Page 18 of A Winter Wish

“I don’t know, Ange. Did Theo tell you…I mean, we’ve sort of agreed I should take a back seat for the year, and he might feel like this is stepping on his toes. I appreciate the offer, really, I do, but—”

“Your dad left the company to both of you, Lexie.” Ange was good at the stern voice, you had to give her that. It was enough to make Lexie stop her protests. “Now, I know you have a life, and I know you have commitments in Austria, but the least you could do as an owner of the company is see what we’re all about. I’ve booked you into the hotel and Mike has arranged the itinerary so you can join in.”

“I—”

“The contract is very clear, from what I understand. You must both participate in the running of the business while you own it.”

Lexie said nothing. Was Ange threatening her? Suggesting that she’d report Lexie if she didn’t go on this trip? But she wouldn’t go through with it, even if it was a threat; Lexie was sure of that. Almost sure.

The water covering the pasta started boiling over the pan, and Lexie turned the heat down quickly. “Look, Ange, I’m in the middle of something. I’ll call you back, OK?” If in doubt, play for time.

“Wonderful. I’ve got your email address from Theo. I’ll send everything over to you.”

“That’s not to say I—” But Ange had hung up.

—

Later, once the girls were in bed, Lexie called Fran.

“She just wants me to drop everything and head to France at the drop of a hat—I mean, can you believe that?”

“We-ll,” Fran said, drawing out the word, “you said yourself that things were boring when the girls aren’t there.”

“Yes, but…” Lexie let out an impatient breath. “That’s not the point, is it?” She leaned against one of the French doors. It was dark outside, but you could still just about make out the mountains in the glow of the nearby bar lights.

“As far as I can tell she’s offering a free holiday—why not take it?”

“I doubt it’ll really be free. She’ll rope me into something, I’m sure of it. I’d admire her for the way she gets things done if she wasn’t currently using that ability against me.”

“Look, I know you don’t want to get involved in the company, but she’s right—shouldn’t you at least find out more about it, before you sell it? The more informed you are, the more you can make sure you get what you deserve in a sale. And wasn’t it partly that guy—?”

“Theo.” She said his name like a growl.

“Right, Theo. Wasn’t it him making life difficult that put you off in the first place?”

“It wasn’t only about him.” Richard’s name hung in the balance—but Fran had been tactfully avoiding talking about him, no doubt waiting for Lexie to be the one to bring it up. Something that Lexie appreciated.

“Still. He won’t be there, will he?”

“No,” Lexie said slowly. “Ange said Mike would show me around. He’s another director, but I haven’t met him yet.”

Lexie let the curtains fall over the French doors. Inside, the fire was crackling in the corner and Lexie was warm enough to be walking around on the wooden floors barefoot. And she needed to walk right now. There was a curdling in her stomach making her jittery, and she wasn’t totally sure where it was coming from.

“I’m just saying, it’s a free trip to France. I’d take it.”

Lexie walked to the kitchen, opened the fridge. There was still half a bottle of that fancy white wine Nicole liked to drink sitting there, open. Nicole had offered her a glass last night—would she mind if Lexie poured herself one now?

Fuck it. She got down a glass, unstoppered the wine. She could always replace it, if need be. It would only cost a week’s worth of wages.

It was the idea of going on one of her dad’s trips, she realized. That’s where the jittery feeling was coming from. She’d spent a lot of time stewing over being left with half a company to run and feeling like she was set up to fail, and a lot of time being pissed at Theo, but she had tried not to think too much about her dad, and what he’d built. Tried to push away the fact that it all came from a tradition he’d started with her when she was a kid, only to drop her when he found something better. And she’d done a pretty good job of that, so far—staying focused on the practicalities of it all. So she wasn’t sure she wanted to be confronted with it face on like this. She didn’t want to condone what he had done by going on this trip.

“Maybe you should make a list of pros and cons,” Fran was saying. “For going to France, I mean.”

“Sure, I’ll get right on that.” She poured herself a glass of the wine, took a sip. And yes, it was nice—but she honestly couldn’t tell the difference between this and a good supermarket Sauvignon. “Anyway, tell me how you are. How’s work?”

“Urgh, work is work, let’s not talk about it. I don’t think I realized how boring being a solicitor would actually be. And I convinced myself it would get better once I moved up the levels a bit, but here I am, up the levels, and it’s still just as bad.”

“Yes, must be terrible earning all that money.”