Chapter Nine
‘Hello, sleepy.’
Nick opened her eyes against the warm sun and blinked up at her brother-in-law.
‘Hello, Seb. Fancy meeting you here.’
After a quick hug Seb placed Nick’s bike in the back of the car and they headed home to Hiverton.
‘Ari and the boys might not be back but they won’t be long,’ said Seb as they pulled out of the pub car park. ‘They’re over at my folks’ playing in the swimming pool.’
‘I didn’t know your folks had a pool,’ said Nick with a small hint of envy. How fabulous to have access to a free pool.
‘They built it as an unashamed grandchildren lure. They also spotted faster than we did that the boys might be scared of water and drowning, following the river incident. So they had it built the second Ari said I do .’
‘And has it worked?’ Nick often thought about that dreadful day and wondered if it had left any scars. Children were so strange; the oddest things could echo through their adult life. For some, nearly drowning might have created a life-long phobia, in another they might barely remember it.
‘Like a dream. Even Hector loves it. He’s so chubby he floats more than swims, but I reckon in a few years’ time he’ll be giving his big brothers a run for their money.’
‘I can imagine. If he’s anything like us lot, it will be his all-consuming passion to catch up with his siblings.’
‘Well, it won’t be long now before someone is trying to catch up with him. ’
Nick turned in her seat and looked at Seb in astonishment.
‘What? Is Ari pregnant again?’
Seb’s face fell in horror as he tried to keep his eyes on the road.
‘Oh God, I’m a bigmouth. I forgot she decided to delay announcing until things were more settled for you, plus it’s only been a month. Ari says it things can go wrong.’ He slapped his hand on the steering wheel. ‘Hellfire, can you act surprised when she tells you?’
‘Wally. That’s brilliant.’ Nick suddenly remembered Paddy’s news. ‘I wonder whose will turn up first, Paddy’s or Ari’s?’
‘Paddy’s pregnant?’ said Seb in surprise and Nick groaned dramatically.
‘Oh God, she hasn’t announced it yet either. We’re bloody idiots, the pair of us. You can’t tell Ari!’
‘What do you mean I can’t tell Ari! Have you ever tried to keep a secret from your sister?’
Laughing, the two of them drove on and Nick sent Paddy a quick text saying she had let the cat out of the bag and that Seb knew but not Ari. Five minutes later a text pinged back saying Paddy had just told Ari and guess what? Ari was pregnant as well! And what are you doing talking to Seb, is he in London?
After a quick phone call, where Paddy called Nick an idiot for cycling so far, she told her she loved her and invited her to spend a few weeks in Cornwall with her.
As she hung up, Seb looked at her speculatively .
‘How are you holding up? A few weeks with one of your sisters might be a good idea?’
‘Not really. I love all my sisters but after a few days they drive me mad, and I want to escape. Plus…’ she sighed and trailed off, looking out the window.
They drove on in silence for a bit and Nick appreciated that Seb didn’t pry. He was a good reader of people and happy to sit back and watch rather than push an issue. She tried to collect her thoughts.
Eventually, she continued, ‘I’m embarrassed that I let them all down. My job is to take care of the finances. A thing I enjoy doing and find easy, and yet suddenly I have screwed up monumentally and I have no idea how. And if I can’t fix it I run the risk of tarnishing the family’s reputation. Even Clem managed to avoid doing that.’
‘So, you’ll stay with your sisters when you don’t need them?’ asked Seb carefully.
‘Harsh.’
‘I just think you’re beating yourself up. You know none of them feels you’ve done anything wrong or let them down. They’ve all been desperate to swoop down to London and form a protective ring around you. Ari’s phone has been ringing constantly from the other two. Aster is currently out of touch.’
Nick looked out at the passing countryside determined not to cry. She was supposed to be the calm, efficient one. The one that didn’t need saving, the one with the solutions. Currently she was at risk of utterly ruining the entire Hiverton reputation .
‘The thing is, if they find me guilty and prevent me from trading, what do I do? Who am I?’
‘You’re not just your job, Nick.’
