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‘I really dislike the way you take one girl out for a drink and another the next day. I know you don’t cross any lines or break promises, but it creates discord and I won’t have that in my store. But...’ she took a deep breath ‘...I do admire the way you remember everyone’s name and what they do. I am a little envious of the rapport you have with my staff already. I don’t doubt you’ll be a CEO by thirty because you’re focused and innovative and put the hours in.’
‘Should I be blushing?’
‘And I don’t know what I would have done without you last week.’ There, she had said it.
‘Oh, Polly.’ He shook his head, the smile gone. ‘You would have been absolutely fine.’
‘Maybe,’ she agreed. ‘I am used to doing things alone. I would have coped. I’d have had to. But it was nice not having to. Maybe it’s the time I had away, maybe it’s the hormones whooshing around turning everything upside down, but I am actually glad, glad that there is going to be something in my life apart from work. It may not be planned, the circumstances aren’t ideal but I think the baby is a good thing for me.’
She smiled ruefully. ‘Of course if you repeat that to anyone I will kill you.’
‘I’d expect nothing less.’
‘But you already have things outside work. Nieces and nephews and a family—and you keep yourself apart. I know why, I understand why. I just wonder...’ She paused, trying to pick her words carefully. ‘I just think maybe it’s time you open yourself back up to them. Don’t you think you’ve punished them enough?’
‘I’m not punishing them.’
‘Aren’t you?’ She pulled at her hair, twisting it round in her hand as she looked at him, at the set of his jaw, the line of his mouth. The dark chill in his eyes. ‘Punishment? Atonement? Proving something? Whatever it is you’re doing it’s been ten years. I think it’s time you gave them a break. I think you should give yourself a break. Before it’s too late.’
* * *
Polly’s words echoed round and round in Gabe’s head despite his attempts to push them away, far away out of his subconscious.
Punishment.
She was right, damn her. But not as right as she thought she was. He wasn’t punishing them.
He was punishing himself. For falling ill, for causing them such pain and anxiety.
For all the petty, nasty resentment he had allowed to build up during that long year of pain. Resentment towards his parents for their need and worry. Towards his sisters for their health.
He didn’t speak for the rest of the journey. Polly didn’t try to engage him in conversation, scribbling notes in her ever-present notebook instead but occasionally shooting him concerned glances.
Glances he pretended not to see. If he didn’t engage then he didn’t need to speak and he could lock it all back up, deep inside.
Where it needed to be.
It took a while to find a parking space in the small riverside town of Vignonel. Sleepy for fifty weeks of the year, it was transformed into an international hub by the annual food and drink festival held there every summer. Over the years it had grown to include culture, local crafts and music, and every year thousands of people descended there from all over the world to dance, drink and eat.
They had all descended today, it seemed.
‘This is where we’ve been going wrong,’ Polly said after they were finally parked and had begun to thread their way through the main thoroughfare that led towards the main town square. ‘We don’t go out and find our suppliers any more. People come and pitch to us. Chris and the rest of his team should be here, searching out the best local producers and stocking them.’
‘Yes.’ But he barely heard her words, his attention snagged by the large church dominating the town square. His heart began to speed up and despite the heat of the day a cold sweat covered his hands.
He swallowed, a bitter taste coating his mouth. ‘There’s a lot to see,’ he managed to say in as normal a tone as possible. ‘We’ll cover more ground if we split up.’
A fleeting expression flashed in Polly’s blue eyes. For a moment Gabe wondered if he had hurt her feelings but dismissed the arrogant notion as her head snapped up and she became her usual focused self.
‘Good idea.’ She pulled out her notebook and pen. ‘We’ll compare notes when we meet up. Look out for suppliers but I am more interested in what makes a stall successful, what draws people in. The look, the branding, the offer.’
‘The technology?’ Gabe couldn’t help giving the leather-bound book a pointed look and Polly hugged it to her chest protectively.
