Page 41 of Coming Home to Roseford Villas
Andrew nodded. ‘And in that time, you’ve not taken a day’s leave. Given your, er, medical circumstances, I’d say that was very admirable.’
‘I try to take care of myself,’ Leo replied. ‘There’s no reason why I should suffer any ill effects so long as I’m aware of my own limitations.’
‘And yet…’ Andrew paused. ‘Forgive me if I’m overstepping the bounds here, Leo, but you don’t seem awfully happy.’ He held up a hand as Leo started to interrupt. ‘Don’t get me wrong – your work, dozing off in this morning’s meeting notwithstanding, has been superb. Everything we’d been led to expect from your references, in fact. But here at Palmer, Dennis and Wright, we have a keen eye for the welfare of our colleagues. You stay late, you get in early, you keep a tidy desk… but how is your life, Leo, away from here? What’s there for you to make you stay? How are you,really?’
Leo’s eyes burned at the unexpected intimacy of the question. He and Andrew had become friendly over the time he’d been working at the company, and although Leo couldn’t forget that Andrew was his boss, he’d felt a connection between them that had made his transition back into the legal world easier. Drinks had been shared, and camaraderie had developed. Leo knew Andrew was a details man, and here he was, sitting opposite him, letting him know in the gentlest terms that he saw behind Leo’s carefully created façade.
Realising he hadn’t answered the question, Leo swallowed hard and met Andrew’s gaze with the most determined stare he could. ‘I’m fine,’ he said firmly. ‘It took a while to find my feet here, but I’m glad to be part of the team.’ Friend or not, Leodidn’t feel as though he could confide how he was feeling to Andrew right now.
Andrew looked back at him, and Leo knew the other man was assessing what he saw. The man was no fool: you didn’t get to be a partner in a firm such as this by ignoring the little things, but Leo was determined not to give anything away.
‘You know, if there are things on your mind, you can always come to me. If I can’t help, I’m sure I can point you in the direction of someone who can.’
Leo swallowed harder this time. He couldn’t handle kindness at the moment, not with the thoughts that were turning around and around in his head. He was still so uncertain of things, and didn’t really know how to articulate his fears to Andrew.
‘I appreciate that, Andrew,’ he said quietly. ‘I guess it’s just taking me a while to feel settled again.’
Andrew smiled at him, and then stood back up. ‘We’re here if you need us,’ he said. ‘You’re not alone, Leo. You’re part of a team, and we look after each other here.’
‘Thank you,’ Leo said. He watched as Andrew paused for a fraction, and then turned and left his office, closing the door behind him. Leo let his head drop into his hands. He felt the overwhelm encroaching behind his skull again, making his heart race and his skin prickly with adrenaline. Forcing himself to breathe a little more deeply, but not so heavily he would hyperventilate, he tried to push back the feelings of panic that he could feel rising in his chest. Over two months without a break were beginning to take their toll, and he still couldn’t get the idea of Roseford Villas being sold out of his head. Focusing on the steady in-out-in-out of his breathing for another sixty seconds or so, he raised his head and, with trembling fingers, drafted an email.
49
Rory tidied up after a successful morning’s work, on day three of the romance writing course, and let out a long breath. Two-and-a-bit days of teaching, reading, giving feedback and working on some of her own plot lines had been happily exhausting. This afternoon the group would play host to a very special visitor, in the form of Shona Simmonds, and Rory was very much looking forward to seeing her again. It was Shona who’d advised her to go for it with her own writing, and she was excited to show her how far she’d come since their last encounter.
Shona had stayed the night at Margaret Treloar’s home on the outskirts of Roseford Hall, and Simon was bringing her over to Halstead House after lunch for an intimate session with the budding romantic novelists. Rory was buzzing with excitement as much as her small group of students was.
After a light lunch, the group reassembled in the writing space on the first floor of Halstead House, to await their illustrious guest. Rory felt the butterflies returning as she heard Shona’s dulcet tones emanating from the hallway. She’d been gradually conquering her nerves during the past forty-eight hours, but now, faced with Shona Simmonds, who was undoubtedly the real deal, she felt like an imposter again.
She needn’t have worried. Shona’s all-encompassing smile took in the assembled writers sitting around the conference table, one end of which had been laid with tea and cake, and everyone felt the warmth. And when Shona’s eyes alighted on Rory, they gave a twinkle of recognition.
‘Our special guest this afternoon needs absolutely no introduction…’ Rory began, and then proceeded to do just that. Shona settled herself in a comfy chair, just as she had at her gig at RoseFest, and the afternoon was away. With a brief stop for cake, by the end of the afternoon, all of the course attendees felt it had been worth every penny.
As Shona began to wind up, Stella appeared at the doorway, ready to escort her back to Simon, who had been chatting with Stella and Chris.
‘Rory, can you just come down to the kitchen with me?’ Stella asked as Rory began to clear away the tea things.
‘Sure,’ Rory replied. She walked across the room with Shona, who was slightly slower on her feet. When Rory reached Stella, her friend whispered, ‘Thought you might like a breather, and a couple of minutes alone with Shona, since you’ve been flat out all day.’
‘Thanks.’ Rory smiled. She waited for Shona to catch up, and then, as they walked down the stairs, asked Shona how she’d found the afternoon.
‘Oh, very lovely,’ Shona replied. ‘Of course, I can’t do too many of these things, these days, but it’s always nice when I do.’
Rory was well aware that Shona’s health wasn’t great, which made this visit all the more special. She made a mental note to repeat her thanks to Simon for facilitating it.
‘I remember when we first met at Roseford Hall,’ Shona said. ‘When you were so full of hope and enthusiasm, and you askedme for my best piece of advice for a new writer. You were with that good-looking fella. How did that all work out?’
Rory sighed. ‘The book? Pretty well. I finished it, and it’s on submission now. The fella… not so well.’
‘Oh?’ Shona raised an eyebrow. ‘Shame. He seemed to think very highly of you.’
‘In the end, it wasn’t enough,’ Rory replied. ‘Too much water under the bridge for it to work. We weren’t who we thought we were.’
‘Such wonderful clichés,’ Shona observed dryly. ‘I do hope your book is better written than that.’ She paused on the stairs and regarded Rory with a shrewd eye. ‘I’ve usually got an instinct for these things. Comes of years of writing about love. You learn to recognise it in the real world, too.’
‘If only that were the case,’ Rory said. ‘I feel absolutely deaf, dumb and blind in that regard. Leo… Leo tends to do that to me. He makes me suspend my better judgement.’
‘Or maybe he encourages you to take risks with your heart,’ Shona said.
