Law of Attraction (6 page)

“So that’s what you like to do is it?”

“Yes, it is.” Kay was surprised at her reply. After George had left her she hadn’t thought she’d be interested in dancing again, but now she realised she’d like to go regularly.

“I used to love to dance, too. I’m afraid my hip’s a bit painful at the moment, but dancing was my passion when I was younger. It was all ballroom in those days, but you young ones have lots of new dances like that Lindy Hop thing.”

“You must come with me sometime, even if you sit out most of them and just watch. I’m sure you could waltz though and I’m happy to take the male part.”

“Are you saying I wouldn’t be asked to dance by a man?” Olive laughed. “I certainly wouldn’t get a partner as lovely as yours.”

Kay felt herself blushing. She supposed she could think of Michael as her dancing partner. She wondered if she should ask him to go with her again.

“The other thing I like doing is helping Dad in the garden. You said I could do what I like with your garden. Do you mean it?”

“Definitely.”

“If it’s all right with you I’d like to grow some vegetables and a few flowers for cutting. I’ll have a think about the possibilities and tell you what I come up with. First I’ll need to dig the vegetable patch over.”

“That sounds like hard work. Still, you’re young and fit. And I’ve always thought hard work never hurt anyone.”

“What is it you’re going to knit?”

“I think I’ll stick to a child’s jumper.” Olive picked out some bright colours, apparently intent on the job, but to Kay it looked as if she had something on her mind.

“Shall I make some cocoa?” offered Kay later, unable to suppress a yawn even though it was only half past nine.

Olive glanced at the clock on the mantelpiece. “You’ve had a long day, I was forgetting. Yes, cocoa would be nice. Thank you.”

Kay was glad Olive hadn’t protested and tried to wait on her. Out in the kitchen, she found a small milk pan and set about making the bedtime drinks. She’d take hers upstairs, she decided. Her bed was still littered with her things and she’d need to sort out what she’d be wearing to the office in the morning.
And
she’d need to set her alarm clock; her mum had always made sure she was up in plenty of time in the mornings, but it was up to Kay now.

“Before you go up to bed, Kay, I’m going to say something.” Kay perched on the arm of a chair waiting. “I like your friend, Michael. We had a little chat while you were out of the room this afternoon. I told him in no uncertain terms that I didn’t trust the other solicitors in the town. They did have a good reputation and I used their services at one time, but more recently other people have said they’ve made mistakes and acted unethically. You know the ones I mean?” Kay nodded, holding her breath, wondering what was coming. “Twigge and Moore. He was being tactful about them, remaining professional I expect, but let me give you a warning. You want to make sure you steer clear of them.”

Chapter Six

Kay could smell delicious aromas of bacon and egg as she made her way downstairs, dressed in a crisp white blouse and a black skirt.

“Here you are, Kay. This should set you up for the day.”

Olive set a steaming plate in front of her. There were tomatoes, fried potatoes, bacon and two poached eggs. Kay tucked in and could barely manage a slice of toast and marmalade afterwards.

“That was wonderful, thank you.”

“Good. I want you to treat this as your home. There’ll be no standing on ceremony. We must be honest with each other and say what we think. If you leave rings round the bath tub I’ll tell you!”

“That’s fine.”

“And if you want to entertain your friends here you must. That Michael is a lovely man. I took to him straight away. I’ll be very happy for you to invite him for a meal and you can use the sitting room and watch the television if you like. I’m quite content in my chair in the kitchen. I don’t watch the television much anyway.”

“We haven’t got one at home. Mum did talk about renting one, but she’s never got round to it. The first time I watched was to see the coronation. We went to a neighbour’s house. I thought it was very exciting.”

“There are some good programmes and
it’s company when you’re on your own. But I’m not alone now so I don’t suppose it will be switched on much.”

“I’m not sure about inviting Michael round, but I would like to invite Betty. She’s a nice young girl from my old office. I’m very fond of her and as she’s not moving to Blayton I thought it would be nice if she could visit.”

“There’s a truckle bed in the attic. I’m sure we could put it up in your room when she comes. It’ll be a bit of a squeeze, but you girls will manage.”

“That’s very kind of you. We’ll have to see what her mum thinks, but if she agrees I could take her dancing. I’d stay with her all the time and bring her home early. I think she’d enjoy that.” Kay glanced at her watch. “My goodness. I’ll just nip up and clean my teeth then I’ll be off.” She stood up and started clearing the plates.

“Don’t worry about doing that. I’ve got all day to clear up. Your sandwiches and apple are on the table in the hall.”

“Lovely, thank you.”

