Page 52 of Gold Digger
“Does reading the room help cut the deal?” Margot asked, and I shrugged. “Be honest. Would most of those deals have progressed if you weren’t there?”
“I don’t?—”
“Well, that’s settled then. Three point three million, minus fifty thousand is three million two hundred and fifty thousand. Shall I transfer that amount to you?”
“Of course not! I?—”
“Okay, we’ll just leave things as they are for now then,” she cut me off briskly. I was starting to see that when it came to getting her own way and being high-handed, Margot was cut from the same cloth as her son.
“I work for Vicky for a set wage,” I said through gritted teeth. “I do not take a share of the profits.”
Margot waved her hand. “Oh well, none of this matters now anyway, seeing as we’re going to be family, and it’s all family money anyway.”
My eyes flew wide at that, and I jerked my head to look at Ollie, who was standing in the hallway with his hands shoved in his pockets and a completely unconcerned smirk on his face.
“F-family?” I said slowly, looking between the dowager and Ollie. The dowager beamed at me.
“No need to be coy, dear,” she said. “Oh, I nearly forgot. Here you are, darling.” She handed Ollie a ring box and I took asharp breath in. Very few people surprise me. I’m always able to predict what they’ll do. Always. But I did not see this coming.
“Thanks, Mum,” Ollie said, grabbing the box from her and then strolling over to me. I took a small step back, but he grabbed my hand to stop me. Before I knew it an antique ring was on the ring finger of my left hand, the sapphire and surrounding diamonds glinting in the sunlight streaming in through the windows.
“What are you doing?” I squeaked. Then looked round his large frame to his mum. “Lady Harding, this is not what it looks like. I?—”
“I know, I know,” she said, waving her hand dismissively. “Fake engagement, yadda yadda. I’ve read enough romance books to know how this works, darling. Let’s just see how it pans out, shall we?” She winked at me then, and I blinked in shock. “Okay, best be off. I’ve got a committee meeting for the fundraiser next week.” She was striding towards me then and didn’t stop coming until we were toe to toe, and she pulled me in for a hug. I thought posh people only air-kissed, but this woman was a good hugger. I hadn’t had a maternal hug in years. Embarrassingly, before I could get a hold of myself, my eyes started to sting. We both pulled back when we heard the library door open. Hayley popped her head out and turned to us.
“It’s okay, Hails,” I said in a shaky voice. I glanced back at Margot, and she was scanning my face with soft eyes. I cleared my throat and blinked to push back the tears, but I was pretty sure she still saw them, especially after her hand came up to pat my cheek and her other hand squeezed mine at my side.
“Right,” she said in a bright voice that was just very slightly choked as she turned to Hayley. “It was nice to see you again, young lady.” She pulled away from me and skirted her son to get to Hayley, crouching down in front of her. Hayley studied her, still wary. When she glanced up at me, I gave her a small nodto say that this was okay. “Have you met my daughter, Vicky?” Hayley nodded slowly. Vicky and Lucy had been coming over to the flat for movie nights regularly for the last few months and treated Hayley like a surrogate niece. “Well, my Vicky wasn’t very chatty when she was little either, but she liked tight hugs. Do you like tight hugs? Sometimes it can be a bit scary to move somewhere, and hugs help us feel better. Would you like a hug, darling?” Hayley bit her lip and took a step back. “Okay, maybe next time.” I could feel the sadness and regret pouring off Margot as she reached out very slowly to Hayley’s face, giving her time to step back again, and tucked her hair behind her ear, which Hayley allowed.
“You’ve very pretty hair, just like your sister. I made your sister sad, didn’t I?” Hayley nodded, and I felt my throat close over. “I’m sorry about that, Hayley.” Her gaze went up to me, “Really, I am so sorry.” Then she looked back at Hayley. “Well, now,mylittle boy, Ollie?—”
That got a snort out of Hayley, who was grinning now, and my heart felt like it stopped beating. Even noises like that were rare from Hayley, especially around people she didn’t trust. And Margot seemed to understand her perfectly.
“He’s still my little boy,” she explained, her eyes twinkling. “He may be twice my size, but he’ll always be my funny little boy with messy hair and missing front teeth who peed himself on stage when he was a shepherd in the preschool nativity.”
“Mum,” Ollie protested, but she ignored him, and to be honest, so did I as just then, Hayley let out a tiny giggle. My hand flew to my mouth. Giggling with anyone but me was unheard of. Unaware of how momentous this was, Margot simply stroked her cheek again and stood up.
“As I was saying, my little boy and I are going to make your sister happy, okay?” Hayley nodded and Margot smiled down at her with a soft expression before hitching her handbag back ontoher shoulder. “Toodle-pip then, darlings,” she singsonged, and swept out of the house.
Chapter 25
No more kissing
Ollie
“Hey, stowaway,” I called across the kitchen. “I can see you there, you know.”
Hayley peeked back round the door again, her big eyes blinking up at me. One side of her hair was poofed out in a massive tangle, the other in her normal waves. She was in her pyjamas with her fluffy unicorn slippers and even fluffier dressing gown, which swallowed her small frame whole.
Lottie had told me last night that Hayley was small for her age. She was certainly a lot smaller than my niece. Lottie was worried she wasn’t eating enough. To be honest, Lottie was worried about a lot of things, not all of which she would admit to me. But after Hayley went to bed last night I’d basically forced Lottie to play chess. Her chosen activity would have been arguing with me about the ring on her finger, but she was tired enough to cave when I put that particular dispute on hold. Her exhaustion, the fish and chips I insisted we ate, and the fact the last few days had been an emotional minefield meant that all her defences were down. So, despite how wary she was of me, a few chess moves and it all came flooding out, including how Hayley stops eating when she’s stressed, and how even when she doeseat she’s fussy. It was another way that Lottie felt like she was failing her sister. She took everything on her shoulders. By the time we’d finished chess, she looked exhausted.
“Hails wakes up early,” she’d told me through a yawn as she stumbled up the stairs, too tired to object to my arm going around her shoulders to practically carry her up. “But don’t worry. I’ll set my alarm to make sure she doesn’t disturb you.” I smiled at her outside her room and shoved my hands in my pockets to stop myself from reaching for her.
“Okay, darling,” I said softly. She blinked at the endearment but then disappeared into her room. An hour later, I pushed open her door to see her fast asleep, looking tiny in the huge bed, her glorious hair spread across the pillow. She didn’t stir at the creaks of the floorboards as I walked over to her beside table, nor did she when I grabbed her phone. Lottie needed sleep, and I was perfectly capable of looking after an eight-year-old girl.
Hayley shuffled into the kitchen, looking around at the huge space with wide eyes. She was clutching a toy pony to her chest like a life preserver.
“So Mrs H isn’t around yet to make breakfast, but you’re in luck. Breakfast is my specialty. You hungry?”
