Chapter 22
Despite the exhaustion from the long drive, Noah tossed and turned all Sunday night.
All he could think about was Monty, and, by extension, Bella.
He rose early, almost before the sun had broken through the grey of the dawn and sat sipping the first of what he knew would be many coffees to get him through the day.
Monty had seemed so full of beans yesterday, so far removed from the sickly, pining cat he’d been imagining.
Trust the bloody animal to be so lively and friendly just as he was about to be put down!
He was sure Monty was doing it to spite him.
But, he sighed, in a few more hours it wouldn’t matter.
Monty would be gone, and that would be one less thing to worry about.
That morning, as he met the prospective buyers at three separate viewings across the city, he felt as though he was just going through the motions.
The salesman’s patter was still there, but half his mind was across the country in Somerset.
Returning to the office just before twelve, he spent the next half an hour obsessively reaching for his phone.
Mollie had said she’d call him when the deed had been done, and every time his phone rang, he experienced a sick, churning feeling in his gut.
He was also trying to sort out the other things that needed to be completed before Jack’s cottage could be sold, but he couldn’t get a handle on those, either.
Factoring in availability for the electrician and the foam insulation removal firm was more complex, and he needed to think about that instead.
Someone needed to be about to let the workmen into his grandfather’s house – he couldn’t just leave a key under the doormat for insurance reasons.
He didn’t know anyone well enough in the village to ask them, and the only person he could have asked, the adjoined next-door neighbour, was away for the next couple of months.
‘You all right, Boss?’ Ruby asked, as she brought him another espresso to get him through the day.
Noah tried his best smile. ‘I’m fine. Personal stuff.’
‘Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help,’ Ruby replied.
They’d formed a good friendship since they’d been working together.
They’d been out for a couple of drinks but were strictly friends.
They’d both decided that they didn’t find each other attractive enough to jeopardise an excellent working relationship.
All the same, Noah valued her counsel, and they often talked things through, whether it was work or a more personal issue.
In the early days, Ruby’s quiet support had got him through some tricky times with the business.
‘Thanks,’ Noah said. ‘I, er, need to get a few things straight in my head.’
‘Such as?’
Noah was about to respond when his phone rang. Heart in his mouth, he grabbed it from where it sat face down on the desk and looked at the number. Feeling weak with relief, he swiped to answer.
‘Yup, yup, yes, that’s fine. See you this afternoon.’
He slumped back into his chair, relieved that it wasn’t Mollie.
‘Did that help?’ Ruby asked.
Noah drew in a breath. ‘Not really. Have you ever made a decision you thought was right, but then realised it might be completely the wrong one?’
Ruby laughed. ‘You’re asking me? Don’t you remember anything about my last three boyfriends?’
Noah smiled faintly. ‘Touché.’
‘Look,’ Ruby said, sitting down in the chair opposite his desk, ‘we’ve known each other a long time. We’re mates, right, as well as you being my boss?’
‘Yeah,’ Noah said. ‘So, what is it you want to say?’
Ruby shifted in her seat before she spoke again, clearly a little nervous.
‘You’ve been off your game for a few months now.
And I absolutely understand why. But we can’t afford to take our eyes off the ball in this market.
Not with sales being down across London and online competitors springing up every day.
Only yesterday I took a call from a client saying they were giving their house sale to Purple bloody Bricks because our commission wasn’t as competitive.
We need you with your head in the game if we’re going to keep making money. ’
‘I know,’ Noah said, slightly irritably. ‘You’re right. And I’m sorry. I didn’t realise it was so obvious.’
‘Well, it is.’ Ruby softened her blunt words with a reassuring smile.
‘You’re good at this, Noah, really good.
I wouldn’t want to work for anyone else, but at the moment…
it feels as though we’re standing still, and all of our competitors are haring past us to the finish line.
The business has been great, but it’s in danger of stagnating.
We need to talk about a strategy for the future. ’
‘We will,’ Noah said firmly. ‘These months since my grandfather died have been difficult, but I’m coming out the other side of it now. I promise you, Ruby, that my focus will be totally on the business from now on.’
‘I’m glad to hear it, Boss.’
But even as Noah said it, he knew he wasn’t being entirely truthful. His mind had been elsewhere since Jack’s death, and until the house was sold and he could move on, he had the feeling that that was how it was going to stay.
‘I’ll leave you to it.’ Ruby gestured at the phone, and then the huge pile of paperwork on Noah’s desk. ‘Looks like you’ve got enough to be getting on with.’
‘We’ll schedule a proper meeting, you, me and Violet, for the end of next week,’ Noah said as she headed towards his office door. ‘Don’t worry, Ruby… I’m on it. I promise.’
‘Thanks, Boss.’ Ruby gave him a smile over her shoulder. ‘If anyone can push Noah Hathaway Estates forward, it’s Noah Hathaway.’
He smiled back at her. Thank God for Ruby and her straight talking. She always made him take his head out of his arse and focus. And clarity was definitely what was needed here. He had to work out what he wanted, and where he was going, and then take the right path.
As he was contemplating her words, it was as if the shifting sands of his mind had begun to solidify.
Of course! His heart beat faster. Why hadn’t he put the pieces together sooner?
Then he shook his head. It was an idea so ridiculous, so mad and completely counterintuitive to everything he’d thought up until then that he almost dismissed it out of hand.
But then Noah reached for his phone once more, hoping it wasn’t too late.