‘It might not be enough,’ the older of the two lawyers commented gruffly.
‘And I won’t hear of it,’ Miss Francine said, closing that avenue down. ‘You’ve worked too hard to give up now.’
‘I’m not talking about giving up, just taking a longer break,’ Millie soothed.
‘The business will have to be sold,’ the lawyer cut in. ‘There’s no money to save it,’ he added bluntly, ‘unless you have a suggestion,’ he said as he stared at Millie.
If the business was sold, Miss Francine’s name would be lost, Millie thought, and a lifetime’s work would count for nothing. ‘Could the name be retained, perhaps?’
The flash of hope in her old friend’s eyes stabbed Millie in the heart. She could come up with as many suggestions as she liked, but if only money would save the laundry—
‘I’m afraid the name can’t be kept if an offer is accepted from one of the big chains,’ the lawyer was saying, crashing into her thoughts, ‘and the creditors will insist on a sale. There’s been a lot of interest,’ he continued on a brighter note. ‘Miss Francine’s reputation is second to none—’
‘Of course it is,’ Millie interrupted, seeing how distressed her elderly friend was becoming. Millie had been too young to help her mother, but nothing would get in the way of helping Miss Francine. ‘I’ll sort it out,’ she said in a tone that brooked no argument. ‘And now I think Miss Francine needs to rest.’
‘Of course,’ the lawyers agreed, standing up. ‘We’ll be in touch.’
‘Don’t worry,’ she told Miss Francine as soon as the door had closed behind the visitors. ‘I meant what I said.’
Miss Francine gave a grateful smile, which at the same time seemed to accept there was nothing to be done. Millie had other ideas. There was one person with enough money to put this right, and, after everything Miss Francine had done for Millie, she was going to enlist his help.
Ask Khalid for money when she’d broken off with him? See him again? Speak to him? He wouldn’t even take her calls. He’d wanted a clean break too.
She wouldn’t let Miss Francine down. Her elderly friend deserved a far better end to her working life than this. She didn’t waste any time placing the call to Khalid. The sooner she got it over with, the sooner she could...well, if not exactly relax, at least satisfy herself that she’d tried every avenue.
Khalid answered on the second ring. She might have thought he’d been waiting for her call, if his comment hadn’t been quite so crisp and short. ‘I’ll send transport for you,’ he said.
‘That’s not what I want,’ Millie said tensely. ‘I’m not coming back to Khalifa.’ She drew a deep, steadying breath. ‘I’m asking for your help.’
‘Money?’ he said flatly.
‘But not for me,’ Millie said quickly, going on to explain the situation.
‘Is money all you want?’
‘Should there be anything more?’ Of course there should! She had to tell him about the baby—Over the phone? No. She couldn’t do that to him.
‘Anything more?’ he queried. In the pause that followed, she could picture him frowning.
‘No. There’s nothing more,’ she confirmed, knowing she could never agree to his terms. Becoming Khalid’s mistress while he lived with an arranged bride would break her, and that was even supposing he hoped for something more.
Millie’s heart was in pieces to hear Khalid sounding so unemotional. It was as if he hadn’t missed her at all—and why should he? They were still worlds apart, Millie concluded sadly, not only in the physical sense, separated by thousands of miles, but by a yawning gulf in their destiny. But she couldn’t allow any of that to matter now. She had to try and do a deal with him, to save Miss Francine’s laundry. Taking a deep, steadying breath, she hit him with her first idea.
‘Would you have any objection to my putting Miss Francine’s lawyer in touch with your Development Grant department? I thought that perhaps they could look at the possibility of franchising the business,’ she went on. ‘It would mean everything to Miss Francine to keep the name.’
‘And she could be a figurehead?’ the deep, husky voice at the other end of the line said thoughtfully.
‘Exactly,’ Millie agreed, relieved that he’d caught on so fast. She smiled to herself, thinking, when did the hawk of the desert ever have any difficulty in making a decision?
‘I’ll think about it, and let you know,’ he said.
The line cut abruptly. She stared at the receiver in her hand, and only then realised that tears were streaming down her face.
* * *
Millie, Millie, Millie. Just the sound of her voice was enough for him to start cancelling appointments. Since the moment they’d parted, he’d realised that there was only one woman he could ever care for. To be a better man than his brother meant leading by example. It took time to effect change in an ancient constitution like that of Khalifa, but alterations would be made. On that he was determined.
He had omitted to mention to Millie the fact that he was in England. An invitation to dine with royalty in London at the palace tomorrow night to discuss various matters had prompted this visit. After talks and a dinner, a ball was to be held in his honour. Anticipating hopeful parents with a daughter to offload, he had planned to make his excuses and leave the palace before the ball. Hearing Millie’s voice again had changed that decision.
* * *
Impatiently knuckling away tears, Millie replaced the receiver in its nest. There was no point cradling it, as if that could keep Khalid close. She had to be patient and wait to see if he would be as good as his word. She believed franchising Miss Francine’s laundry would be a good investment, and could only hope that he agreed. But now she had work to do. Sprucing up the laundry to entice any investor was essential. She owed it to Miss Francine to make sure the business looked its best.
Everyone at the laundry was only too eager to repay Miss Francine’s kindness by pitching in to touch up paintwork in rooms that hadn’t been decorated for years. Millie’s job was to check the machinery was working smoothly, and when they finished Miss Francine had promised a special supper to celebrate what she was already calling ‘a new era’ in the laundry’s history, as if the deal to save it were already done.
Much to Millie’s relief, her elderly friend seemed to have regained her former vigour, and brightened even more when Millie mentioned another idea she’d come up with, which was for Miss Francine to invite some of the workers to move into her spare bedrooms, much as Millie herself had done after her mother’s death. Miss Francine was known for her soft heart, and many of the girls had experienced unpleasantness in their past like Millie. This would not only provide those who needed it with stability, but would give Miss Francine company and a little extra cash.
When their long day had finally ended, Miss Francine hurried out of the office with a printout in her hand. ‘This has just arrived from the Sheikh’s office,’ she explained in a voice trembling with hope. ‘His business development team is coming here to look us over!’
‘That’s wonderful,’ Millie exclaimed as excitement rose around her.
Khalid hadn’t let her down.
Maybe jobs would be saved, and the name of the laundry kept intact. The expression in Miss Francine’s eyes was so full of happiness that it took hold of Millie’s heart and twisted it hard.
‘Do you really think we’ll be okay?’ she asked Millie.
‘I know we will,’ Millie said confidently as she plucked the pencil out of her up-do to tick another job off her list.
*