Chapter 52
‘You’re doing what ?’ said Nella.
Over FaceTime from Manchester, Tommy had spent the last ten minutes yakking on besottedly about Juliet and the still-nowhere-near-born baby, sending her photos of the latest 3D scan and asking her if she thought it had inherited his cheekbones. Then, almost as an afterthought, he’d mentioned having had lunch with Jed last week, and when she’d said, ‘Why were you having lunch with Jed?’ he’d replied offhandedly, ‘Because I’m buying him out. He’s selling me the club and the Diamond bars. Which reminds me, I’m going to need you back here once the contracts have been signed and—’
‘ Wait .’ Nella was sitting cross-legged on the emerald grass at the far end of the polo field. Having driven the new female occupants of Pine Lodge over to Tetbury to spend an afternoon at the annual Festival of Polo, she’d left them merrily knocking back Bollinger in the champagne tent and an hour later had watched as, clutching their plastic glasses and shrieking with laughter in their wildly impractical high heels, they’d taken part in the great tradition of treading in the divots whilst no doubt hoping to bump into men who looked as wealthy and handsome as Richard Gere in Pretty Woman .
Hmm, they might have their work cut out for them there.
Meanwhile Nella, rather less glamorously, had been busy taking calls from clients, drafting copy for the website on her phone and arranging for a plumber to get over to the Cedars asap because a small child had evidently blocked one of the toilets by stuffing his sister’s slippers into the U-bend. Welcoming the break when Tommy had called, she’d enjoyed chatting babies with him, but right now the polo ponies were racing up to her end of the field. Hooves thundered against the hard ground and players yelled to each other as their mallets clashed in an attempt to gain control of the ball.
‘Hang on, I can’t hear you.’ Getting to her feet, she backed away from the action on the field. ‘What did you just say about contracts?’
‘We’re going to sign them,’ Tommy repeated.
‘And the other thing?’
‘I need you back here.’
The ponies were now hurtling back in the other direction. This time she heard him loud and clear.
‘What, to witness the signatures? You don’t need me for that.’
‘Not to witness the signatures,’ said Tommy. ‘To work.’
Nella frowned. ‘I don’t know what you mean. How long for?’
‘For good. Come on, Nella, we’re a brilliant team. The best. I don’t want to work with anyone else.’
At the far end of the field, a goal was scored and a great cheer went up. Nella said, ‘But I have a job. You know that.’
‘Leave.’
‘I can’t!’
‘Of course you can. Who would you rather work for, Nick or me?’
‘I like working here!’
‘Let me say it again.’ Slowly he repeated, ‘Who would you rather work for?’
‘I’m happy where I am.’
‘Except you fancy Nick big-time, but you aren’t together because if you do have a fling with him and it all goes tits-up you wouldn’t be able to stay anyway. Because I know you, and I know you couldn’t bear to do that.’
This was true, but it didn’t mean she wanted to hear Tommy point it out. ‘I do not fancy Nick,’ she protested, but it sounded pathetic even to her own ears.
‘You and me, we work so well together,’ Tommy went on, in full-on wheedle mode. ‘You know we do. You can just move back up here and concentrate on the job, no more Nick messing with your mind. How much is he paying you?’
‘Mind your own business.’
‘It is my business, seeing as I’m telling you now I’ll pay you more.’
Typical Tommy. ‘How much more?’
‘See?’ He laughed. ‘You’re tempted already. I’ll let you wonder about that. I mean, really, what’s better? Living in the centre of a buzzing city with everything you could ever want around you, or in some godforsaken village in the back of beyond with only one decent pub in it? Right, have to go, you think it over. Bye.’
His face disappeared from the screen. This was the way Tommy operated. He liked to lob a grenade into the conversation and catch you off guard, then leave you with it.
The ponies were now thundering back to Nella’s end of the field. Mallets were swung wildly as the ball was knocked from one player to the next. Crackkk , one of the mallets made perfect contact, sending the ball rocketing across the ground and between the posts. Above the triumphant roar of the crowd the commentator bellowed, ‘ Goal! ’ over the tannoy and Nella’s phone screen simultaneously lit up once more, this time signalling the arrival of a text from Tommy.
Just spoke to Juliet. You need to ask Nick how much notice you’d have to give him. Do it asap so I can start making arrangements.
Again this was classic Tommy, refusing to take no for an answer despite the fact that she hadn’t even said no yet. On the field, the final whistle blew, but there was still another match to come before the festival finished for the day. Over in the main arena, Nella was able to make out her clients in their bright summer dresses – tangerine, zingy yellow, electric blue and watermelon pink – clustered around a stall selling freshly made pizzas.
A memory returned to her of being back in Manchester last summer, devouring slices of pizza in the park one Sunday with Trish, who’d been idly considering a change of job because her office only had a tiny window with a view of the brick wall opposite. When she’d made her feelings known to her boss, who hadn’t wanted to lose her, he’d instantly offered her a bigger office with a picture window, a new spinny chair and a key to the fancy executive bathroom on the seventh floor.
As Trish had smugly remarked at the time, it never did any harm to give people the opportunity to realise how great you were at your job.
Taking a swallow of slightly warm water from the bottle sitting in the sun beside her, Nella pictured the glamorous Diamond bars, the exclusive clubs and buzzy nightlife of central Manchester.
The thing was, the city didn’t have Nick in it. Starbourne did. And returning to village life with its beauty and genuine sense of community had made her realise how much she loved it.
Five minutes later, she tapped out a quick message on her phone, then took a deep breath and pressed send.
There, done.
Less than a minute after that, she saw the dancing dots on the screen and knew that Nick was replying to her.
Her stomach clenched and her mouth grew dry as she realised he might be about to tell her that if she was making plans to move on, she may as well pack her bags and leave tonight.
And it would serve her right.