Kay had plenty of time to get to the office, so she decided to stroll through the park. The green hills which had been shelters during the war looked as though they would be fun for children to play on. As she passed the wooden hut two of the park keepers were sitting outside on a bench drinking their tea and having a smoke.

“’Morning miss,” one of them said as he nodded at her. She smiled back and felt happy that her walk was so pleasant.

* * *

Kay spent the morning taking deliveries of furniture and stationery and enjoyed deciding where things should go. On one of his brief visits into the office that morning Michael had told her he would leave the arrangement of the office in her hands. She was thrilled at the prospect of showing him what she’d achieved so far, but when he next appeared she could tell immediately that he wasn’t in the best of moods. Knowing his last appointment had been with Tom Reacher she wondered what this meant for the future of Harris and Partners, as they were now known.

“You won’t believe what Tom told me,” he began as he sat rigidly in one of the new office chairs. “They received a letter on our headed paper, typewritten and apparently from Dad. Tom showed it to me. Very convincing.”

“What did it say?”

“That due to the downward turn Tom Reacher’s company was taking we were no longer going to accept their business. It was quite horrible and Tom couldn’t believe that Dad had written it, that’s why, after he’d calmed down, he wanted to discuss things with me. We’ve always had a good relationship with them and he thought the letter was quite out of character.”

“So who sent it? You said headed notepaper, didn’t you? Remember the stationery that went missing?”

“You ought to be in an Agatha Christie novel.”

“I enjoy reading her books. I really like the Miss Marple ones. And I’d love to go to London to see ‘The Mousetrap’.” Kay realised that Michael had calmed down now that they were chatting about other things, but she was intrigued with this story. “Do you know who stole the paper and
typed the letter?”

“I have a very good idea. You remember Charlie left the firm suddenly? I won’t tell you what had been going on, but as soon as I discovered what he’d been doing I fired him. I imagine he took the headed notepaper to write a reference and then decided he’d get his own back on me by taking Reacher and Good’s business away from us. I can’t prove any of it,
although I’m very pleased that we’ve sorted it all out and got the business back again.”

Kay had a sudden desire to wrap her arms round him and smooth his hair back off his face. She remembered what Olive had said about inviting him back for a meal and to watch TV. She was painting a lovely picture in her head of the two of them cuddling up together on Olive’s settee when she realised Michael was talking to her.

“You’re in a dream again, Kay. I hope all this work isn’t too much for you.”

“Not at all, I love being busy. I was just remembering something Olive said to me this morning.”

“How’s that going?”

“Very well. She cooked me a huge breakfast
and
prepared my sandwiches. I suppose we’d better get on.” As she walked over to one of desks she noticed something that had puzzled her earlier. “I’ve just remembered something that might be relevant to that business with Charlie. We had the furniture we’d chosen from the old office delivered today so I cleaned out some of the drawers. In Charlie’s old desk drawer I found something which I couldn’t work out.” She grabbed a handful of paper. “Look at this. Forged signatures. I couldn’t understand what it was all about. So Charlie only got a job at Twigge and Moore by writing a false reference and forging Mr Harris’s signature.”

“I don’t suppose they mind too much especially if he causes our downfall. Your discovery confirms everything I thought. I wonder who else he’ll write to and what else he’ll do.”

“We’ll have to hope he feels he’s done enough damage and leaves us alone from now on.” As Michael didn’t respond, she continued, “If it’s all right with you I thought I’d have my lunch and then explore the High Street.” Kay wondered if he would offer to go with her, but he simply nodded his head and went over to the filing cabinet in the corner.

* * *

Kay was delighted at the range of shops along the main street in Blayton. She bought two pairs of stockings and a pale pink Coty lipstick. It would have been nice to buy something for Olive, but Kay wasn’t sure what so she left that for another day. She’d spent a long time looking around the shops and decided to go back to the office to eat her lunch. There was still a lot to do there and Michael might need someone to answer the telephone while he popped out for something to eat. The news about Charlie had been a shock to her. He wasn’t her favourite person, but she’d never thought he could be involved in anything dishonest. It was good that Michael had secured Reacher and Good’s business back again, but she must keep a vigilant eye on things in case any other clients had been similarly approached by Charlie Spencer.

Michael had disappeared from the outer office when Kay returned and she could hear him moving around in his room. A tap came at the door and when she answered it there was another delivery man on the doorstep asking her to sign yet another receipt. “What is it?” asked Kay

“A refrigerator,” he said, wheeling in the cardboard box. “Where do you want it?”

Kay had no idea; she didn’t know it had been on the list of things for the new office. “
In that corner,” she improvised. “I can always move it later.”

“It’s heavy,” warned the man. “The motor at the back is cumbersome. It’ll keep your milk from going sour.”

“Ah, it’s come,” said Michael appearing at Kay’s side as she was peering inside the refrigerator.

