Page 16 of Wild About You

I came to when I felt a hand on my wrist, and opened my eyes to see Jamie. He was leaning round the seat, gently shaking my wrist. As I opened my eyes and stared at him in surprise, he pulled his hand away as though he’d been burned. ‘Your phone,’ he said.

It was buzzing on the seat beside me.

Sean’s name, in white font on black. I stared at it.

‘Shouldn’t you get it?’ Jamie glanced back at me, frowning.

I hit answer.

‘Anna? It’s Sean.’

I swallowed hard. ‘Hi.’

‘Are you okay? I thought we were going to speak.’

‘I’m fine. There’s been a situation at work. I’ll call soon.’

He tried to interrupt me but I was having none of it. ‘Okay, well—’

‘No Sean, not now.’ I saw Jamie and Callum glance at each other. I heard, and felt, the beat of silence. Had I ever said no to Sean before? I spoke into the silence. ‘I’ll call you later. Bye.’ I hung up.

I tried hard to look calm, and tucked the phone away in my pocket. We took the rest of the journey in silence. I was pleased to see the house. ‘Civilisation,’ I announced, and saw Callum’s mouth twitch in amusement.

As we clambered out of the Land Rover, I wondered what Tally would say the next morning. ‘I guess I’ll get some teasing tomorrow,’ I said.

‘Work from home,’ Jamie said. ‘And don’t push yourself. Make any phone calls you need to make.’

‘It’s fine,’ I said. ‘I’m fine.’

‘Don’t make me use my Hugo voice.’

Was he actually being… nice? I ventured a glance at his face. Nope, he was gazing over the top of my head at the middle distance, as if our conversation was boring him to death. ‘Thank you,’ I said quietly. ‘I’ll get my laptop.’

‘And,’ he lowered his voice as Callum jumped out and checked the wheels. ‘You sounded pretty angry with him, whoever he is.’

I gaped at him. What a cheek! To openly listen in to my conversation.

‘Maybe write him a letter,’ he said, his gaze cool and even. ‘The kind you don’t send.’

I gave him a tight smile but was luckily spared from replying by Callum arriving at my side.

‘I’ll give you a lift home, Anna,’ he said. ‘Grab your stuff and jump back in.’

CHAPTER 7

The next morning, as I descended the creaky stairs, padded my way across the cold flagstones and flipped the kettle switch on to make tea, I decidednotto work from home. I was ready to begin the rewilding strategy for Stonemore Estate. Ready to deal with Tally’s snarky ‘jokes’. Definitely ready to spend more time with Callum, the man who had saved me from exposure on a hillside. Revitalised.

Plink. Sean.

Anna, can we—

Delete, because deleting him was a kind of ‘no’, wasn’t it? I had to move on from the past. Give myself some tough love.

Although, perhaps he’d cottoned on that I’d taken one of his sweatshirts, which I occasionally wore when I was feeling particularly sorry for myself.

Tally looked cheery when I went into the office. She was wearing red lipstick which must have taken her an age to apply and a houndstooth suit that made her look like Jackie Kennedy circa 1962. Meanwhile I was lowering the bar again: jeans, fleece, enormous waxed jacket, barely brushed hair.

I’d just logged into my computer and made a round of teas when Callum popped his head around the corner. ‘Anna, can I have a word?’

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