‘Why not?’ he persisted.
She was acutely aware of Lucy listening and needed to dissuade her sister from thinking it was because of her. ‘Being here this week made me realise I want a change. Try something different. I’d appreciate it if you’d take this as my notice, Michael.’
He wasn’t happy. He glared at his brother. ‘Goddammit, Harry! If it wasn’t for you...’
‘Hey!’ Harry held up his hands defensively. ‘I’m not getting her, either.’
‘Please...’ Elizabeth quickly broke in, feeling the rise of tension around the table. ‘I don’t want to cause trouble. I just want to take a different direction with my life.’
‘But you’re brilliant as my PA,’ Michael argued, still annoyed at being put out.
‘I’m sorry. You’ll just have to find someone else.’
She wasn’t about to budge from this stance. It felt right to divorce herself from both the Finn men as far as work was concerned. Whatever developed in a personal sense had to be something apart from professional ties, not tangled up with how she earned her income.
‘Why not try out Lucy as your PA?’ Harry suggested to Michael with an airy wave of his hand. ‘She’s probably as brilliant as her sister.’
Lucy looked aghast, panic in her eyes.
‘It’s not her kind of thing,’ Elizabeth said firmly.
Michael frowned and turned to her sister. ‘You do work in administration, Lucy,’ he remarked quizzically.
‘I’m the front person who deals with people, Michael,’ she rushed out. ‘I don’t do the desk work. I’m good at helping people, understanding what they want, helping them to decide...there’s quite a bit of that in cemetery administration. And I like it,’ she added for good measure, pleading for him to drop the issue.
He grimaced, accepting that Lucy was no easy solution to his problem.
She reached out and touched his hand, desperate to restore his good humour with her. ‘I’m sorry I can’t fill Ellie’s place.’
The grimace tilted up into a soothing smile. ‘I shouldn’t have expected it. You are a people person and I like that, Lucy. I wouldn’t want to change it.’
Elizabeth saw relief pouring through the smile beamed back at him. Another hurdle safely jumped, she thought. Yet hiding the dyslexia from Michael couldn’t go on forever and there was one thing she needed from him before the situation could get horribly messed up.
‘I hope you’ll give me a good reference, Michael.’
He sighed and turned a rueful smile to her. ‘It will be in the mail tomorrow. I hate losing you but I wish you well, Elizabeth.’
‘Thank you.’
* * *
Harry didn’t like Elizabeth’s decision any more than Mickey did. She was cutting ties with them, closing doors, and he didn’t know her reasons for it. This morning he could have sworn she was over her emotional fixation on his brother but if that was true, why give up her job with him? It was a top-line position and on the salary front Harry doubted she could better it.
He had offered her an alternative but she wasn’t taking up that option. It was understandable that staying on the island long-term would not suit her. She and her sister lived together and were obviously close—family who really counted as family, like him and Mickey. Apart from that, if she wanted to rejoin the social swing, Cairns was the place to do it.
He didn’t like this thought, either. It meant she didn’t see much of a future with him, which raised the question in his mind—how much of a future did he want with her?
She touched places in him that no other woman had, but did he do the same to her? More time together should sort that out, but there was one thing he needed to know right now because it was twisting up his gut.
Was she still using him to fight off her feelings for Mickey?
* * *
Elizabeth silently fretted over whether she had spoken her mind too soon, aware that her announcements had upset the happy mood around the table. Although Michael had accepted her decision on the surface, it was obvious from the stony glances he threw at Harry that he blamed his brother for it and was barely holding in his frustration over the situation. Her nerves picked up tension emanating from Harry. Lucy kept looking anxiously at her. No one chose to eat any of the petit fours that accompanied coffee.
As soon as Elizabeth had finished her cappuccino, Lucy pushed back her chair and rose to her feet. ‘I’m off to the ladies’ room. Will you come with me, Ellie?’ Her eyes begged agreement.
‘Of course,’ she said, immediately rising to join her sister.
The barrage started the moment they were closeted in the ladies’ room. ‘Why are you leaving your great job with Michael? He’s not happy about it.’
Elizabeth shook her head. ‘It’s not my mission in life to keep Michael happy,’ she said dryly.
‘But you always said you loved that job.’
‘I did, but it’s high pressure, Lucy. I didn’t realise how much it demanded of me until I came out here. I don’t want to be constantly on my toes anymore. I want to look for something else—more relaxed, less stressful.’
‘Then it’s not because of me and him?’ she said worriedly.
‘No,’ Elizabeth lied. ‘I’m sorry Michael is unhappy about it but I don’t think he’ll take it out on you, Lucy. If he does, he’s not the man for you.’
She heaved a sigh. ‘You’re right. Okay. It’s completely fair for you to look for something else. He’s just got to lump being put out by it.’
‘You can play nurse and soothe his frustration,’ Elizabeth said with a smile.
Lucy laughed.
It eased the tension on that front.
However, Michael’s displeasure with her decision made the farewells after lunch somewhat strained. Elizabeth hoped that Lucy’s company would be bright enough to move his annoyance aside. She hadn’t meant to spoil their day.
Harry followed her into the administration office, obviously intent on pursuing the issue of her leaving his employ, as well, although he shouldn’t have any grievance with her. She had only ever agreed to the month needed for him to find another manager.
Wanting to clear that deck, she swung around to face him, quickly saying, ‘I won’t stay on, Harry. I didn’t promise to.’
His grim expression surprised her. The laser-blue eyes were so hard and piercing, her heart jumped into a gallop. The air between them seemed to gather an intensity that played havoc with her nerves.
‘Why did you throw in your job with Mickey?’ he shot at her.
‘I explained why,’ she said defensively.
‘You waffled to whitewash the true reason,’ he accused. ‘Tell me, Elizabeth.’
He had no right to delve into her private reading of a highly personal situation for herself and her sister. It was not his business. It was the involvement with his brother that was the problem and she was not about to spell that out.
‘I’m sorry you thought it was waffle.’ She shrugged. ‘I don’t know what else to say.’
His mouth thinned in frustration. He shook his head at her refusal to open up to him. ‘I knew you were using me on Friday night,’ he stated bitingly. ‘That whole scenario at the pavilion villa was more about Michael and Lucy than being with me. I want to know if what you’ve done with me since then and what you decided today