Page 31 of The Black Trilogy

“My father was good at writing software, but he wasn’t much of a businessman. He’d take out loans and use them to make bad investments.” A roll of the eyes. “Really bad investments, like a vineyard in the Outer Hebrides. When I took over, the company was nearly broke. I wrote new programs, revamped the marketing, and diversified to bring in more cash.”

“Good going.”

He gave me a small smile. “It is now. I had a lot of sleepless nights in the beginning, though. And now I’m in the process of expanding overseas. We’ve been getting more American customers, and it’s got to the stage we need an office over there. The time difference is killing me right now—too many late-night phone calls.”

He stifled a yawn as if for effect, then apologised.

“Whereabouts are you planning to open the office?” I asked.

“I need to decide between California and Virginia. California’s better known in the tech industry, but the education system in Virginia’s pushing that way too. That means plenty of workforce availability, and there are some good tax breaks for investing there right now.”

Virginia. My home. I could certainly vouch for the state being a good place to start a company because I’d done it myself. Not only was the state government supportive of new business, the proximity to Washington, DC and New York meant a lot of key players were within easy travelling distance. But I couldn’t have an intelligent conversation with Luke about corporate affairs because as an ex-nobody, I wouldn’t be expected to know about those sorts of things.

Instead, I settled for, “I used to live in Virginia. It’s got a good track record for employment and, from what I read in the papers, you’re right about the government support packages for new companies.”

If only I was being me instead of Ashlyn, I could have offered him more help. After all, I had numerous investments in property and businesses in Virginia, and some of those were tech-based.

“I’m still at the planning stage at the moment. I’ll need to take a trip out there in the next few months for meetings.”

Where would I be in a few months? Would I feel well enough to go home? And what about the man who’d threatened me? Old me wanted to gut him like a fish, but new me figured crawling under my duvet and squashing the pillow over my head would be the best course of action. And today, new me won the toss.

But I didn’t want to stay at Hazelwood Farm forever. I was still pondering my options when Luke changed the subject, unfortunately back to me. Gah.

“So, what brought you to Lower Foxford specifically?”

“Uh, the bus?”

“No, seriously.”

“I am being serious. It was the last stop on the bus route I randomly ended up taking when the train I flipped a coin for broke down.”

Now he laughed. “Strange how an arbitrary decision can lead to a new course for your life, isn’t it?”

Wasn’t that the truth? Fourteen years ago, I’d made an arbitrary decision to steal a wallet and ended up meeting my husband. Funny the hands that life dealt you, wasn’t it? I just hoped Lower Foxford wouldn’t turn out to be a complete bust when it came to helping me back to normality.

An interruption from the waitress, asking if our food was okay, allowed me to sidestep further questions. Time to find out more about Luke.

“Have you lived round here for long?”

“My whole life. Mother and Tia still live in the house where I grew up.”

“Weren’t you lonely in such a small place?”

I’d grown up in London, and while I didn’t have family, I’d had acquaintances.

“Not really. I was one of those weird kids who actually liked school, and I made plenty of friends there. Sometimes I thought it would be nice to have a brother to hang out with, but the stork never delivered.”

“You got Tia instead.” The booby prize.

“Yeah. She was a surprise to all of us.” He gave a long sigh and his fork clattered onto his plate. “I worry about her.”

“In what way?”

“Mother’s got no interest in her at all. She thinks money buys love, and Tia doesn’t know anything else. Yeah, I know I should spend more time with my sister, but things are…difficult.” He took the last bite of his meal. “You don’t need to hear all my personal problems.”

I took the hint and looked at my watch. “About time we got back to Samara, anyway. Thanks for lunch—it was good to get away from the farm for a while.”

“Yeah, it was. Honestly, you’re not what I was expecting. I’m surprised someone like you is mucking out horse stables for a living.”

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