Lucy Gordon – Save The Date!: The Rebel and the Heiress / Not Just a Convenient Marriage / Crown Prince, Pregnant Bride (страница 22)
‘She,’ he repeated.
‘Do you think that’s some oblique way of saying your unknown sibling is a sister?’
‘I think he’s referring to you.’
Her?
‘Return on the thirteenth of March.’
She slammed the plate of cupcakes to the table. ‘Return where?’ she shouted.
‘I think he means to the classifieds in the newspaper.’ He leaned back. ‘Which means he put some thought into all of this before he died—paid for these ads well in advance. I wonder how many years’ worth he organised.’
The intricacy of John’s scheme stunned her. ‘The thirteenth of March is only a couple of weeks away.’ She bared her teeth. ‘That is if he’s referring to this year. There’s no guarantee of that, of course.’
‘All will be revealed then if you have the eyes to see it.’
She opened a kitchen cupboard just so she could slam it shut again. ‘That’s what I think of that!’
‘And it ends with Hip Hip Hooray!’
‘Oh, and that’s worth its weight,’ she snarled.
He laughed. ‘He was right about one thing. You are a jolly good fellow. I’d never have got this far if it hadn’t been for you.’
‘Well, of course you wouldn’t!’ she exploded, pacing up and down. ‘That’s the whole stupid point, isn’t it? How could you ever have possibly traced that stupid code to bits of paper in my books? How would you have ever known about my stupid marigold tin? How dare he risk everything on something so...so tenuous! How could he risk... All of it hangs on such a thin thread that could’ve broken at any time.’ She slashed a hand through the air. ‘How could he know I’d keep helping you? How could he know you’d even stick around? How could he know that I hadn’t sold the house?’
‘He couldn’t.’
She stared at the plate of colourful cupcakes and made a fist. Rick dragged the plate towards him out of harm’s way.
‘Princess, it’s not worth getting all hot under the collar about.’
‘Not worth...’ She started to shake.
‘You’re really furious at him, aren’t you?’
She had a feeling they weren’t talking about John any more. ‘Yes,’ she gritted out. Because whether they were talking about her father or his, it was true on both counts. ‘How dare he drag me into his nasty little game!’
Again, that counted on both heads.
‘What right did he have? What...’
The air went out of her and she sat with a thump.
Rick leaned towards her, his eyes wary. ‘Uh, Nell...you okay?’
She swallowed. ‘Earlier you said that he might be trying to make himself feel better...to make amends.’
‘Yeah, so?’
‘That’s what this is about. He wants me to make amends too.’
RICK PULLED UP short when he strode into the kitchen to find Nell drinking coffee and eating cupcakes.
At ten on a Wednesday morning.
He counted two cupcake wrappers, which meant she was steadily making her way through a third. He frowned. That wasn’t the way to eat one of those cupcakes! Every mouthful should be savoured to the full.
She didn’t look up. He rubbed the back of his neck. ‘Good morning.’
She continued to glare at the table. ‘Morning.’ Bite. Chew. Swallow.
Okay, take two. ‘I ducked out to grab a few supplies. I ran out of sugar soap and sandpaper.’
‘You don’t need to justify your movements, Rick. I believe you’ll keep your side of the bargain. The how and when is entirely up to you.’
He should leave her be and get back to sanding and painting, keep it all on a work footing. He hesitated and then pulled out a chair and sat. ‘You don’t need to justify your movements to me either, but what on earth are you doing at home—’ eating cupcakes as if they were nothing more extraordinary than a digestive ‘—when peak morning tea time is about to hit Sydney’s CBD?’
She ate more cupcake. Her shoulders hunched. ‘Candy has broken down.’
He grimaced. ‘She’s at the garage being repaired?’
More cupcake and more shoulder hunching. ‘No.’
‘Why not?’
Finally she looked at him. He tried not to wince at the lines of strain that bracketed her mouth. ‘Because of these.’ She held up a pile of opened letters. ‘Bills.’ She then proceeded to set each one down onto the table, barking out the amount due. ‘It adds up to more than half of what I have left in my account. At the moment I’m not sure I can afford to get Candy fixed.’
Yet without Candy on the road she wouldn’t be able to earn the money to pay those bills.
If there was something he’d learned in the last fortnight—other than the fact he really wanted to kiss her—it was that Nell worked like a Trojan. If anyone deserved to cop a break, she did.
‘How much money are you expecting to come in from your party orders and how much do you have outstanding?’
She blew out a breath, pushed her plate away and pulled her laptop towards her. ‘Let’s see...’ Her fingers danced across the keyboard.
He came around the table to peer over her shoulder. What he saw made him frown. ‘Princess, there’re half a dozen orders here—’ big orders too ‘—from over three months ago and the bills are still outstanding.’
If her shoulders drooped any further they’d be on a level with the table. He pointed to her spreadsheet. ‘Look—here, here and here.’ The movement brought him in close so her hair tickled his jaw and the sugar-drenched scent of her made his mouth water. He moved back a few inches to stop himself from doing something stupid. ‘These three orders on their own would cover the cost of your bills.’
‘I know, but...’
She leapt up and he shot back, dodging her chair before it could do him a serious injury. She paced to the end of the table and then spun back, flinging an arm in the air.
‘How do you make people pay? I’ve sent each of them at least three reminder letters. I’ve spoken to them on the phone and each time I’ve been assured the cheque is in the mail. Funny thing is, though, none of those cheques have yet materialised.’
‘Do you know if any of these people are in financial difficulties?’
‘No! That’s the thing. I mean I have written off a couple of debts because I found out...’
She’d written those debts off because she knew what it was like, hadn’t she? Because she had an amazing ability to empathise with others—something he’d have never expected in someone from her background. But then he’d misjudged her on so many levels.
It didn’t change several salient facts. ‘Do you think it’s either reasonable or responsible to order a party load of cupcakes if you can’t afford it?’
For a long moment she didn’t say anything. ‘I shudder to think how many bills my father didn’t pay.’
‘They weren’t your responsibility, Princess.’ And in the meantime people with the wherewithal to pay took advantage of her. He ground his teeth together.
She merely shrugged. ‘You want to know something funny?’
From the tone of her voice he suspected he wasn’t going to find whatever it was either amusing or humorous. ‘What’s that?’
‘Each of those people—’ she gestured to the computer ‘—with the outstanding debts; I thought they were my friends.’
It took an effort of will to keep his shoulders loose and relaxed. Two things were certain. Firstly, these people were not friends and secondly, she couldn’t afford to write those debts off.
‘What you need to do, Princess, is hire a money collector.’
She gazed at him blankly.
‘And, as you currently have me at your disposal...’
She stilled. For a glorious moment her eyes gleamed that extraordinary emerald-green that made him want to kiss her all over again. ‘Ooh, I couldn’t...’
‘You have no choice.’