‘Why jet?’ he asked.
‘We always used to go to my great-aunt Syb’s in the school summer holidays, up in Whitby.’
‘Dracula country,’ he said.
She smiled. ‘Well, it’s known for that nowadays, but it’s also the Jurassic coastline, full of fossils—that’s why there’s lots of jet and amber in the cliffs there.’
‘Amber being fossilised tree resin, right?’
She nodded. ‘And jet’s fossilised monkey puzzle tree. They used to use it a lot in Victorian times for mourning jewellery, but it’s been used as jewellery for much longer than that. There are some Roman jewellery workshop remains in York, and archaeologists have found gorgeous jet pendants carved as Medusa’s head.’
Dylan noticed how her eyes glittered; this was clearly something she felt really passionate about. For a second, it made him wonder what her face would look like in the throes of passion, but he pushed the thought away. It was way too inappropriate. He needed to keep his focus on work, not on how lush Emmy Jacobs’ mouth was. ‘And that’s when you got interested in making jewellery, at your great-aunt’s?’
She nodded. ‘We used to go beachcombing for jet and amber because Great-Aunt Syb’s best friend Jamie was a jeweller and worked with it. I was fascinated at how these dull-looking, lightweight pebbles could suddenly become these amazingly shiny beads and flowers. Jamie taught me how to work with jet. It’s a bit specialised.’ She grimaced. ‘I’d better warn you, it does tend to make quite a bit of dust, the really thick and heavy sort, but I always clean up after I’ve worked.’
If she’d said that a week ago, he would’ve scoffed; from what he’d seen, Emmy Jacobs was as chaotic as his mother. But now, having shared a house with her for a day and discovered that she ruled her life with lists and charts, he could believe it. She might appear chaotic, but she knew exactly what she was doing. ‘How do you sell your jewellery? Do you have a shop?’ He hadn’t thought to ask before.
‘No. I sell mainly through galleries—I pay them a commission when they sell a piece. Plus there’s my website.’
‘So what’s the plan—to have a shop of your own?’
She shook her head. ‘If I had a shop, I’d need to increase production to cover all the extra expenses—rent, utilities and taxes, not to mention staffing costs. And I’d have to spend a lot of time serving customers instead of doing the bit of my job that I like doing most, creating jewellery. And then there’s the worry about who’d cover the shop when an assistant was on holiday or off sick...’ She grimaced. ‘No, I’d rather keep it this way.’
She’d clearly thought it all through, taking a professional view of the situation, Dylan thought. He would never have expected that from her. And it shook him to realise how badly he’d misjudged her. He’d always thought himself such a good judge of character. How wrong he’d been.
‘So what actually do you do?’ she asked. ‘I mean, Pete said you’re a computer guru, but I assume you don’t actually build computers or websites?’
He smiled. ‘I can, and sometimes that’s part of a project, but what I do is software development—bespoke stuff for businesses. So I talk to them about their requirements, draw up a specification, then do the architecture.’
‘Architecture?’ She looked puzzled.
‘I write the code,’ he said, ‘so the computer program does what they want it to do. Once the code’s written, you set up the system, test it, debug it, and agree a maintenance programme with the client.’
‘So businesses can’t just buy a software package—say like you do with word-processing, spreadsheets and accounting programs?’
‘Obviously those ones they can, but what my clients tend to want is database management, something very specific to their business. So if they had a chain of shops, for example, they need to have the tills linked with the stock system, so every time they sell something it updates and they can see their stock levels. Once they get down to a certain stock level, it triggers a reorder report, based on how long it takes to get the stock from the supplier,’ Dylan explained. ‘It’s also helpful if the till staff take the customer’s details, because then they can build up a profile for the customer based on past purchases, and can use that knowledge to target their marketing more specifically.’
‘Very impressive,’ she said.
He shrugged. ‘It’s basic data management—and it’s only as good as the data you feed in. That’s why the requirements and spec side is important. What the client thinks they want might not be what they actually want, so you have to grill them.’
‘I can see you’d be good at that,’ she said, then winced. ‘Sorry, that was rude. I’m not trying hard enough.’
He should’ve been annoyed and wanting to snipe back; but he liked the fact that she was being honest. Plus he was beginning to suspect that she had quite a sharp wit, something he appreciated. ‘It’s OK. We’ve never really got on before, so we’re not exactly going to be best friends, are we?’
‘No, but we don’t have to be rude to each other, either.’
‘I guess not.’ He paused. ‘So do you use a computer system?’
‘Sort of. I do my accounts on a spreadsheet because I’m a sole trader and don’t need anything more complicated, but I did have my website designed so I could showcase my work and people could buy what they wanted online from me direct. It shows whether the piece they want is in stock or if they need to order it and how long it’ll take—but, yes, I have to update that manually.’
Dylan made a mental note to look up her website. Maybe there was something he could add to it to make her life easier. Which didn’t mean he was going soft; making things run smoothly for her meant that he wouldn’t have to prop up their roster for more than his fair share of effort.
‘So what’s your big plan?’ she asked. ‘Expansion?’
‘Pretty much keep doing what I do now,’ he said. ‘I have a good team. They’re reliable and they’re prepared to put in the hours to get the projects in on time.’
‘And you like your job?’
‘It’s like breathing, for me,’ he said honestly. Something that Nadine had never really quite understood. His job was who he was.
‘Same here,’ she said, surprising him. It was something else they had in common.
When they’d finished the meal, she said, ‘It’s my turn to do the dishes, and I’m not weaselling out of it—but there’s something I need to share with you. Back in a tick.’
She returned with a book and handed it to him.
He read the title. ‘The Baby Bible. What’s this?’
‘You asked me how come I know so much about babies. It’s because of this. I bought it when Ty was born, so I’d know what to do when Ally asked me to babysit. It tells you everything you need to know—how to do things, what all the milestones are.’ She spread her hands. ‘And if that doesn’t work then I’ll bring in my other secret weapon.’
‘Which is?’
She looked slightly shame-faced. ‘Ring my mum and ask her advice.’
He thought about what would happen if he rang his mother and asked for help with a baby. No, it wasn’t going to happen. He was pretty sure his mother hadn’t been able to cope with having a baby or a child, which was why she’d dumped him on her parents so many times. The only person he could’ve asked about babies was his grandmother, but she’d died a year ago now. After he’d married Nadine, but before the final split. And, although she’d never judged, never actually said anything about it, Dylan knew his grandmother had thought the wedding