Page 52 of Wild About You

I sat down at the kitchen table, staring at the phone. Ignoring him completely wasn’t an option. He was my boss, after all.

Hi,I typed into my phone,sorry I missed your call. Is there something up at the estate?

I sat looking at it for a good three minutes, but no response came.

This was a good thing, I thought to myself. One of my self-help books had made a big deal out of ‘sitting with difficult feelings’, rather than trying to suppress them or (as in my case) eat my way out of them. It was a skill I’d been planning to master and it looked like I was going to get some advanced training in it. So I left the phone next to me and concentrated on writing the award submission, pushing away the difficult thoughts that crowded my head, including the idea of Lucinda and Jamie in bed together.

Two hours later I’d finished the first draft, without a meltdown or a single piece of toast in sight.

My dinner was cooking and I was so absorbed in the book I was reading that when the landline rang next to me, I snatched it up without thinking.

‘Hi Anna.’

I froze at the sound of Jamie’s voice.

‘Anna?’

I cleared my throat. ‘Oh, hi! Hi, sorry, wasn’t expecting it to be you.’

‘Sorry to call out of working hours. I did try calling earlier.’

‘I saw. I’ve been writing the prize submission. I’ll have something for you to see in the next day or so. Can I help you with anything? Nothing’s gone wrong on the estate, has it?’ I had clicked into smooth efficiency and helpfulness.

‘It’s not about Stonemore.’ His voice was crisp. On edge. ‘Lucinda said she saw you this morning.’

I paused. ‘Yes?’

‘I’m sorry if she upset you.’

I felt my stomach take a dive. ‘It’s really no business of mine who you’re sleeping with,’ I blurted out. I had meant the words to sound cheery, but somehow they hadn’t come out like that.

He sighed. ‘I’m not sleeping with her. We’ve had two dates. And she has no responsibility for the running of the estate, or the rewilding project.’

I frowned, thinking of Lucinda: her tousled hair, the white shirt falling off one of her shoulders, the sense of ownership she’d conveyed. And the wordpermanenthad definitely been used at some point. ‘But she’s living at Stonemore now, right? I’m sorry, I’m just confused.’

His voice tightened. ‘No. She came over last night and her car broke down. I’d drunk half a bottle of wine so couldn’t drive her, and she couldn’t raise anyone at the cab company.’

Oh right, I thought.If ever there was a pretend phone call, that was it.

‘Anna?’

I blinked. ‘Sorry, I must have got the wrong impression.’

We sat there in silence. For some reason I didn’t want to hang up, and it seemed he didn’t either.

‘I saw the flowers. Very nice.’ His voice was quiet, even.

I studied the grain on the pine kitchen table. ‘Not really. They’re from my ex. Trying to make amends.’

‘Has it worked?’

‘Nope.’

‘Right.’ He sounded hesitant. ‘So that means we get to keep you a little longer?’

I couldn’t help myself. ‘If you play your cards right.’

I heard him laugh quietly. ‘What do we need to do?’

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