Page 26 of One Last Gift

“We’ll have to move the Spaldings’ birthday event,” Robert continued.

Cassie frowned. “But the Spaldings have their party here every year.”

“Exactly. So they’ll be more amenable to moving it.”

“But—”

“Enough, Cassie. I’ve made the decision. We cannot lose this anniversary gig—the client is a property developer in London, and if it goes well it could be very good for us. It’s just good business sense.” He leveled a look at her, before turning to slide from the room. “Make it happen,” he called out behind him, before he let the door shut.

Cassie groaned. “What are we going to do?”

Josh shrugged. “Not much we can do. Don’t let it get to you—it’s his fuck-up, not yours. See if the Spaldings will move—hopefully they will.”

“Easier said than done,” Cassie muttered. “It’s just not fair on the Spaldings. And they’re coming all the way from Scotland.”

“Yeah, but, again—not your fault.”

“They’ll think it’s my fault, because Robert will leave me to explain, no doubt.”

“I’ll explain,” Josh said easily. Cassie opened her mouth to say something, but the phone started ringing, and Josh answered in his smooth customer voice. The thing was, it was all very well for Josh to say things like that—he was only doing this temporarily, working here in order to be able to afford his part-time master’s in graphic design, after which he’d no doubt ditch events and go after his dream job. But for Cassie, this was her career. It mattered to her what the guests thought of her and how the events went.

“Cassie?” She glanced over to see Josh gesturing to the phone in his hand. “It’s Linda for you.”

Cassie frowned. Linda was calling her at work? A knot of anxiety tightened in her gut as she picked up her office phone. “Hey, Linda. Is everything OK?” It was hard to keep the panic out of her voice; she couldn’t help but jump to the worst conclusion whenever anyone rang her these days.

“Hello, Cassie love, yes, I’m fine. I’m sorry to worry you. I tried you on your mobile but I couldn’t get through.”

“Oh, sorry. I have it on silent at work.”

“Sensible,” Linda conceded. “So, how are you, everything OK your end?” Linda’s voice was too bright, and Cassie knew that this question was just filler—Linda wouldn’t call her at work without reason.

“What’s wrong, Linda?” she asked firmly. “Has something happened?”

“Well, it’s just…” Linda paused, and Cassie felt her grip tighten on the phone. It couldn’t be that terrible, she told herself. Linda didn’t sound devastated, just on edge. She tried to breathe, felt Josh glancing at her from his side of the room. Maybe he, too, was remembering the last time she’d gotten a call like this. “It’s just, I thought you should know—”

“Thought I should know what?” Cassie didn’t mean to snap, but she couldn’t help it.

“Yes, sorry. It’s the pub.”

“The pub? What about the pub?”

“It’s…I’m going to have to sell it.”

“Sell it?” Cassie asked incredulously, in a way that made Josh look over at her. She gestured at him to indicate she’d fill him in afterward.

This wasn’t what she’d expected. Linda loved that pub. It was her baby. She’d never imagined her selling it—and she hadn’t wanted to. That pub, more than Claire’s house, held so many memories for her. Memories of her childhood—and of Tom.

“Yes, well, sorry, I’m not explaining this very well.” Linda sounded flustered, she realized, and Linda never sounded flustered. “We had some broken pipes, and the pub flooded.”

“Flooded?” Cassie repeatedly dumbly.

“Yes. Last week. It was all a bit of a nightmare—the ground floor was quite literally underwater, and I had to put my wellies on to wade into the kitchen and make sure all the power was off.” Linda laughed, as if trying to make light of it, but Cassie heard the brittleness to it.

“Last week?” Cassie said, realizing she sounded a bit like an echo. “You should’ve told me! I was off yesterday—I would have come down to help.”

“I know you would have, darling,” Linda said softly. “But I wanted to get my own thoughts in gear before I burdened you with them.”

Sell it, she had said. But…“But can’t you just…fix it? Fix the pipe, sort the flooring? You might have to close for a little bit, but you’ll get it back on its feet, I’m sure.”