Page 77 of Wild About You

I looked up as the cream-coloured envelope landed on my desk in front of me.

It was Jamie. He was dressed for the outdoors, in acheck cotton shirt and indigo jeans speckled with mud, his hair uncharacteristically ruffled. He’d been spending a lot of time outside, either in the beagle enclosure or at Belheddonbrae. I was forever seeing him at a distance striding around the grounds. Whenever I saw him I ran away, even if I was mid-task and it meant startling whoever I was working with.

I took my headphones off and looked past his left shoulder. ‘What’s this?’

‘We’re shortlisted for the Acorn Prize. The awards ceremony is in London in six weeks.’

His expression was unreadable – he looked neither happy nor sad, and his blue eyes were blank and cool. I felt a brief shimmer of gladness at our success, satisfaction at a job well done. But it was immediately cancelled out by a wave of sadness.

‘That’s brilliant,’ I said. ‘Congratulations to you and Callum.’

‘It’s down to you,’ he said. ‘And whether we win or not, this will put Stonemore on the map as an estate serious about conservation. There’ll be profiles in the press, and a big networking event the day before the ceremony.’

‘And you and Callum will be brilliant,’ I said, with my best magnanimous smile.

‘Callum will be staying here.’

‘No!’ I said. I heard movement behind me and Callum appeared, nodding and vaping furiously.

‘Can’t stand the big smoke, Anna.’

‘And you’ll be within your notice period and can come.’ Jamie’s face was expressionless.

‘I’m quite sure you don’t need me,’ I said, starting to type again. Anything other than looking at him.

‘It’s non-negotiable. I’m going to line up private meetings with some funders looking at investing in our project. Quite apart from the press we’ll be doing, and the networking event. We’ll need a full team.’

‘But not Callum?’ I raised an eyebrow.

‘I like to play to my staff’s strengths,’ he said crisply. ‘So it will be you, me and either Fiona or Tobias.’ He glanced at Fi. ‘Whichever you prefer. Roshni is going to arrange for us to have one of her company’s corporate apartments for a reduced fee.’

‘I’m coming with you!’ cried Fi. I looked doubtfully at her baby bump, but there wasn’t a flicker of doubt on her face. ‘I’ve seen those apartments – they’re lush. It can be my last big fling in the city and I can stock up on tiny shampoos in the luxury bathroom.’

‘With my blessing, babe,’ said Tobias. ‘I can go to London any time.’

‘That’s settled then.’ Jamie turned such a look on me that I glared back and was satisfied to see his jaw flex.

‘By the way,’ he said. ‘I’ve noticed there are some changes to the planting scheme for Belheddonbrae. I saw the new plan in the potting shed – Mica showed me. These haven’t been cleared with me, have they?’

‘No.’ I kept my eyes focused on my keyboard. ‘I went to the archive. There was an old planting plan. From 1985.’

I glanced up and saw the date reverberate in his eyes. The year his parents had married.

‘I can send it to you. I believe,’ I kept my eyes from his face, ‘your mother wanted to incorporate some of the flowers from her wedding bouquet into the planting plan. As a kind of reference to the wedding. I thought you might appreciate some of those being included. I apologise – I should have cleared it with you.’

When I looked up at him, he was staring at me. There was something about the way he was holding himself, the still aspect of his face, that made me realise he was struggling to hold his emotions in. That he couldn’t speak.

‘J!’ Lucinda bounced in and placed a kiss on his cheek. ‘Here you are! I have things to discuss with you.’ She twined her arms around his torso and I felt every muscle in my body tense.

He nodded silently and went with her, Hugo weaving around his feet worriedly.

And now I was going to be sharing an apartment with him. This notice period just got better and better.

That night I had a glass of wine after dinner, and before I knew it, I was packing; if randomly throwing possessions into cardboard boxes can be called packing. My phone chimed regularly with excited messages from Fi.

We can relive our dancing days in London. Or, you can dance and I can watch with my feet up. Or, we can go for a bottomless afternoon tea.

My responses mainly consisted of smiling emojis for a reason. Emojis worked where my words didn’t. I’d been doing pretty well in my opinion, but when Lucinda shrieked with delight at something Jamie had said and wrapped herself around him like a car around a lamppost, I felt a stab of sexual jealousy so piercing that it had taken my breath away.

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