Laurie worried for the lino as he span on his heel and paced the length of the room … and she still hadn’t explained about Cameron Matthews.
He wheeled to face her. ‘You’ll have to contest the will. That’s it. He was clearly barking. It’s totally unreasonable to expect us to drive a car across Europe. That’s ridiculous. And frankly quite weird. Controlling from the grave. I don’t like it all. I’m sure no one in their right mind is going to enforce it.’
‘I’m pretty sure that Miles had it all worked out,’ her voice dropped as she remembered how ill he’d been the last time she’d seen him. ‘In fact …’ she stopped struggling to find the right words, ‘he … organised … er … a mechanic to … go along too.’
‘And this mechanic would just do it for … what? Love? Fresh air?’ Robert shook his head at her naivety.
He had a point. ‘I’m not sure … I think he’s being paid for it. I know it all sounds strange but Uncle Miles had lots of time to think it all through and Ron, Mr Leversedge, the solicitor helped him draft the will. I don’t think it can be contested.’
Robert lapsed into thought, his mouth twisting this way and that as if ruminating every angle.
After several minutes, he huffed out a sigh. ‘Hmph, I’m not very happy about it, but you’re probably right. He’s got us over a barrel but for that money it’s worth doing, I guess. You’ll have to do it on your own. At least if you’ve got this mechanic chappie along, if you break down or anything you won’t get ripped off.
‘There’s no point me giving up my job. It’s not like yours brings in much, so if we have to sacrifice that in the short term for the bigger gain, it’s a gamble worth taking … they might always take you back on or you could get an office job somewhere round here.’
‘But …’ She loved her job and he hated his. What about what she wanted?
‘And you’d be happy me going on my own in a car worth thousands?’ asked Laurie, wanting him to say it was out of the question and he would have to give up his job to come with her.
‘Don’t take that tone. Of course I’m not happy. The pension at the library is a good one. And with the cuts you might have got a payoff. I wonder if there’s any chance they might give you a sabbatical or offer you voluntary redundancy.’
She closed her eyes. The library was the only job she’d ever known; the thought of giving it up made her feel quite panicky. Leaving Leighton Buzzard made her feel sick. Once she was old enough to stop the obligatory trips to France to see her mother, she hadn’t been out of England for the last twelve years.
She thought of the envelope Ron had given her. And that wasn’t even the half of the problem.
Cam gritted his teeth and gave the wheel nut another half turn. His shoulder ached like a bitch and he was cooking but he’d keep his T shirt on. He’d kept his promise and sorted Kerry’s car out today. He’d feel easier about her making the trip to Birmingham to see her Mum. Bald tyres were an accident waiting to happen. And it was him that pointed it out to her. Damn fool thing to do, as he then ended up offering to buy the new tyre and fit it for her. Last thing he needed was to encourage her.
That should do it. Rolling his aching shoulder he hauled himself to his feet and wiped his grimy hands down his jeans. Despite breaking his shoulder over five years ago, it still hurt like a bitch every now and then.
From inside the house that butted up next to his, he could hear Josh, Kerry’s three-year-old revving up with an unhappy, I need food and sleep cry. No wonder she looked so tired all the time. It had to be hard work raising Josh alone.
But there was a difference between being neighbourly and playing Daddy, and despite the signals she’d been sending his way, he had no intention of signing up for that gig. Thank God for Josh’s return from playgroup; the cleavage on display was most definitely for his benefit. He liked Kerry well enough, but a guy like him wasn’t the answer. He wasn’t the settling down type … well not anymore. He’d tried it once and look what a disaster that had been. He’d made himself and Sylvie, his ex-wife, miserable. Kerry needed someone who would stick around.
He shoved the spanner into the tool box and gently pumped the jack to bring the aging Nissan back to earth. At least he could help her out with a spot of mechanical engineering from time to time. And didn’t that just sound like one heck of a euphemism?
And it wasn’t lack of sex that made him feel irritable and scratchy, although it had been a while. Maybe scratching that itch might help. There were any number of women he could hook up with, a lot more sophisticated and less needy than young Kerry. Maybe he should make a few calls, anything to put off the one call he was going to have to make. Damn Miles. What the hell had he been playing at?
Cam gave a rueful grimace, tempted to pull out the white envelope which was still folded in four and rammed it in the back pocket of his jeans. The contents had offered some relief but he wasn’t home and dry by a long shot. He’d debated all week whether to phone Nick and forewarn him that the deal might not be a definite but he was loath to do that just yet. Miles had tied things up neatly. Cam had to ensure that Laurie completed the journey across Europe to the Ferrari factory in Maranello. If he did that, he got first dibs on buying the car at the price they’d agreed. All well and good as long as she made it all the way to Maranello. Piece of cake … provided she sold. Although that was pretty much a foregone conclusion but he needed to make damn sure. Closing the tool box, he gave the new tyre a quick kick. He hoped Kerry would gracefully accept the tyre and not want to pay him.
A slow grin crossed his face. And that was what he needed to do with Laurie. Make her overcome with gratitude and totally reliant on him to get her across Europe. So much so, that she would see how impractical it was to even consider keeping a car that kept breaking down, needed so much maintenance, was cold and draughty, and horribly expensive. There’d be no harm in charming her along the way, just to make sure she couldn’t say no to him at the end of the trip. The relationship with the boyfriend looked a pretty joyless affair. He was a bit of a knob − some male attention would probably be quite welcome. Cam was sure that despite the shaky meeting at the solicitors, he could turn things around − after all they’d had that shared moment of empathy in the church. She obviously had a bit of a sense of humour.
So maybe his intentions were less than honourable but what had Miles intended the outcome to be, if not for Cam to have the car in the end?
Tucking the jack away in the boot, he slammed down the door and pressed the automatic lock. On cue at the sound of the beep, Kerry appeared in the doorway, a tear-stained Josh at her hip.
‘You’ve finished,’ she beamed at him. ‘Can I feed you as a thank you? I’ve got a lasagne on the go and there’s plenty there.’
The right thing would have been to say no but a suitable excuse evaded him. Besides, this might be a good opportunity to talk to her and make it clear that he wasn’t in the market for any sort of relationship. Or he could show her what a real bastard he was and decline. Looking at her hopeful expression, he opened his arms to the boy.
‘Hand him over and I’ll keep him occupied while you do what you need to.’ He might be a bastard but he wasn’t cruel with it and the poor kid looked like she could do with a second pair of hands. There were still a couple of hours before his appointment to meet Miles’ niece.
With a grateful smile, she complied and led the way into the house.
Josh shoved a sticky hand into Cam’s hair, as he took him. ‘Come on fella, let’s give your ma a break.’ He went into the lounge to find the big box of toy cars. Within minutes he had the little boy in fits of giggles as he showed him how to race the cars, taking them on two wheels, running them up his