Escape to the Country (7 page)

"He certainly seems to like you and I got the distinct
impression he'd like to make you very happy!"

"Oh, he likes me all right, but then Jim likes everybody, at
least everybody who's female. I bet he'd even flirt with Rosemary."

Leah could well believe he'd flirt with a Jersey heifer if it'd get a
laugh from Jayne, or even provoke jealousy, but that didn't stop her
believing Jim had more than a passing interest in Jayne.

"I think there's more to it than that."

"No, lovey there isn't - take it from me. He was flirting with
you too, wasn't he?"

"Not like he was with you."

"He doesn't know you as well as he knows me."

And Leah didn't know him well enough to judge how he felt about
Jayne. Come to think of it she was rubbish at judging how any man
felt about any woman if her relationship with Adam was anything to go
by.

Leah had two missed calls on her phone. In London if she'd left it on
her desk to go to fetch a coffee she could have that many. Odd how
quickly she'd got into the habit of leaving it behind and strange
that with only Jayne to talk to instead of constantly checking her
e-mails and messages she felt that possibly for the first time in
years she was actually communicating.

The first number was Adam's and he'd left a message. The second was
that of her colleague Rachel - a text asking her to call. Leah called
her first. Cowardly perhaps but she thought it would be easier to
listen to what Adam had to say if she had some warning first about
how things were at work. She was also curious about why Rachel wanted
to speak to her; hopefully not just to gloat over her troubles.

"So what's it like stuck out in the sticks?" Rachel asked.
"As dull as I imagine?"

"There's no coffee shop for miles, no broadband signal, a bus
twice a day, a couple of pubs but they don't serve cocktails."

"Hell!" Rachel said.

"Actually I'm finding it quite restful, but I expect you'd get
bored pretty quickly."

"I'll rest when I'm dead, thanks. Enough of the small talk, I
have some good news for you. "

"Tell me."

"The top brass here at Prophet Margin have seen sense over this
Gilmore-Bunce fiasco and are going to conduct a proper enquiry."

"Oh good."

"You don't sound very pleased. I assumed it's good news and you
haven't decided to make yourself a wood cabin and marry a sheep?"

"No, not that. It's just that they were so quick to suspend me
without even giving me a chance to say a word in my own defence and
not even letting me back into the building to collect my belongings
that I'm not sure they're going to really look into it properly."

"They what? That's dreadful!"

"It is and what's to say the enquiry won't be more of the same?
I know how easy it is for a company like that to blame the last one
in and hush everything up as quickly as possible."

"Ah, but you don't know who's conducting this enquiry."

"Not Adam Ferrand?" It didn't seem likely that he'd jump to
her defence, but she couldn't think who else it could be.

"No, although it's funny you should mention his name in
connection with this. It's me, Leah. I'm going to conduct this
enquiry and believe me I'm not going to let them blame an innocent
party."

There was no doubting the sincerity in the other woman's voice.

"Thank you, Rachel. I , I don't know what to say."

"I like to get my teeth stuck into something and I can just feel
there's more to this than meets the eye. At first I thought you'd
simply made a mistake or even series of them and had been hustled
out the way to stop you doing more of the same and so they could
cover everything up before big investors got wind of it, but if that
had been the case I think you'd have been paid off by now. Much
better for them to put all the blame on an ex employee than a current
one, don't you think?"

"But now you don't think I made a mistake?"

"No, I don't. I'm almost positive that someone deliberately
messed up that deal and I'm going to find out who and why. "

"Thank you. I hate to think of anyone believing I'd cheat people
who'd put their trust in me."

"Me to. That's why I was so annoyed about the Christmas party."

Rachel was annoyed? It was Leah who'd been given the wrong address
and made to look a fool. At least that's what she'd thought at the
time. Maybe she'd been too quick to misjudge her?

"Was I wrong, you didn't give the taxi driver the wrong
address?"

"No, of course I didn't. Why would I?" Rachel asked. She
sounded offended.

