Page 89 of Kiss Me Like You Mean It

This is exactly why this whole mess is so complicated.

‘Really it’s no problem,’ Lee says smoothly. ‘I’m only sorry we weren’t at our best.’

Charles gives a thin smile. ‘I’m not here for your best, Ms Turner-Jones. Just as an impartial third party observer. It would be helpful if you continued to live as you usually do.’

‘Is this the sort of work you usually do?’ I ask, leaning back in my chair and crossing my arms. I know I sound belligerent, but I can’t help it.

‘No.’ Charles fixes his steady gaze on me. ‘However, your father was one of our most valued clients, and he made the request personally before his death. These are exceptional circumstances, and as we continue to act in the interests of the estate, your brother—’

‘Half-brother,’ I correct him, because I can probably count on one hand the number of times I’ve spoken to Ward – or his younger brother Rupert – since my parents’ divorce.

‘Your half-brother,’ Charles tilts his head in acknowledgement, ‘the new duke, considers it a priority and is keen to resolve this matter as soon as possible.’ He gives me a significant look from under his brows.

‘As are we,’ Lee says, placing a warning hand on my knee before I can say what I think about the new duke and his priorities. The man who employs Charles Saunders has every reason to want me to fail. It hardly seems like a fair deal.

‘Please,’ she continues, ‘do let us know if there’s anything we can do to be of assistance while you’re here. I’ve compiled all the documents relating to our marriage and the housing agreement with Magda, as well as the paperwork from Phoebe’s school, should you require copies of those.’

She has? I feel steadier, just listening to her talk, and there might even be a glimmer of approval in Charles’s eyes. My super-organised wife. Now that she’s had time to prepare, she’s playing the part beautifully – even without the shoulder pads.

‘Thank you,’ Charles manages to say, before Rita comes bustling over.

‘Lee, Nico!’ she exclaims, several decibels too loud. ‘My very favourite married couple! Who do we have here?’

She turns and wags her finger at Charles.

‘You must be new, everyone around here knows better than to interrupt these two when they’re canoodling. Still like a pair of newlyweds, one year in! I ALWAYS say that their love for each other is like something OUT OF A ROMANCE NOVEL.’ She’s yelling directly into his face by the end of this tirade.

I can feel my eye twitching as Lee jumps in to make the introductions.

‘How are you liking our town, in which both Lee and Nico are pillars of the community?’ Rita asks casually.

‘It’s charming,’ Charles declares. ‘And the people have been making me feel very welcome. Magda and Phoebe took me for breakfast at Bean & Gone, and the owner was extremely friendly. She seemed quite keen to talk about Nico’s volunteer work.’

‘My…’ I trail off.

‘With the ORPHANS,’ Rita jumps in.

A frown puckers Charles’s brow. ‘I understood it was something to do with rehoming animals?’

Rita’s eyes widen and she sneaks a look at the phone clasped in her hand. ‘Oh,’ she mutters, ‘I thought we’d agreed…’ Her head snaps up and her smile broadens. ‘The PUPPIES. Of course. But so many of them are orphans, aren’t they, Nico?’

‘I—’ I look at Lee in desperation.

‘Taco, who you met this morning, is one of the dogs that Nico took a special interest in,’ she jumps in and I nod. This isn’t even a lie. I am very interested in Taco. I love that little shit, and I guess as a stray it’s possible he is an orphan… well, was. I’m his father now.

‘Yes, he’s a very interesting… dog,’ Charles says doubtfully. ‘My ex-wife had one a bit like him, a sweet, simple creature.’

I bristle at this. Taco is not simple. If anything, he’s too clever for typical training methods. They’re not challenging him enough. I’m ninety per cent certain that if I really tried I could teach him how to read.

Fortunately, while I’ve been internally raging over this slight towards my dog, the conversation has moved on. ‘… Ern showed me a significant number of different hammers despite my explaining that I had very little experience with DIY.’ Charles sounds bemused now. ‘Honestly, I had no idea there were so many, but he was certainly very passionate and knowledgeable on the subject. He must have spoken about them for a solid fifteen minutes.’

I wonder how many times Ern said yes, and.

‘That’s Ern!’ Rita manages. ‘He’s always been very… passionate… about… hammers.’ The woman is undoubtedly about to start giggling, so it’s lucky that Charles says his goodbyes, reiterating that we’ll hear from his assistant in the coming days.

‘In the meantime, I wouldn’t worry,’ he says. ‘I’ll be keeping a low profile. Just a fly on the wall. You’ll hardly know I’m here.’ Again he gives me another significant look.

‘Great,’ I agree, even though that actually sounds very creepy.