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James took his time finishing both letters, privately noting that Estelle had made the contents of each one slightly different, then wrote the addresses on the envelopes.
‘Should we hand deliver or send them first class?’ he asked.
She blinked as she stared at him, as if she’d been lost in a daydream and was recalibrating her mind back to the present moment.
‘I think we should drive them in today,’ she replied. ‘Along with handwritten invitations to every councillor asking them to save the date for the evening event. We need to get to as many as possible before Sarah and Mark have time to tell them what happened.’
‘Agreed. I know it doesn’t look good at the moment, but I don’t want to put anything on hold. We don’t have time to waste waiting for their decision. We have to move forward as if they’ll say yes.’
She nodded. ‘Do you want me to handle the evening event at the Manor? I can ask my friend Jack to help. He’s the one who made the Winter Ball such a success.’
Memories from that night crashed into his mind, removing the ability to reply.
Her cheeks darkened and she glanced away, scooting herself back to her desk on the other side of the room.
‘Yes,’ he replied, still gazing at her, even though all he could see over her laptop was her curly hair. ‘It’ll be far quicker to have you do that. I’ll focus on staffing. If that’s okay with you?’
The top of her head moved up and down. ‘Go for your life.’
‘How about the Saturday after next? Will that give you enough time?’
‘Yep.’ Her fingers were tapping away at the speed of a professional touch-typist.
He sent her an email.
From: James Hunter-Savage
To: Estelle Foxbrooke
Subject: Curious…
Are you typing actual words right now?
Kind regards,
James
Twenty seconds after his email was sent, Estelle froze and her fingers abruptly stopped.
Then they started up again, much slower, but with the weight of a sledgehammer going through them onto the keys.
His heart jumped when her reply pinged in.
From: Estelle Foxbrooke
To: James Hunter-Savage
Subject: Re: Curious…
Yes, I am. As opposed to staring across the office at my colleague.
Grinning, he pressed the reply button.
From: James Hunter-Savage
To: Estelle Foxbrooke
Subject: Wondering…
