His forehead bunched in a frown, which only added to her discomfort.
‘You’re going to fire me, aren’t you?’ she blurted out.
His head shot up, his dark brows arching. ‘What? No. No, of course not! Good God, is that what you thought this was about?’
She just shook her head at him. ‘I didn’t know what to think.’
‘Why on earth would I want to fire you? You are the best housekeeper a man could have. I’m sorry if you thought that.’
Abby found herself flushing at his compliment. And his apology. Relief swamped her as well. She didn’t want to lose this job. Not for a good while yet.
‘It’s to do with Craig’s will,’ Jake said abruptly.
‘Craig’s will?’ she repeated, feeling somewhat confused. ‘Are you talking about your uncle Craig, the man who stayed here for a while during the winter?’
It had been back in July, she recalled, about four months ago.
‘Yes. The thing is, Abby, he’s left you something in his will.’
Abby just stared at Jake, shock joining her confusion. ‘Are you saying that he’s dead?’
‘What? Oh. Yes. Yes, he died last week. Incurable cancer,’ he finished up with a heavy sigh.
‘But…but that’s impossible! I mean, he was so alive not that long ago.’
‘Tell me about it,’ Jake said as he swept an agitated hand through his hair. ‘It came as a shock to me as well. I gather he found out during an MRI for his busted knee about the cancer. But he never told anyone, not even me. And we were very close. I knew nothing about his illness till his solicitor rang and told me he’d passed away.’
Abby found it hard to understand what he was saying. ‘You mean you weren’t with him when he died?’
‘No. No one was, other than the palliative care nurse. He’d booked himself into a hospice without telling anyone.’
‘But that’s terrible!’ Abby declared heatedly, upset that anyone would choose to die like that.
Jake’s shrug carried a weary resignation. ‘It was what he wanted. I’m surprised you didn’t hear about his death. It was all over the news at the weekend. He was quite famous.’
‘I… I don’t often watch the news.’
‘I see.’
She wanted to ask him why he hadn’t told her himself, but of course why would he? She wasn’t a relative, or a friend. He wouldn’t have known how much she’d enjoyed the time she’d spent with his uncle whilst he’d stayed here.
Craig had been a fascinating individual, highly intelligent, widely travelled and very well read. He’d been incredibly nice to her, showing an interest in her as a person and not just some kind of maid. The day before he’d left, he’d given her a list of ten books which he said everybody—especially young women—should read. She was still slowly working her way through them. They were the reason she didn’t watch the news much any more, and why she hadn’t seen the report of his death.
Tears flooded her eyes at the realisation that this very nice man was actually dead.
‘He…he said he was going away to have a holiday.’ Abby’s voice caught at the memory.
‘He told me the same thing,’ Jake said.
‘Instead he went away to die,’ she choked out. ‘Alone…’
Abby couldn’t think of anything sadder than dying alone. It was the main thing which haunted her about Wayne’s death. That he’d been all alone, out there in the ocean, with the storm raging around him and little chance of being rescued. Had he lost all hope in the end? Had despair engulfed him in the moments before he drowned?
Suddenly, a huge wave of grief overwhelmed her, emotional distress welling up in Abby till it could not be contained. Tears filled her eyes so quickly they spilled over and ran down her cheeks.
When a sob escaped her throat, Jake stared at her with a look of horror.
Embarrassment flooded in but there was no stopping her now. When more sobs racked her body, all Abby could do was bury her face in her hands. She simply couldn’t bear to witness her boss watching her whilst she wept her heart out. No doubt she was making a fool of herself. No doubt he thought she was a typically sentimental female to cry over a man she hardly knew.
The feel of strong male arms suddenly pulling her into a comforting embrace shocked Abby rigid. She certainly hadn’t expected a hug. Not from her very aloof boss. Unfortunately, his uncharacteristic kindness only made her weep all the more.
‘There, there,’ he said, patting her back as she clasped the lapels of his suit jacket and sobbed into his shirt. ‘No need to cry. Craig had a good life, with no regrets. He wouldn’t want you crying over him. Craig wasn’t one for tears.’
Abby could hardly explain that it wasn’t just Craig’s death which had set her off, but the way he’d died. All alone.
Oh, God…
Abby was gritting her teeth and doing her best to pull herself together when Jake stopped patting her back and slid his arms right around her, holding her quite close. No doubt he was still just trying to comfort her but for some reason Abby no longer felt comforted. She felt very discomforted. Because she liked him hugging her like that. She liked it a lot. The urge to slide her own arms around his back was acute. She wanted to hug him back, wanted to bury herself in the solid warmth of his very male body and…and…
And what, Abby? Make an even bigger fool of yourself? For pity’s sake, get a grip, girl.
Taking a deep gathering breath, Abby lurched backwards, releasing the lapels of Jake’s jacket as she gulped down a sob of shame.
‘I’m so sorry,’ she choked out, her face flushing as she spun away from him and grabbed a handful of tissues from the box on the kitchen counter, not saying another word till she’d blown her nose and composed herself. She did note rather ruefully, however, that Jake didn’t wait long to hurry back to the other side of the breakfast bar.
Her groan carried more shame. ‘I’ve embarrassed you, I can see. It’s just that… Oh, never mind.’ Her fisted right hand came up to rub agitatedly at her mouth. For a moment she was tempted to confide in Jake about Wayne’s tragic death. But only for a moment. Maybe, if he’d been any other kind of man she might have explained why she’d been so upset at the news of his uncle dying alone like that. But Jake didn’t invite confidences. Why, he’d never even asked her how her husband had died!
Despite his hug just now, Jake didn’t really care about her. She was just his employee, hired to look after his house. His housekeeper. A glorified cleaner, if truth be told.
Craig hadn’t treated her like that. He’d been genuinely interested in her life. Not that she’d told Jake’s uncle the total truth. Abby had become masterful at blotting out the really painful parts in her past. Talking about them wouldn’t have achieved anything, anyway.
‘The thing is,’ she went on, compelled to make some excuse for her emotional display, ‘I really liked your uncle a lot.’
‘He must have liked you a lot too,’ Jake replied.
‘Well, yes,’ she said slowly. ‘He seemed to.’
‘You haven’t asked me what he left you,’ Jake went on, his eyes on her.
‘What? Oh… Some books, I suppose.’
Jake frowned at her. ‘No, no books,’