Patently in Love (23 page)

Jane forced a smile. "She's a good friend of Marsh's, isn't she? He mentioned
her."

"She's very protective of him," he said. "We both are. Listen, I won't tell you what to
think about Marsh. If you didn't believe him, you won't believe me either. But I will tell you
that you're wrong about Keith. You might want to talk to Val, or any of the other ladies in the
office, about him and his past exploits."

Not knowing how to answer, Jane said, "Oh."

"And please believe that Marsh's feelings for you were genuine. He's as upset about
the photo as you are."

"It didn't look like it on the night," said Jane. "He couldn't wait to leave the flat."

"That'll be because Stevie had been trying to call him all night to tell him that she'd
split up with the boyfriend and was coming home. His phone was off, so she kept leaving
messages." As though reading scepticism in her expression, he added, "I know, because she
phoned us in the middle of the night too."

Stevie again. His sister seemed to be Marsh's alibi for everything.

Jim seemed to sense that there was nothing more to say. "Anyway, I'm sure you've
got things to think about. If you do want to talk about it, or just hide, consider my office
yours."

"Thanks." Jane took a step backwards. "I should go..."

On the way back to her office, Jane wondered whether she believed Jim. He was
Marsh's best friend and could just be telling her what Marsh wanted her to hear. On the other
hand, she found it hard to believe he would do that. She had liked him instinctively when
she'd first met him. Just like she'd liked Marsh.

She felt a surge of sadness as she thought about her first meeting with Marsh, that
tiny spark of interest had been the first sign that she was recovering from her experience with
Ashby. Even in that brief conversation, when he was just a jogger who'd bumped into her,
she'd liked him.

How could something that felt so right go so horribly wrong?

She thought back to her first impression of Keith. He had made her uneasy. She'd
thought he was a shark. But over time his interactions with her had disarmed her and she had
grown to like him. Maybe her first impression been the more accurate?

She paused outside Marsh's office. In the adjacent bay, Val had her headphones on
and was typing up dictation notes. When she looked up, Jane turned to move on.

Suddenly, the image of Keith looking at something on Marsh's desk flashed into her
mind. He had shut the desk diary as Jane walked in.

Marsh wrote everything down. He'd said so.

She practically ran into the office, which was in semi-darkness. The diary lay on the
table where it always did. Jane went to it and started flicking through.

Someone switched on the lights. Jane looked up to see Val standing in the doorway,
her arms crossed.

"Are you looking for something?" she said. "I have a pretty good idea of Marsh's
filing methods, I can probably tell you where to look."

Jane ignored her. She had found the page. In neat letters, Marsh had written the time,
the name of the restaurant, the phone number, "dinner with J" and "booked in the name of
Winfield". If Keith had seen the page, he would have known exactly where they were going
and when. "Keith knew."

"Knew what?" Val said. "That you were going out with Marsh? I hate to break it to
you, but everyone knew that."

Ordinarily, the comment would have made Jane blush, but she was too excited to
even notice at that moment. "No, he knew we'd be at the restaurant at that time." Her thoughts
were tumbling over each other in their haste to be first. "So, he could have told the magazine.
But why? Why would he do that?"

"Ah," said Val. "I think I might be able to help you with that. You... might want to
sit down."

Jane lowered herself into Marsh's chair. It seemed strange to think that he sat in it day
after day. The seat was uneven, as though it was moulded to fit his body. She waited
expectantly.

Val appeared uncomfortable, but she quickly outlined the details of Keith's old bets
with Eric and what she knew of the new bet. When she came to the end, she said "Are you
okay? You've gone pale."

For the second time in forty-eight hours, Jane felt her world spin. Emotions wrestled
each other and fury won. How
dare
Keith treat her like that?

Her first instincts about him had been right. He had engineered all the rest to fit his
aim of bedding her before Marsh did. When he failed at that, he set about trying to sabotage
their relationship, just to get at Marsh.

