Law of Attraction (14 page)

The whistling of the kettle brought her back to thinking of Olive and how she needed to comfort her. Having prepared the tea things and got her emotions under control Kay carried the tray back into the sitting room and set it down on the little table. She poured tea for them both and made Olive take a biscuit. She herself couldn’t force one crumb down, but sipped at the hot liquid.

“Harris and Partners are doomed to failure,” she said dejectedly. Suddenly she grabbed the letter and looked at it again. “Oh, Olive, I know who’s written this. It has to be Charlie. Look at the letter heading. It’s the old stationery with Harris and Son.
We don’t use that any more, but that’s the paper Charlie stole from the firm to write his reference.”

Olive breathed a sigh of relief. “I knew deep down it couldn’t be Michael, but it was very convincing.”

Kay wanted to jump for joy. “Don’t blame yourself for doubting him, Olive; I had a moment of doubt too. I feel awful that I could have thought such a thing. Poor Michael. We’ll have to show him the letter and let him decide what to do about it. I’m afraid last time we went to see him Mr Twigge was overwhelmed with work and didn’t really listen to us when we told him about Charlie, but maybe he’d listen if we took this along. I suppose Charlie is just trying to get Harris and Partners into trouble any way he can.”

“I’ve been so worried. It’s not like me to be daunted by things, but that was devastating. Not only because I really like Michael and trusted him completely, but because I know you and he like each other.”

Make that ‘love’ in my case, Kay thought. There she’d admitted it if only to herself. She loved him. It was quite simple.

Once Olive had eaten her biscuit and finished her tea she was back to her usual determined self. “I’ve got a plan. We’ll have to get Michael’s approval and Len’s co-operation.”

“What’s Len got to do with any of this?”

“He says he’s a very fine actor and once I tell him the whole story I’m sure he’ll be pleased to help.”

“Help? What on earth are you talking about?” Kay was glad Olive was back to normal, but she wondered if the lack of food had affected her in some way.

“We haven’t been in amateur dramatics for nothing. I’m going to cast Len as private investigator Len Hutchings. He’ll bring about Charlie’s downfall. You just wait and see.”

Chapter Fourteen

“I’m not happy about it, Olive,” said Michael grimly pacing her sitting room. “Charlie Spencer is a nasty piece of work and I won’t let you put yourself in danger, either of you.”

“Steady on, Michael,” put in Len. “Olive won’t be there, I will and you can come with me if you like. In fact it would make it more business-like if you
were
there. After all Miss Olive Carter is a client of yours, isn’t she?”

Michael nodded. “All right then, as long as I can be present, I agree.”

“I could come as well,” said Kay, wanting to be involved and to witness Charlie’s disgrace in person.

“No,” said both men in unison.

“You stay at the office, Kay and you stay at home, Olive,” continued Michael. “We’ll be in touch with you both as soon as we’ve finished with Twigge and Moore.”

* * *

The next day Kay went to the office early as between them she and Olive were getting under each other’s feet and had only one thing on their minds. Kay desperately hoped she wouldn’t have to wait long to hear from Michael and Len that everything had gone smoothly.

Every time the office door opened Kay hoped it would be Michael, but the time passed very slowly and he didn’t appear. At last, just before her lunch break, Michael and Len pushed open the door and entered.

“Are you free to come to my room, Kay?” asked Michael, leading the way with Len not far behind him.

Once behind closed doors, Michael invited Kay and Len to make themselves comfortable in the wooden chairs by his desk.

“It’s a long story, isn’t it Len?” Michael perched on the desk and began. “Len was very good, in fact I’m sure he could make a career out of acting.”

Kay grew impatient; she didn’t want to know about Len’s theatrical ability at the moment. All she was interested in was whether Charlie had got his comeuppance.

“Michael did well, in fact he didn’t interrupt while I was giving Charlie a warning even though I could see he was itching to,” added Len.

“Will you please just tell me what happened,” begged Kay.

“We went in to Twigge and Moore and I asked to see Charlie Spencer,” said Michael. “As luck would have it, Mr Twigge was in the outer office and let us have his room for our interview. He came into the room with us and said he would act as Charlie’s witness in case he was being put under undue pressure. Len said he was a private detective acting on behalf of a client. You should have seen Charlie’s face! It was as if guilt was written all over it. I was ready to knock his block off. Anyway,” grinned Michael, giving Kay a swift look, “sorry to deviate. Without actually showing the letter to Charlie, Len outlined what was written in it making sure Olive’s name wasn’t mentioned. And then he said he had reason to believe Mr Spencer was behind the duplicity. Both Charlie and Mr Twigge asked for proof and I thought we were lost, but then Charlie went beetroot red and said it couldn’t have been him as he hadn’t had any direct dealings with Miss Carter. Of course he realised straightaway that he’d put his foot in it by mentioning Olive’s name and so did Mr Twigge.”