"I assumed to keep me out of the way."

"Whoever it was who had you dropped off in a particularly dodgy
part of the city at nine o'clock at night presumably did want you out
the way, but I promise you it wasn't me."

Leah believed her. Now she thought about it, if Rachel had done such
a thing, she would have just laughed at how successful she'd been,
not get upset and deny the accusation.

"Sorry. I shouldn't have been so quick to blame you."

"Water under the bridge, sweetie. Anyway, I did all right for
myself without your redhead charms attracting all the attention. I
can't prove who caused the trouble that time, but I think it's the
same person as has got you involved in this mess, and I'm bloody well
going to get him this time!"

Any lingering doubts, that her problem wouldn't be properly looked
into, evaporated.

"Thanks, Rachel. What happens now?"

"I'm going through all the paperwork first. Boring and probably
won't help, but it's silly to overlook the obvious. Then I have to
get crafty, believe me I can if I need to."

Again, Leah believed her.

"I might as well tell you that Adam Ferrand is involved in this
somewhere."

Leah gasped. What did Rachel mean by involved? In the fraud, or in
the investigation?

"You'd guessed that hadn't you, that's why you mentioned him."

"Well..." If Adam was trying to help her, she didn't want
to cause trouble for him.

"Can you tell me why?" Rachel asked.

"Not without betraying a confidence."

"OK, I won't ask you to do that now, but if I guess or get told
about it, will you confirm it?"

"Yes, I will." It would be a relief to be able to talk to
someone about her relationship with Adam and if Rachel found out, it
would no longer be a secret. Leah gave Rachel her temporary address
at Primrose Cottage; she didn't want it to appear she'd run away.

Leah listened to the message from Adam. He was sorry he'd been so
unfriendly on the phone when they'd last spoken. "I had a lot on
my mind, but that's no excuse. You have enough worries of your own
and I shouldn't burden you with my problems. Anyway, I hope you're
having fun with your aunt. We'll speak soon. By the way, don't forget
it's your parents wedding anniversary on the third."

What was that all about? It was almost as though he regretted their
split. Sweet of him to remind her about the anniversary too. She was
terrible at thinking of buying cards in advance and probably would
have left it too late to post one to New Zealand if he hadn't given
her a nudge. He'd always been good at keeping her organised in that
way. Even though he didn't know the people involved, he understood it
was important to her to stay in touch. He'd not met any of her family
when they visited London, but he always booked a comfortable hotel
room for them, arranged taxis and suggested suitable places for Leah
to take them.

Suddenly she missed him and played the message again, just to hear
his voice. Was this just another way of manipulating her, or was he
simply trying to be nice? Either way it looked as though if she
cleared her name she had a chance to get him back - if that's what
she wanted.

Chapter 5

Leah awoke in a tangle of sheets, wondering where she was. She'd had
a confusing dream where nothing and no one were as they seemed. No
doubt because her waking life had the same problems. No, that wasn't
right. In real life, her problem was that everything was revealed to
be exactly as it appeared. She'd worried her boyfriend was a
commitment phobe who'd not fight for her, that rich and powerful men
such as Mr Gilmore-Bunce could ruin her life on a whim and that her
employers would drop her rather than lose his business. She'd also
known Jayne would welcome and support her and she'd been right. She
was right too, in thinking she deserved better than the poor
treatment she'd received from the others.

Jayne might be glad of help cleaning out the pigsties but she didn't
demand Leah do all the dirty jobs and certainly didn't treat her as
though that were all she was capable of.

Leah's work problems could work in her favour. Once her name was
cleared, Prophet Margin would have to apologise, admit she was
trustworthy and treat her with respect. So would Adam. He'd expected
her to always be available to do what he wanted, when he wanted, yet
never had time for her friends or family. She suspected he'd only
agreed to buy the flat with her because he couldn't raise a large
enough mortgage himself and not because he really wanted to commit to
owning a home with her. If they got back together it would be on her
terms. He'd have to acknowledge her at work and he'd definitely have
to come with her to Winkleigh Marsh.

