11. Chapter Eleven
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Mabel eyed the closed bathroom door and lowered her voice another notch. It was two in the morning, and Colin was sleeping peacefully in bed while she was trying to talk Joss out of his latest hissy fit. And why she was even doing that when she’d sworn not to was beyond her…
“Look, I can send you my basic analysis of what I’d do if I was working on the project. You can use that as a template when you make a new hire.”
“If you’re going to do that, you might as well be on the team,” Joss insisted. “This is just pure laziness on your part.”
Iko gently cleared his throat. “Joss, stop bullying her, okay? She doesn’t owe you or any of us a thing.”
Joss ignored him and continued, “I mean, why are you even staying in England? They aren’t even tech worthy.”
“If you don’t stop shouting at me right now, I’m ending the call,” Mabel said evenly. “You’re behaving like a spoiled brat.”
“I’m not the one being—”
His voice suddenly cut off and Iko spoke instead.
“Hey, Mabel? I shut off his link. He’s being a jerk. If you want to send me that info, I can put it to good use. Do you remember my friend Shakira? She’d be brilliant in this role.”
“Thank you, Iko,” Mabel said. “I’d be happy to do that.” She paused for a second. “You and Deepak don’t hate me, do you?”
“Nope.” Deepak joined the chat for the first and probably last time.
“Of course, we don’t,” Iko said. “Joss is out of line. I’ll deal with him. You’re okay with me mentioning the project to Shakira?”
“Please go ahead. And if she needs to chat, just send her my way.” Mabel blew out a breath and sat on the edge of the massive bathtub. “Is anything particularly weird going on with Joss right now?”
“In my opinion, he’s hanging out with too many billionaires and getting jealous of their piles of money,” Iko said. “And he insists Sammy deserves nice things, and that their wedding will cost millions, but she doesn’t strike me as the kind of person who wants any of that. I think it’s all Joss.”
Mabel raised her eyebrows, interested in Iko’s take. He rarely strung so many words which weren’t in code together at once.
“I agree,” she said. “Sam’s very down to earth. I wonder if Joss has run all this by her? I can’t exactly text and ask her.”
“Why not?” Iko asked with all the confidence of a person who’d never been in a relationship. “You’re a girl. It would be better coming from you.”
“I’m Joss’s ex.”
There was a longish pause.
“I still don’t get it.”
“Because—” Mabel considered her options and how long she wanted this call to last. “Trust me, it wouldn’t work.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll send that blueprint to you,” Mabel said. “Let me know what you think and whether Shakira would be interested.”
“Will do.” Iko had obviously exceeded his conversational limits.
“Speak to you soon,” Mabel added.
“Okay, bye.”
She spent a few moments attaching the files to Iko’s email and sending them before turning off her phone.
Silence settled around her like a warm winter fleece.
She closed her eyes and wallowed in the quietness and comfort.
There were no streetlights destroying the beauty of the night sky, no sirens, and nothing more sinister than the occasional hoot of an owl.
Mabel wandered over to the large window and looked at the almost full moon.
Colin never seemed to bother to close the blinds or drapes, and she’d soon followed suit.
She couldn’t imagine being back in Santa Clara, meeting with investors, trying to climb the increasingly fraught and narrowing ladder to success.
She’d succeeded more than once. Looking up at those dangerous heights from where she stood now, she didn’t want to risk it again, and more importantly she didn’t need to.
There. Mabel let out a breath. She’d finally admitted it to herself. Now all she had to do was find the courage to tell her old team she’d made her last concession to them. She had to stop caving into Joss. It wasn’t helpful.
Colin had asked her to stay on for a while and she was more than happy to do so, but would he stay himself?
His grandmother didn’t seem to think so, and he did have an actual job, which would surely require him to return to work at some point?
Freddy had suggested the job wasn’t real, but from her late-night discussions with Colin, Mabel knew how hard he worked.
The pride he took in completing projects for his clients matched her own.
The rattle of metal drew her attention to the stable yard behind the dower house where Freddy fought a never-ending war against the local wildlife—especially the foxes who got into everything.
A flash of orange in the moonlight as a fox jumped the wall made her smile.
Despite being told that foxes were a massive problem she was still on their side.
Her love for the cartoon Robin Hood would always win out.
She was considering returning to bed when an almighty screech rent the night air, making her clutch her phone to her chest and gulp. It happened again and she ran into the bedroom and flung herself onto the bed.