“So he dug a hole for himself?” enquired Kay, enjoying Michael’s telling of the event.

“Correct! Anyway suffice it to say that Mr Twigge will deal with Charlie Spencer. He was as outraged as we were when he realised what Charlie had been up to. Couldn’t apologise enough. And then, as if that wasn’t enough, Charlie said it wasn’t just him, Alastair Barnes was involved as well. It seemed the pair of them wanted to discredit us
and
Twigge and Moore so that they could set up an office together here in Blayton.”

“So what will happen to the two of them?” asked Kay.

“I don’t know for certain, but I am sure that neither of them will work in any law firm ever again,” replied Michael, looking satisfied.

The three of them sat in silence until Kay said, “Does Olive know? I expect you came straight here from seeing Charlie. We must tell her at once. She’ll be a nervous wreck by now wondering how it all went.”

Len was on his feet. “I’ll go,” he grinned. “She’ll want to see my disguise.”

Kay hadn’t noticed, but now she looked closely at Len she could see he had different spectacles on and it looked as if he’d grown a moustache overnight. And in spite of the warmth of the day, he was wearing a mackintosh with the belt tied tightly around his middle. He did look every inch a detective.

Left together, Kay and Michael exchanged a look. “I’m so pleased this has all been sorted out, Michael,” sighed Kay. “I was worried we, that is the firm, would get a bad reputation based on the false rumours Charlie was spreading.”

Michael took her hand. “Thank you for your concern, my dear Kay. We can put all that behind us and get on with being the best solicitors’ office in Blayton.”

“I thought we were already,” beamed Kay, squeezing Michael’s hand.

“And that’s not all. I know I thought Mr Twigge was implicated in some way, but seeing how he reacted to Charlie’s confession this morning, I’m sure he didn’t know a thing about it. With Charlie and Alastair out of the way I think we could become close business associates. Your instinct about Alastair was very intuitive.”

Basking in the praise from Michael, Kay wanted to tell him about the advertisement for the single ladies which she had drafted, but now was not the time.

“We’ll have to go out and celebrate,” said Michael. “This evening?”

“I think Len and Olive have other plans.”

“I wasn’t asking them out, just you.” Michael brought Kay’s hand to his lips and tenderly kissed it.

“Are you sure you’ve got time?”

“I have apologised for cancelling our last date. Don’t you think I’d rather have spent the evening with you at tennis and the coffee bar than be working on those tedious papers I had to prepare?”

“I expect so,” Kay said doubtfully. She’d been very disappointed when he’d cancelled their date at the last minute, but on the other hand she knew how much he wanted to make the business a success. She had to admire him for his determination and hard work. “Yes, let’s celebrate.”

“I’ve just had a thought. It’s Friday. Won’t you be going to your dancing class?”

“I don’t think Len will miss me this evening. He’s persuaded Olive to go with him. They’ll only have eyes for each other. It won’t matter if I miss one class. But why don’t we see if there’s a band playing at the Orchid Ballroom. We could go there.”

“Dinner first, then dancing. Perfect.” Michael waltzed round the room grinning. “Will you dance?”

Kay stood and soon they were moving together very slowly. There were no particular steps to this dance, but they moved as one.

“Sorry to barge in, Mike… Sorry, didn’t know you were otherwise engaged.” Vanessa stood at the door with a bundle of papers. “Post. Thought I’d bring in the second delivery.” She dumped it on the desk and made her escape.

The moment had passed. “I’d better go back to my desk. I expect I’ll get the third degree at tea break.”

“Do you mind?” Michael clung to her hand.

“It depends how much of an interrogation she gives me.” Kay pulled away and left the room. She made her way to her desk ignoring the other members of staff and diligently carried on with what she had to do.

“Here’s your tea, Kay.” Vanessa put her cup on the desk. “I thought I’d join you. Any news? Anything you want to tell me?”

“Oh, Vanessa, why not just ask me outright?”

“All right. What’s going on between you and Mike? You looked very close in there wrapped in each other’s arms. Are you dating?”

Kay thought for a moment. Were they? She giggled. All the signs indicated they were and Michael didn’t seem to be blowing hot and cold anymore. She’d been upset when he’d cancelled their last arrangement, but she must remember his priority was Harris and Partners. If he was becoming serious about her, was she prepared to always be second? “I think we might be,” she finally replied.