She leapt out of bed full of confidence and enthusiasm and dressed in
her new pink sweater. In her bedroom it looked even brighter and
clingier than it had in the shop. Leah grinned at her reflection as
she imagined Adam's expression were he to see her in it. That was the
least of what he'd have to get used to. As she trotted down stairs,
she was pleased to notice that already her muscles were aching far
less than they had after her first day of hard work.

Leah added brown sauce to her plate of sausages and fried eggs.

"Have you milked Rosemary?" she asked.

"Yes, of course."

"Oh, I thought maybe you'd teach me how to do it."

"OK, but your lessons had better be during afternoon milking. I
can't see you getting up before six."

Six? Despite having spent over a week on the small farm, Leah still
hadn't realised quite how hard Jayne worked.

After breakfast, Leah changed out of her new clothes and into
something suitable for mucking out the pigs. Both she and Jayne
received official looking letters. Leah's was from work, politely
informing her an enquiry into 'recent events' was under way and her
pay would be going into the bank as usual. She'd be checking that
later, just to be sure but the tone of the letter reassured her. It
said so very little that Leah felt sure they'd taken legal advice and
were taking care they didn't seem to be accusing her of anything and
almost implied the 'gardening leave' were at her own request or at
least for her own benefit.

She told Jayne the good news. "I'll be able to contribute
towards the housekeeping."

"No, I couldn't ask you to do that and things..."

"You're not asking," Leah interrupted. "I'm offering.
I know you wouldn't begrudge feeding me if I'd just come up for the
weekend, but I've been here longer than that already and I do eat a
lot."

Jayne's smile suggested she was too polite to actually say so, but
that she agreed with her niece.

"Actually, I would feel more comfortable if I was paying
something toward my keep, because I've got a favour to ask."

"Oh dear, that sounds ominous."

"I hope not. Well, if it's OK with you, I'd like to stay for a
while. I think things would be easier with work and Adam if I didn't
return to London until my name is definitely cleared and I know
exactly where I stand."

"I agree and I'd love you to stay on."

Jayne so obviously meant this that Leah couldn't help but leap up
and hug her.

"Was your letter good news?" She asked.

"No, not really."

"Oh sorry. It's just that I thought it might be from some
builders to say they were coming to fix the roof."

"No." All the earlier happiness was wiped from Jayne's
face.

"He's not going to have it done? That good for nothing... Jayne,
what is it?"

"Nothing. Well no, not nothing, but like you I think I'd rather
wait until I know exactly where I stand before making a move."

"It's not just the roof, is it?"

"No, not just that. The leaky thatch seems almost too trivial to
worry about. Please, let's not talk about it now."

"OK, but when you do want to and if there's anything I can do to
help..."

"I know, lovey. Thank you. Just having you here helps. It's good
to have family and not to feel so alone."

Leah swallowed. It must have been hard for Jayne to cope with losing
both her elderly parents so close together. Leah had been so wrapped
up in her new job and new man she'd not been of much help. She'd
attended the funerals and written occasionally but that was all. She
felt so bad about that, especially compared to Jayne's compassion
over Leah's troubles. Now Jayne had something else worrying her,
something so bad she couldn't even face talking about it. There was
no way Leah could make up for her thoughtlessness in the past, but
she could try to ease some of Jayne's present worries.

Jayne had said the leaky thatch was almost too trivial to worry
about, but obviously it was still a worry. Maybe it was one problem
Leah could help with. Jayne was behaving just as Leah had been at
work and in her relationship with Adam - treated badly without
sticking up for herself. Unlike Leah who had no one to defend her,
Jayne had Leah.

"So, what's the plan today?" Leah asked.

"The usual feeding and cleaning out." Jayne sounded so
tired.

No wonder she was tired. It was only eight o'clock and already Jayne
had tackled hard physical work before cooking breakfast for her idle
townie visitor. Leah offered to do the rest of the morning's tasks
and give Jayne a break.