Page 28 of Heirs and Graces at Highland Hall
Gordon had just dropped Bex outside Lorna’s cottage when her phone rang. With her breath fogging in the cold air, she juggled her bag and her keys to open the door at the same time as answering the phone.
‘Rebecca, glad I got hold of you.’ Nigel’s voice came down the line with its usual briskness. ‘Is now a good time to talk?’
It would have been tempting to say no. After all, she and Gordon had already decided to call it a day – given how Gordon didn’t like working once it was dark – and she had planned on having a long soak in the bath while Lorna was still at work. But it was only four fifteen, and she didn’t want to admit to the drastically shortened working hours she had adopted since coming back up to LochDarroch. Although she doubted Nigel would have said much. He was a good boss like that.
‘Sure,’ she said, clicking the door behind her, well aware that was the only answer she could offer. ‘What’s up?’
‘Well, I got your emails about this not being a quick job.’
‘I know. I’m sorry.’ Bex kicked off her shoes and moved into the living room. ‘I know there’s the Jenkins account to deal with, but Evan said he’d been able to cope with that.’ Bex hadalready sent countless emails to various colleagues distributing her London workload while she was here. An advantage of being one of the bosses now. Even if she wasn’t quite a top boss yet, she still had plenty of people to delegate to.
‘Oh, don’t worry about that,’ Nigel said. ‘Take as long as you need. If I’d known sending you up there would bring in this much business, I’d have had all my staff shipped out across the country.’
Bex frowned as she flicked on the kettle. ‘Sorry, Nigel, I don’t understand.’
‘The company’s acquired three new clients in the past two days. Big ones too. Very big. All recommendations withyourname on them.’
She was used to people recommending her services now and then, but they had always been average-sized clients, if that. Never the sort to warrant this type of reaction from Nigel.
‘Really? Are you sure?’
Nigel chuckled. ‘They said they’d heard about what you’re doing at the castle. Big estate work. Never knew there were so many folks who had places like that and needed our help. Let me tell you, Bex. People have noticed what you’ve done here. People at the top. The very top.’ An excited flutter was building within her, but she was trying to keep a lid on it. After all, Nigel could just be ringing to say thank you. Not that she’d had anything to do with it.
‘And that’s good?’ It all sounded positive, but sometimes it was hard to know.
‘Put it this way. When you come back, that corner office is yours.’
‘What?’ Bex physically jolted as her heart clenched in her chest. ‘Nigel, if you’re messing me around…’
‘I’m not,’ he said firmly. ‘I promise. It should’ve happened before. I got distracted. I’m sorry about that. But I’m serious now. The CEO’s all signed off on it; that corner office is yours.’
Bex could feel her cheeks aching from smiling so hard as she propped herself up on the worktop, her legs suddenly struggling to hold her weight. This was what she’d been working towards all along, and now she had it. She’d finally got it.
Because of this job, she thought. No. She corrected herself. Because of the recommendations. It only took her a moment to work out who was behind them. Kieron, of course. He’d said he’d given the firm’s name to friends who needed help, but she’d assumed he’d just made the comment in passing. She’d certainly never expected something to happen this quickly. First thing tomorrow, she was going to seek him out and thank him.
‘This is amazing, Nigel,’ she said aloud. ‘Absolutely amazing. Thank you. Thank you for ringing me.’
‘Pleasure’s mine,’ her boss said, in a way that made her think he was smiling too. ‘Keep doing what you’re doing up there, okay? Got any plans for the evening? I’m guessing it’s not the ultimate nightlife in the Highlands.’
It took Bex a minute to realise he had asked her a question and was actually expecting an answer. Her mind was already in that corner office, having her choice of clients. Her choice of working hours. Her dream job. ‘Sorry,’ she said, coming back to the moment. ‘No… not much nightlife, but actually, yes, I do have plans. Sort of. Clothes plans.’ She was aware she was babbling, but it was hard to keep her thoughts straight. She needed to thank Kieron. As soon as possible.
‘Well, enjoy them,’ Nigel said, a finality to his tone, like he was ready to end the conversation. ‘But don’t get too comfy. You’ll have to pick out furniture when you get back here.’
‘Yes, yes,’ Bex said, her pulse still hammering against her ribs. ‘Absolutely.’
When she hung up, she continued to stand there, her pulse sky high, her cheeks burning from the constant grin on her face. Rebecca Barker. Junior director. She had done it.
24
Bex rang Daisy from the bath.
‘A corner office,’ she said, for what had to have been the third time at least. ‘And a view of London. Well, maybe not of London exactly, more like the neighbouring office building, but still.’ It was what she’d been working towards, what she’d dreamt of.
‘You deserve it,’ Daisy said. Given the obvious issue of Bex being in the bath, they were not on a video call, though Bex could tell from the clattering in the background that Daisy was packing up the coffee shop on her canal for the day. Again, Daisy wasn’t normally one to finish work early, but Bex suspected it was to do with the weather. And it wasn’t like she and Theo didn’t make up for it in the summer. On hot days when the canal was particularly busy, they’d been known to keep it open for close to twelve hours. It was a dedication that Bex admired, though she knew what it was like when you loved what you were doing. Work just wasn’t quite the same. Even if people never quite understood how anyone could love accounts and numbers the way that Bex did.
‘So, have you seen any of Duncan since you helped him home drunk?’ Daisy asked, taking Bex by surprise. Had she really notspoken to her best friend since then? No, probably not, given everything that had been going on.
‘We went to the café together yesterday,’ she said. ‘It wasn’t a planned catch-up or anything. Ruby wasn’t very well. Actually, I should probably send him a message and ask how she’s doing.’
