simply bide her time and see what happened, and if Matt showed any sign of straying, well then she would have to do something.

Her hands shook as she went into the kitchen and opened the cupboard. Why did he have to do this, she thought, taking out the ironing board. Why did he have to go looking for someone else – was she not enough for him? Did she not look as good, if not better than that witch from across the road? Catherine had got one really good look at her one day while passing in the car. She and her little girl were out in the front garden, and yes, her eyes were a wide, deep blue and she was very striking. But there was no glamour, no character – and she was a good two stone heavier for goodness’ sake!

Catherine ran a self-conscious hand over her own flat stomach and tiny waist. Surely all those hours at the gym, not to mention the hours at the hairdresser touching up her highlights meant something!

But then, a lot of the time, Matt didn’t even notice her hair or her slim figure or her salon tan. No, he was too busy organising his next business venture or fussing over Adam. If it weren’t for Adam, Catherine wondered if he would bother with her at all. If it weren’t for Adam, he might be long gone, gone off into the arms of some plump, boring, ordinary woman, a woman who could never give him what Catherine did.

She wrinkled up her nose.
Her
name was Olivia, apparently. Matt had mentioned that one day after Catherine had once again interrupted one of their little ‘chats’.

“She’s a lovely woman,” he’d said. “Very friendly but a little bit shy too, I think. And her little daughter is just so cute – the resemblance is amazing actually.”

Every word had cut Catherine to the quick and immediately she hated Olivia –

Olivia with her cute daughter and her big blue eyes and her bright smile. Olivia, who was obviously single and obviously desperate for a man – any man, to brighten up her boring lonely domestic routine.

Catherine knew all about boring and domestic routines – sometimes she wondered why on earth she’d ever given up her full-time job and agreed to spend all day doing housework and looking after Adam. But she didn’t have to think too long about the answer. She did it to support Matt, and they both knew it wouldn’t do for Adam to be looked after by some stranger, and being fed yellow-pack fish fingers every day for dinner. It wouldn’t be fair on the child.

So, despite how bored she sometimes felt, Catherine was still glad she decided to do it. Still, at times like this, she wondered if Matt really appreciated the sacrifice she’d made. He’d given her a lot of support certainly, and a move away from Dublin had been his suggestion – and mostly paid for by his wages – but still, it was hard not to be bored.

Then again Catherine thought, reminding herself that the move to this village had inadvertently put him in contact with
that
woman, being bored and stuck at home didn’t give anyone an excuse to go off chasing other women’s men, did it? Catherine wouldn’t dream of doing something like that – no, she had enough respect for herself and indeed for Adam.

She sighed. At times she wondered why on earth she bothered staying faithful to Matt, let alone minding Adam in order to support him in his career. It’s not as though she had any shortage of attention – she was always getting wolf-whistles and admiring glances when she was out and about.

She knew she had always been attractive; she had worked hard to ensure she
stayed
attractive, and it was quite satisfying to find that she still had the power to make men go weak at the knees. Catherine smiled as a thought entered her mind. Like that
very
attractive guy she’d noticed checking her out the week before at the café. The sexy George Clooney lookalike - Conor Dempsey was his name - they had got chatting and apparently he owned a graphic design company based in the village called Octagon.

Well she decided, thoughts of Matt’s ‘friendship’ with their unglamorous neighbour propelling her into action, maybe she might just take a trip down to the Heartbreak Café and do some more flirting. What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, she decided, going upstairs to choose an eye-catching and suitably flirtatious outfit, something that would make Mr Graphic Design pay close attention.

Twenty minutes later, Catherine stood in front of the mirror and assessed her over-the-top but unmistakably sexy appearance. Matt was away this weekend, so this was the ideal opportunity to put her plan into action.

She smiled. By the time she was finished with him, neighbourly relations would be last thing on Matt Sheridan’s mind.