“Betty would love this,” laughed Kay. “What a pity she won’t benefit from it. I must write and tell her all about it.”

“You’re a good friend to have,” said Michael giving her an admiring glance. “Let’s have a look at the plug. I’ll need to put a fuse in.”

“I can do that,” said Kay confidently. Her father had taught her all sorts of useful things around the house. He had a way of explaining things clearly and getting her to have a go instead of just lecturing her on how things should be done.

“There should be a screwdriver around somewhere, but I’ve no idea where.” Michael looked around with a frown on his face.

“I’ve been putting together a sort of useful things box,” said Kay, pulling it out from under her desk and rummaging through. “See, spare light bulbs, candles in case of a power cut and matches, of course, as well as fuses and fuse wire. Ah here’s the screwdriver.” She deftly fixed the fuse into place and plugged the refrigerator lead into the wall. It made a loud humming noise before settling down to a mesmeric whirr. “I’ve phoned the dairy and they’ll deliver our milk,” she said. “I won’t be as organised as Betty was with making tea.”

“Kay, you’re a marvel, you really are. Where would I be without you? I’d never have thought of having a useful box.” He picked up his briefcase. “I have to go out again, but I should be back before you leave. If not, what shall we do about locking up?”

“I suppose I should have a spare key to the office. But if you’re going out it’ll have to wait until tomorrow now. I’ll stay here until you get back.”

There was plenty to occupy Kay that afternoon and by the time Michael returned the office was looking very welcoming. The air smelt of lavender polish and Kay had arranged the furniture so that a client coming in would be able to view the staff and not just their backs hunched over their desks. Staff! They’d need to recruit more people, of course. She was sure Michael had it in hand, but the only other person transferring from Harris and Son was one of the typists who had an aunt living in Blayton with whom she could lodge. Kay decided to ask Michael if he knew of anyone they could enlist to help find
accounting and clerical staff
, especially typists. Suddenly there seemed an awful lot still to do; arranging the layout of the office was the tip of the iceberg.

“Kay, you’re not to worry about all of these things,” insisted Michael when she regaled him with the list of things which still needed to be done. “I’ve not been idle. This afternoon I engaged the help of a friend and he’s got a list of recommended people who I will arrange to interview during the week. We’re not going to officially open for business yet. Dad and I will also be having meetings with the two new partners we want to take on.”

“All these changes are thrilling. It will be fun having new work colleagues. Will we have a new junior?”

“I think that’s the least of our worries right now, but yes I would like to help another young person into work. Let’s leave that until we’re settled. You look tired. Why don’t you take yourself off
home? Let me give you a lift.”

“No, it’s not far to walk and some fresh air will do me good.”

“Maybe one day you’ll accept, when it’s raining or snowing.”

“Only if you put the hood of the car up!”

* * *

Arriving back at Elm Close, Kay felt wrung out. She had a wash in her room and changed into a pair of slacks and a clean blouse. Then she rinsed her stockings and hung them over the basin to dry. Her tummy growled in spite of her large breakfast and lunchtime sandwiches. It was nearly seven o’clock so she went downstairs to the kitchen.

“Shall I lay the table?” she asked.

“It’s done,” replied Olive. “Goodness, you look worn out. Busy day, I expect. Everything new.”

“We’ve got a fridge,” said Kay. “There’s nothing in it yet, but it will be useful, especially if we have a hot summer.”

Olive nodded and started ladling stew into big round dishes. “Don’t wait for me.”

“This is delicious,” said Kay, “and the dumplings are so light. I wish I could cook like you and Mum.”

“I’ll teach you if you like,” offered Olive, sitting down opposite Kay. “It’s quite easy really if you stick to simple recipes to begin with.” They ate in silence for a while. “I hope you don’t mind eating in the kitchen,” said Olive.

“Not at all. It’s nice and cosy.”

After a blackberry and apple crumble with hot creamy custard, Kay pushed back her chair. “I don’t think I can move,” she laughed. “If you’re going to feed me like this every day I won’t fit through the door.”

“I don’t like anyone going hungry,” said Olive getting up to clear the table.

“I’ll do that,” said Kay jumping to her feet.

“I thought you couldn’t move.”

The doorbell startled the two women.

“I don’t often get callers at this time in the evening,” Olive said, “I wonder who it could be.”

Kay stayed in the kitchen clearing up as she was quite sure no one would be calling on her. Olive bustled in followed by Michael.

“Hello, Kay, I’m sorry to barge in like this. It’s just that I’ve had another key cut for the office.” He turned to Olive. “Kay’s making her mark in the reception area. She’s full of good ideas.” Michael didn’t seem anxious to be leaving.