Page 71 of Never Gonna Happen

‘Just admin,’ said Emily blandly. ‘Your dad gets a lot of emails.’

‘What does he, like, actually do?’ asked Catherine, inspecting her manicure. ‘I know about the gaming business and stuff, but I have no idea what he’s been doing since he sold it. I mean, what has he done with all that money? Isn’t it, like, crazy that I don’t know?’ She gave a ridiculous fake laugh, and Emily had to force herself not to roll her eyes. If this was a plot she and Adam had cooked up, it was pathetic. Catherine might live in LA, but she definitely wasn’t destined for a career in Hollywood.

‘Perhaps you should ask him,’ Emily said airily. ‘I’m sure he’d love that you’re interested.’

Catherine did the stupid laugh again. ‘I feel so dumb, though. Not knowing anything. Maybe you could give me the highlights, just so I can, like, ask the right questions?’

Emily tilted her head and studied Catherine. It was too good an opportunity to miss, and God knows there wasn’t much fun in her life right now.

‘Well,’ she said. ‘Right now he’s investing a lot of money in animal rescue.’ She’d watched a video on Facebook earlier about a scrawny stray dog who’d been found living in a storm drain, but he’d been nursed back to health and found his furever home. Those videos always made her cry.

‘He’s what?’ said Catherine, her eyes wide.

‘Animal rescue. There’s a dog rescue centre in Crete that your dad funds, and a refuge for retired horses in Spain, and a stray cat hotel in Cornwall. Right now he’s thinking about funding a donkey sanctuary in Norway.’ Emily wondered if that was an example too far – did they even have donkeys in Norway?

Catherine’s mouth was hanging open. ‘Wow, I had no idea. Do these places, like, make money?’

Emily laughed. ‘No, of course not. They’re charities. Mr Hunter covers the cost of all their work, it’s such an amazing use of his money. I mean, you can’t take it with you, right?’

‘No, I guess not,’ said Catherine, her eyes glazing over as she tried to process this new information. ‘Are you serious? Dog rescue centres and a cat hotel in Norway?’

It took everything Emily had to keep a straight face. ‘No, the cat hotel is in Cornwall. It’s a donkey sanctuary in Norway.’

‘Wow,’ said Catherine. ‘Thanks, Amelia. Maybe I’ll go and, like, lie by the pool.’

Stay out of the sun, thought Emily. Your face might, like, melt.

Mr Hunter appeared in the office later in the afternoon, leaning on the doorframe with his arms folded. His face was unreadable, but Emily thought she could detect a trace of a smile. In that moment he looked unsettlingly like Jamie.

‘Emily, do you have any idea why my daughter thinks I’m burning her inheritance on some kind of dog rescue in Norway?’

‘It was a donkey sanctuary in Norway,’ said Emily, ‘the dogs were in Crete.’

Mr Hunter smiled and shook his head. ‘I’m guessing you were under interrogation.’

Emily nodded. ‘It was easier than saying nothing, and the first thing that came to mind. Sorry.’

‘It’s not you who should apologise,’ he said, wafting her away. ‘I’ve reassured her and Adam that I’m not selling the family silver to fund a donkey hotel.’

‘Fine, but the hotel was actually for cats.’

Mr Hunter chuckled and sat down at his desk. ‘They’ve both decided to head home tomorrow, so it will just be the three of us again until James can fly.’

Emily closed her eyes and said a silent prayer of thanks. ‘It must be nice for you to have all your children together for a while.’

Mr Hunter thought about it for a second, his brow furrowed. ‘Yes, I suppose it has been, in some ways. I might take them all out for a final dinner tonight, maybe somewhere special.’

Emily thought about how much Jamie would absolutely hate that, but there was nothing she could do to save him. She could, however, save herself. ‘I’m very happy to do my own thing,’ she said quickly. ‘Give you guys some space.’

‘Thank you,’ said Mr Hunter. ‘I’ll get Madeleine to organise a taxi to take you to Sam’s. Jessie will look after you.’

Many hours and several piña coladas later, Emily was propping up the bar with Jessie and her daughter Delphine, who was in her mid-twenties and just as beautiful as her mother. Dinner had been mostly cocktails, along with a selection of tiny taster plates that had been delivered by the chef at regular intervals. It felt great to relax and laugh after the stress of the past couple of weeks, and Emily realised how much she’d missed a girls’ night out.

‘So Mr James taught you to ride a horse, then asked you out on a date?’ asked Jessie.

‘He did,’ said Emily, slurping the dregs of her drink through the straw. The barman took the glass away and immediately replaced it with another.

‘Man, that boy is smart,’ said Jessie. Delphine nodded sagely.