Page 41 of Thrown

He thought about the way Toby nearly carried him home after the pub and the way things had felt so sweet between them. He didn’t want to think about how that had all ended.

“They were fine,” he said, turning away from his dad with the intention of cleaning up his studio a bit.

He couldn’t drag his eyes away from Toby, though. It looked like he and Duckworth were arguing. Robbie frowned in concern.

“Just fine?” his dad asked.

Again, Robbie’s reaction was delayed, but when he glanced to his dad, he caught him grinning.

Robbie’s frown deepened. “Have you been talking to Rhys? Don’t go making up things, Dad,” he said. “Toby and I are just?—”

His false protest was cut off as Duckworth broke away from Toby and marched back into the studio, a tight smile on his face and something a lot sharper in his eyes.

“Sorry about that,” he said. “How about we sit down and sign a few papers, hmm?”

Robbie glanced past Duckworth to where Toby still stood in the hall, looking like someone had hit him in the head with a bat.

“I need to speak to the entire family about this first,” his dad replied to Duckworth. “This isn’t the sort of decision that can be made in a day.”

“I understand perfectly. Take all the time you need,” Duckworth said. “But I can assure you, this is a deal of a lifetime. You don’t want to pass it up.”

Robbie only half heard the drivel Duckworth was spouting. It was as clear as ever to him that Duckworth was nothing more than a salesman, and that the thing he was selling wasn’t something Robbie wanted.

What he wanted stood out in the hallway, a frown on his face, like he was thinking through a particularly sticky problem. Robbie would have given anything to know what Toby was thinking just then.

Then again, it probably didn’t have anything to do with him. Toby was nothing if not focused on the job he’d been hired to do.As much as it stung Robbie to not be the center of Toby’s current focus—which was ridiculous, really, since they both needed to keep their focus on what really mattered, Hawthorne House—he was glad, at least, that Toby was working for them.

“Like I said, I need to consult with the family first.” Dad’s statement pulled Robbie out of his thoughts. “We should be able to get back to you by the end of the day.”

Dad clapped a hand on Duckworth’s arm and steered him back toward the hall.

When Robbie looked again, Toby was already gone. He tried not to be disappointed.

“Come up to the meeting room as soon as you can,” Dad said to Robbie over his shoulder as he and Duckworth left the room. “I’m going to gather the others right away so we can discuss this new development.”

Robbie almost laughed at how businesslike his dad sounded. It was so unlike him that Robbie almost wondered if his dad was having a laugh at Duckworth’s expense.

Then again, people didn’t tend to joke around when two hundred and fifty million pounds was on the table.

That thought had Robbie bristling with energy that he put towards cleaning up the studio. He had a class in less than an hour, no matter what happened with the family meeting, and he needed everything to be set for that. It was one of his adult classes that morning, which, because of the hour, was mostly retirees. They would be able to get themselves started if he was a little late, but that meant he needed to have the room ready for them.

It took a good ten minutes for him to put away the bowls he’d been making, to clean up his wheel, and to set supplies out on the tables for the class project. He didn’t bother cleaning himself up more than washing his hands and removing his apron before heading out to go upstairs for the meeting.

His focus was so intense that when he crossed into the front hallway, turning to head up the stairs, Keith’s greeting of, “Hey, Robbie. I’m glad I ran into you this morning,” nearly startled the life out of him.

Robbie jerked around, spotting Keith walking toward him from the office. As always, Keith looked like the picture of elegance and perfection, even though he only wore a pair of jeans and a plain, blue shirt. It set off the blue in his eyes and made his smile seem bright.

But Keith’s eyes weren’t the same, deep shade of blue of Toby’s eyes. His smile wasn’t half as genuine or filled with life as Toby’s either. In fact, as Keith came close enough to greet Robbie with a hug, glancing briefly at the smears of clay on his jeans and the arm of his t-shirt, it struck Robbie that Keith didn’t have the same feeling of life and excitement that Toby had.

“You’re looking well,” Keith told him, stepping back and taking another look.

There was something hungry and unexpected in that look. It reminded Robbie of the beginning of their relationship, when the two of them hadn’t been able to take their eyes or their hands off each other.

“So are you,” he said, nodding.

“I guess it’s all that lovely, Staffordshire air,” Keith went on, his smile turning warm.

Robbie couldn’t quite figure out where Keith was going with the conversation, or with the flirty smile. His thoughts were already down the hall, in the family’s meeting room.

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