“Argh!” Colin sat bolt upright. “You’re bloody freezing!”
“Sorry!” Mabel grabbed his hand. “Something screamed!”
He peered down at her and then reached out to click on the bedside lamp. “Come here.”
She immediately plastered herself to his side, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her face in the crook of his neck. He smelled like warm bed and earl grey tea which was enormously comforting. He stroked her hair, and she wanted to purr.
Another scream penetrated the thick darkness and she stiffened.
“That’s the noise that scared you?” Colin asked.
She eased back a fraction to look at him. “Why aren’t you calling the cops?”
“No need.”
“Why not?”
There was a hint of amusement in his voice that made her want to scowl, but she was too warm and comfortable to move out of the shelter of his arms.
“Because despite what your imagination is telling you, it isn’t human.”
Mabel sniffed and rubbed her cheek against his chest. “It sure sounds like a female in distress.”
“It’s a female fox. They make that racket when they’re mating or if they’re warning something to get away from their cubs.”
Mabel considered that. “Oh.” Colin continued to hold her and she slowly relaxed. “Now I feel stupid.”
He kissed the top of her head. “No reason to feel like that. I nearly wet myself when I first heard a coyote pack screaming in California.”
“They are quite loud,” Mabel agreed.
“Loud? It sounded like a full-on massacre.” He drew her back against the pillows, his arm still around her shoulders. “What time is it?”
“Three-ish?” Mabel glanced over at her phone which had miraculously not hit the ground when she’d taken her flying leap onto the bed. “Do you want me to check?”
“Not if it means you have to move,” his voice slowed, and he yawned. “Are you okay to go back to sleep now?”
“Yes. Sorry I woke you up.”
“Not a problem. I’m always available for my favorite damsel in distress.”
Mabel thought about arguing with his description, but she was too tired, and too comfortable to do anything more than follow his advice, close her eyes, and go straight to sleep.
The next morning, they both slept in and met at the kitchen table after she’d taken her usual walk around the park while Colin monopolized the bathroom. He looked quite splendid with his damp ruffled hair and usual T-shirt and jeans as he took his seat opposite her.
“What are the plans for today?” he asked while stealing a piece of her toast.
“We’re supposed to be meeting with Freddy to discuss renovating the old stables. That idea of converting part of them into a café and seating area for the public when you open up more of the house.”
“Like they did at Bumpy’s place?” Colin nodded. “My father wants to speak to me this morning, so I’d better do that first.”
He reached for more of her toast, and she growled at him. He hastily withdrew his hand and went to make his own.
“I meant to ask you why you were up in the early hours this morning?”
“I was on a call with my California team.” Mabel slathered her rescued piece of toast with butter and honey.
“Did it go okay?”
Mabel made a face. “Not really. Joss is behaving like a giant ass.”
“Then tell him to sling his hook.” Colin returned to the table with his toast.
“Sling his what now?”
He grinned at her, his blue gaze mischievous. “Not heard that one before? It means exactly what it implies. Or tell him to take a hike in your vernacular.”
“Do you remember one of our first ever conversations when I told you I was a terrible people pleaser? Well Joss is my kryptonite. We’ve known each other since we were sixteen and I guess I still feel like I owe him.”
“For what exactly?”
“The opportunity to be successful? In the early days I lacked confidence in my abilities, and he supported me through that and helped me become the person I wanted to be.”
“And from what you’ve told me you’ve already paid him back in spades.”
Mabel ate some toast and thought about what Colin was implying.
“It’s been harder than I imagined standing up to him.”
“Have you ever considered that he is the problem?” Colin asked. “That the fact you feel under siege doesn’t reflect well on him? I know it’s none of my business, but it doesn’t sound as if he’s listening to your concerns or being respectful of your boundaries.”
“He doesn’t think about personal stuff that way. He’s always looking ahead to the next big thing—the next project—the breakthrough that will make him a billionaire.”
“If you know all that, then why are you still making excuses for him?”
Mabel opened her mouth to argue and then shut it again. Why was she defending Joss when he made her feel like crap?
“I don’t know.”
“Something to think about, then.” Colin ate some toast.
“I suppose old habits die hard. At one point it was us against the world but that’s changed. I don’t want to be a billionaire if it means I never get to experience life outside my computer screen.”