“I’m very pleased. You are so good together. He’s a lovely man. You’re very lucky. I have to confess I used to have a soft spot for him
, but he wasn’t ever the slightest bit interested in me even when I threw myself at him. I made such a fool of myself.”

“I’m sure we all make fools of ourselves over men at least once in our lives. I certainly have. Now, shall we get on with our work?”
Kay said with a smile.

* * *

Kay had worked slightly later than six so didn’t have long to get ready before Michael called for her. Olive and Len were just finishing off their pudding when Kay walked into the kitchen.

“Hello, dear. I hope you don’t mind, but Len’s been doing a bit of work in the garden. Only things you said you wanted to do. He’s not interfering.”

“It’s fine, Olive, I’m very happy to have some help. There’s a lot to do. Thank you, Len.”

“My pleasure and I’ve been rewarded with a magnificent meal. I’m not sure about dancing well tonight, Kay, not after eating all the food Olive’s just provided.”

“That’s all right because I’m not coming this evening, I’m going out with Michael. I didn’t think you’d mind me missing this once. You’re still going to the class, aren’t you Olive?”

Olive nodded vigorously, a wide grin on her face.

“I’ll be back again next week. We’re going to start work on the dances for that next competition, aren’t we?” Kay poured herself a cup of tea.

“We certainly are. We must get some other members of the class to enter as well. Some of them are very good and could be placed if they worked hard enough. I think between the two of us we could encourage them to practise more to get themselves up to standard.”

As Kay went upstairs to get ready she thought how lucky she was. She had really come up trumps when she’d found Olive to lodge with and now with dancing, the garden and her ever deeper involvement at work she had plenty to enjoy. And then there was Michael. A deep thrill ran through her as she pictured him sitting at his desk concentrating, his hair flopping forward over his piercing blue eyes.

She didn’t have time to daydream, but in spite of that she lay on the bed and went back over their outings together, the times he’d taken her in his arms and the times they’d kissed. She wanted to relive every one of those tender moments. She knew she was tormenting herself and just had to be patient and wait and see how things went between them. He hadn’t ever said he loved her, but then she hadn’t told him her feelings. Should she or would that spoil their relationship? No, she decided, getting up off the bed and starting to get ready, she would let things take their course. If their relationship didn’t develop any further then she would have to live with it just as she’d lived with George’s rejection. But for now she would make the most of the opportunity to spend time with Michael. And the most pressing problem at the moment was what she should wear.

* * *

“You look lovely, Kay,”
declared Michael, taking her arm and leading her into the restaurant. "I hope you like it here. It’s only just opened up. In fact, I drew up the papers for the new owners.”

“I think you fit into the town very well,” said Kay. “The tables here are very nicely set out. Look at the napkins, they’re shaped like fans.” She looked around the room. “There are quite a few people here even though it’s early. I hope it turns out to be popular. When someone’s put a lot of effort into something it’s nice to see them rewarded.”

Michael smiled, taking a menu from the waiter. “Let’s see if their food warrants it. I’m starving.”

“You should have seen what Olive and Len were eating. Honestly, I don’t know where they put it all. I suppose Len dances it off and he’s doing a lot in the garden
which I’m grateful for. I think I might have taken on a bit too much with that as well as all the other things I’m involved in.”

“At least we can put the worry of Charlie Spencer behind us now. That’s the reason for us being here this evening. To celebrate that.” Michael lifted
his glass of wine and said, “I think we should dedicate this toast to Mr Twigge.”

Kay was disappointed. She had hoped for something more personal between them, but even now, with her sitting closely beside him, Michael was still thinking about work. “I think we should toast Olive and Len,” she protested. “They did far more than Mr Twigge in getting to the bottom of Charlie’s deception.” She felt irritation rising in her and didn’t pick up her glass.

Quickly, Michael replaced his drink on the table and covered Kay’s hand with his. “I’ve upset you. I’m sorry. It wasn’t my intention. I can be so clumsy at times.”

“You always seem preoccupied with work,” Kay couldn’t help bursting out. “Even when you’re…” She’d been about to add ‘with me’, but had realised how forward that would have been.

Michael said nothing, and didn’t remove his hand. He looked at her quizzically. “When I’m what?”

Taking a
mouthful of wine, Kay said, “Even when you’re supposed to be relaxing after a hard day at work.” She knew Michael by now; he wouldn’t change and who was she to try and make him? In fact, as she thought about all the happy times they’d spent together both at work and in their free time, she realised that she was lucky to have him as a friend. Changing the subject, she said, “By the way, I wanted to let you know that I’ve handed in an advertisement at the Labour Exchange.”