And it had worked. Not only had Jane done exactly what Keith expected her to do,
but Marsh had responded by confronting Keith and got himself suspended from work, ruining
his chances of becoming a partner.

"Poor Marsh. I was so awful to him. I'll call him. I must apologise."

"I think that would be a good idea," Val said, relief evident in her voice.

Jane got the impression that Val was rather protective of Marsh too.

Back in her office, Jane sank into her chair. Absent mindedly, she opened her email.
That spam message was still there. She highlighted it and hit delete.

As the message disappeared, Jane's brain suddenly made a connection. Stevie. That
was Marshall's sister's name. After a flash of panic, she retrieved it from her deleted items
folder.

What she read made her cry.

It took a few minutes for Jane to compose herself enough to phone Marsh. After all,
what could she say to him? Sorry didn't even begin to cover how she felt. Her unfair
accusation must have hurt him deeply. Polly was right. She was still hung up on what Ashby
had done and was using it to sabotage her relationship with Marsh.

She ducked into an empty meeting room, took a deep breath and punched in Marsh's
number. The call immediately went to answer phone. "You've reached Marshall Winfield's
mobile. Please leave your name and number and I'll call you back."

She stared at the phone for a moment. Just hearing his voice, even in the form of a
recorded message, brought home to her the enormity of what she'd thrown away. Tears
prickled at her eyes. She had to see him. As soon as possible.

Jane hurried back to his office, not quite running. "Val, do you have Marsh's number
at the flat?"

"Sure." Val opened her drawer and pulled out a black notebook. "But he's not
there."

"Where is he then?"

"He and Stevie have gone to Wales to see their Aunt," said Val. "Do you still want
the number for the flat?"

"Um... Do you have a number for his aunt's place?"

"No, I'm afraid I don't. Have you tried his mobile?"

"It's off."

"You could see if Jim knows."

Jim was in a meeting, so Jane spent an agonising hour in her office, half-heartedly
ordering papers for Susan and getting up every so often to see if Jim was back. Every moment
of delay felt like an eternity. The longer Marsh went on believing that she didn't trust him, the
worse things got. When she'd finally ordered the last paper, she emailed Polly.

* * * *

From: Jane Porter

To: Polly

I've really blown it this time!
I've
figured out how Keith knew where we were going for dinner on Wednesday.
You know how I said I couldn't think of a single motive for him to talk to the
press. Well I was wrong. It turns out that he had some sort of bet with Eric in
the regional office that he would sleep with me.
How sickening is that? I'm
glad he's not here. I feel dirty just thinking about being in the same building as
him. It's disgusting.
The really sickening thing is that, in a world full of
unreliable, despicable men, I found one that was nice and I let him slip through
my fingers. I'm such an idiot Pol. I wish I were dead.

##

From: Polly
To: Jane Porter

I told you Marsh seemed
like a good guy!
So, you made a mistake. You were distraught and made a
rash judgement. It happens. Why don't you call him and apologise. I'm sure
he'll come round.
Hugs
Polly

##

From: Jane Porter
To:
Polly
I tried to call him, but his
mobile's off. Apparently, he's gone to visit his aunt in Wales. I'm hoping Jim
will have contact details for the aunt, but he's been in a meeting for the last
hour.
I'm going mad with impatience.
Jane

* * * *

The instant Jim was back in his office, Jane rushed over. "Do you have the phone
number for Marsh's aunt's place?"

"Does this mean you've decided to believe him?"

"Yes, I want to apologise," said Jane, impatient to get on with it. "Val says he's gone
to visit his aunt and you might have the number."

"I'm afraid I don't know it off hand. But I can ask my wife." He held up a finger. "Just
a sec." He picked up the phone and started tapping in the number but then paused, frowned
and put the receiver back. "I've just remembered she's on a school trip with the twins. Her
phone's switched off. They must be inside the museum."