‘I don’t think you get it. I love my job. I’m really good at it but it’s more than that it makes me happy. It’s my hobby and my favourite pastime too. I’ve been doing this since I was sixteen. I don’t know what I am without it. I built this business from the ground up. I have helped so many people. I—’
‘And none of that changes if you can’t trade anymore.’
Nick looked at him in horror, he had totally missed how important this was.
‘What do you mean? Everything changes.’
‘Only externally. You’ll still be a fiercely clever businesswoman. You’ll still be someone that cares deeply. You aren’t your job.’
She tried to collect herself. He didn’t understand, for her there was no difference between internal and external. She was her job. Deciding that this conversation wasn’t helping she changed the subject. Seb was a good sort, but he had other things in his life.
‘So, what names for the new baby – is it a boy or a girl?’
Taking his lead from Nick, Seb spent the rest of the drive home filling her in on the children’s adventures. From the way he talked about the three boys it was clear to Nick that he loved his two stepsons as much as his own child and Nick couldn’t help but love him a bit more for that as well.
‘Hello! How about that for timing?’ As the car pulled off the main road and into the Hiverton drive they could see a Volvo estate heading towards the house. Once again Nick drank in the beauty of Hiverton Manor, a historic Tudor building spanning the centuries. Its warm red-brick walls, flint facades and multiple chimneys offered the assurance of strength and continuity.
As Seb pulled up behind Ari, she had already got out of the car and was unloading the children and their bags. Hopping out of the car, Nick watched as he jogged over to Ari, giving her a quick kiss and opening the boot.
Almost shyly Nick got out of the car; she felt reluctant to intrude upon such a happy little scene of domestic life.
‘Nick Knack!’ Any hope of quietly approaching her sister was dashed as Will spotted her first, followed by Leo who in his rush to get to her first bowled over little Hector, who promptly burst into tears.
‘Letta!’ Ari shouted out their mother’s pet name for Nick and came running over to hug her as Seb scooped up Hector.
Hugging Ari back she laughed, ‘You haven’t called me Letta in ages. What’s up?’
‘I don’t know. I guess Mum’s been on my mind a lot recently.’
‘Is it because you’re wondering how she coped with so many children?’
Ari looked at Nick suspiciously and then at Seb.
‘You beast! It was meant to be a surprise!’
Laughing, Seb confessed.
‘Do you know when I was speaking to Paddy just now she told me you had told Seb she was pregnant, and I wondered when the hell you had met him. Now it all becomes clear. ’
‘What’s clear is that none of us can keep a secret for toffee,’ said Nick with a smile.
In a caravan of bags and boys the three adults headed into the house, where the dogs came running out. Eventually Seb told the sisters to leg it and he would settle everyone down.
‘Come on then,’ said Ari. ‘How long are you staying? Where are your bags?’
When Nick explained she had started cycling on a whim and had to be back in London for Monday, Ari rolled her eyes and told her to commute.
‘No, I want to be nearby in case I get called in for anything. Besides which, I’d go mad up here with nothing to do except look at trees.’
The girls settled down on one of the patios overlooking a walled flower garden.
‘There is more to the countryside than looking at trees, you know. Plus the children would love it and so would I.’
Nick looked across at her big sister and raised an eyebrow.
‘The children would be bored with me after five minutes and you’d keep trying to fix my problems and get upset when none of your ideas worked.’
‘I promise not to interfere.’ Ari crossed her heart, but Nick just laughed.
‘Like that’s going to happen. This is a battle you can’t fight. Hell. It’s even a battle that I don’t know how to fight, and I’m supposed to be the smart one when it comes to corporate finance. ’
Seeing that Ari was concentrating Nick knew her sister was still wrestling with the problem, trying to find a solution.
‘Look, Ari, so far you have been brilliant. You have agreed to let Geoffrey take over the finances, which has put my mind greatly at rest. You have agreed that the charitable section should continue, and that Paddy will keep an eye on that. This has also reassured me tremendously. All I can hope now is that the investigation draws a blank and I can return to work. In the meantime, I will continue to look through my old records to see if I can see what caused alarm bells. After that I will just twiddle my fingers, going gently mad. In the meantime, I’m bloody famished and you haven’t even offered me a drink!’