Her feelings must have shown on her face because Jim said, "I'm sorry. I'll try and
think of any other information that might be useful. His aunt owns a B&B on a working
farm. I can't remember what it was called but my wife..." He stopped, looked at his watch.
"Oh, shit."

"What?"

"I'm supposed to be looking after my daughter this afternoon." He started shoving
papers into his briefcase. "I'm sorry Jane, I've got to go. I promise I'll call if Lou or I think of
anything, okay?"

"Okay." She turned to leave, her heart now sunk into her shoes.

"You could email him. He checks his email every night."

"Thanks. Have fun with your daughter." She couldn't wait until the evening to speak
to Marsh.

* * * *

From: James Edwards

To: Louise Edwards

Do you have Marsh's aunty's
phone number?

##

From: Louise Edwards
To:
James Edwards
Why the
hell would I have Marsh's aunt's phone number?
More importantly, DO
YOU HAVE MOLLY?

##

From: James Edwards

To: Louise Edwards

Of course I have Molly. We're
turning a cardboard box into a boat at the moment.
As if I'd forget to pick
up my daughter. Lou, you wound me.

##

From: Louise Edwards
To:
James Edwards
I'm sorry
Jim. I should have more faith in you.
Marsh's aunt's B&B is
somewhere near Abergavenny. Her name's Caroline, his name's Frank. The
place probably has a website. Try Google.
Gotta go. I left the kids with a
teacher while I popped to the loo. Best get back. They're having a great time,
by the way. The dinosaur is a hit.
Lou
X X X

* * * *

From: Terence Wattley

To: The Senior
Partners
In the light of Susan and Alison's investigation, it is
recommended that both Marshall and Keith be allowed back to work with a
warning. As it appears Keith has been reprimanded for something similar
before, and considering he caused enough provocation to precipitate Marshall's
actions, I suggest he is made to account for his actions before the partners'
committee. I believe a written warning may be called for, at the very
least.
As this matter is currently part of the company gossip, it is probably
inadvisable to make Marshall a partner yet. I suggest we wait until the furore
has died down and promote him following the next meeting.
We have
decided to leave the decision on what to do about the trainee, Jane Porter, up to
her supervisor--who, in this case, is Susan.
On a personal note, I just hope
no one brings the company name up in the newspapers.
Terry

* * * *

Even though Jane did her best to concentrate on her work, she kept thinking about
Marsh all afternoon. The memory of the hurt on his face just before he left her flat kept
coming back to her. How could she have been so wrong?

It was late when Jim finally called. "Bad news, I'm afraid. We don't have a number
for Marsh's aunt. All we know is that the B&B is near Abergavenny."

Jane scribbled down everything he said. "Do you know their surname?"

"No, sorry." There was a scream in the background. Jim said, "Just a minute
sweetheart, Daddy's on the phone. I'm sorry we can't be more help. Like I said, you can
always email him and ask him to call you."

"I'll see what I can find," said Jane. "Thanks for all your help."

"Glad to help. I hope you catch him." There was renewed screaming in the
background. "I'd better go. Good luck."

The internet gave Jane three possible B&Bs in the right area, but she couldn't
narrow it down any further. She wrote down the numbers for all of them and tapped the end of
her pen on her notepad.

"You could try phoning the local tourist information office," suggested Ruth.

"They're not likely to know, are they? I don't have a surname for Caroline and
Frank."

"How about just phone up and say 'Is Caroline there?' They'll say if it's a wrong
number," said Val, who had come in with some files and was hovering.

Jane looked up, her mood suddenly lighter. "That's doable. I'll use the phone in
Marsh's office, if that's okay. I need to concentrate."

Val had clearly been hoping to help. "Yes," she said, sounding disappointed. "I guess
you'd want some privacy."

The first number she tried rang for ages, but no one answered. A woman answered
her next call almost immediately.

"Is Caroline or Frank there please?" Jane crossed her fingers.

"I think you've got the wrong B&B, love."

"Oh, sorry to have bothered you." Jane hung up quickly and crossed the number off
her list. She dialled the last one.