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CHAPTER 15
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2021-09-12 04:47:04“What I’m trying to say so badly is that I need someone short-term to step in for Mary…”
Was he thinking of asking her to take care of his father? Audrey looked at him with puzzlement mixed with shock.
“I still don’t understand… What is it that you’re really asking me here?”
“Audrey, I would like to ask Amy to come to the cottage and keep an eye on my father… If you don’t have anything against my request… Amy will fill in just until I can find a proper replacement…” he finally said.
She sighed, trying to understand what she was really feeling about his demand. Amy wasn’t a servant or a maid in their house. She had always been free to come and go as she pleased. Her parents, Audrey herself, trayed her like she was one of the Seymour family. So, Audrey didn’t know
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James left the house twenty minutes later. Amy had agreed she would consider the possibility of becoming a temporary live-in housekeeper for a while for his father but stressed this would depend on both George’s wishes in the matter and how she felt she would fit into the household when she met him again. Amy had also suggested the issue should be raised naturally in conversation rather than James mentioning it beforehand. It was the best he was going to get and a great deal more than he had expected. When the taxi he’d called dropped him outside the charming cottage, James didn’t immediately go inside in spite of the drizzling rain. He stood in the shadows, cursing the fact he’d let his heart rule his head back there at Seymour House.&n
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Audrey glanced at her. She remembered her mother telling her the Mumfords’ son had been the same age as Amy’s eldest son and great friends with the boy. Amy had had so much taken away from her by the sea, which had been the village’s livelihood at one time, but she never seemed bitter or sorry for herself. Nevertheless, with the strong maternal streak she had, Amy must have mourned the fact she would never have grandchildren of her own flesh and blood. The thought caused her to reach out and hug the older woman briefly.“What would I do without you? You are and always will be my family, Amy. Don’t you ever forget that.”“Sweet girl, you are as much my daughter as you were for Diana and Henry. You’re stuck with me forever, no matter what. Don’t you forget that!”“Oka
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George Mayer called that evening to say he would be delighted if Amy would stand in as his housekeeper until the work at Seymour House was finished, by which time he was sure he could arrange for a replacement to take over. While Amy stayed with him, Audrey must consider his house, the cottage, as her own, George added, and he would like to think she would come and share breakfast, lunch, and dinner with them both. Audrey was glancing through color schemes for the bedrooms, brochures spread out in front of her as she sat cross-legged on the living room carpet, when Amy finished the phone call.“Eat with you and George at the cottage? I don’t think so,” Audrey responded when Amy put her up to speed. “From time to time, maybe. I need to be at Seymour House. There’s a lot to
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They did. In fact, their table was perfect, along with everything else. It was round about the dessert stage that Audrey realized she was thoroughly enjoying herself, unexpected in the circumstances. The four of them got on extremely well, and, although she still felt there was a hint of something else hanging in the air when her glance met James’s, Audrey told herself it was only her sinful imagination. He had clearly decided theirs was strictly a platonic relationship, a business friendship, nothing more. And that was good. Of course, it was. Anything more would have been impossible. Music was playing, courtesy of a small band, and couples were drifting on and off the dance floor. George was looking tired and for that reason, both women d
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The next few weeks were frantic and messy with umpteen minor panics as the builders moved in but, although she only averaged four or five hours of sleep a night, Audrey welcomed the agitated pace. The knowledge that she was responsible to oversee the alterations to Seymour House virtually on her own was heavy at times, but it did mean her mind was fully concentrated on the job at hand. During the day, that was. Her dreams, which regularly featured a tall dark man with riveting blue eyes, she could do nothing about. George seemed surprisingly glad to leave everything to her and Audrey hadn’t expected this. Apart from the odd hour or two once or twice a week when he visited the house with Amy, she only saw the pair of them when she called in George’s house for her evening meal.&nb
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“Anyway, you’re a miracle worker…” Silence fell between them, a bit uncomfortable for Audrey. They walked, still in silence, and several times she had to swallow against the tightness in her throat. It was when they branched off into the narrower lane which bordered the cliffs and led to Seymour House that James spoke again.“How have you been?”“Me? Uh… Busy,” she replied lightly. “How about you?”“The same,” he answered and paused. “Audrey, you aren’t afraid of me, are you?” There was a strange quality to his voice and she couldn’t quite define it.“Of course, not.” It wasn’t the truth. Physically, Audrey knew he would do nothing to hurt her.
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James watched her go, knowing he was going to let her walk out of his life. He continued to stand frozen for a full five minutes before starting to walk, and then it wasn’t back to the village, nor to Seymour House, but across the fields to the cliff path. It took a while to find a spot where he could climb down to the beach but, once there, James started to pace the sand, his mind in turmoil. He marched up and down for an eternity before sitting on a rock that still held the warmth of the day.“She’s right,” he said yelling in the direction of the sea. “We’re too different… A story between us would have a very short life. I could never want the things she wants. Not anymore… Not ever!” He frowned, and then looked up at the sky. It was
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Audrey busied herself filling the kettle and placing two of the six mugs she had kept handy for the builders on a tray, keeping her back to him as she did so. She couldn’t blame him for coming to check on his investment and she had half expected he might call over the next day or two while he was in England. She just hadn’t bargained for a dawn visit! And she found his presence acutely disturbing, especially after the home truths which had been exchanged the evening before. Still, she would have had to face him at some point, she told herself bracingly, so it might as well be earlier rather than later.“Sleep well?” he asked out of nowhere. Steeling herself to turn and face him, Audrey brought all her willpower to bear in a polite smile.“Not too bad. And you?&rdq
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“This is a huge step for you to take and I don’t want you to feel trapped after...” “A few months ago, if anyone told me I would be thinking of settling in England, I would have told them they were crazy,” James admitted softly. “Now it’s different. I’m in love with the woman of my dreams. I’d like to buy a beach house in California, though. I’ve got plenty of friends there and it would be a base when we visit my relatives. You’d like it, I promise. There are even those who say the Pacific rivals the Cornish Sea,” James teased. “Oh… Not you, I hope.” “Never me, my love.” James drew her into him, kissing her until she was breathless. “Would you like our children to grow up at Seymour House?” he murmured against her mouth. “You know I would, sweetheart.” “Then that’s settled, Addie.” He kissed her again. “
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James called three times before he left the States the following Wednesday and, true to her word, Audrey didn’t pick up her phone to answer. By the third call, his voice had been flat and cool. It didn’t scare her as it would have done just days earlier.“So, you’ve finally realized I’m not as stupid as I look,” Audrey said grimly to the phone when she had listened to his message. “Good! Because if you expect me to fall at your feet and beg you to make a go of things, you picked the wrong girl, Mr. Mayer.” Then she closed her eyes and leaned back on the sofa. Her body was so tense it hurt. She had gone through every emotion known to man in the last few days but one thing remained constant. She was hopelessly in love with him. So foolish on her part…&nb
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He wasn’t that good of an actor that he could’ve fooled her on that point. She chewed her thumb nail down to the quick and then fixed herself a sandwich before returning to the garden. The sky was blue, the air warm and birds were twittering happily as they sunned themselves in the trees surrounding the garden. Crazy, but she wished it was raining. She wished there was a gale-force wind blowing and everything was dank and gloomy. She wouldn’t feel so at odds with her surroundings then. Audrey continued to think about the conversation with James for the next hour, after which she came to a decision. She had the foreman’s cellphone number for emergencies. She would give him a call and at least, find out what was happening to
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They looked deep into each other’s eyes, but they didn’t let go of each other. They started kissing again, with a starving intensity as though they were parting for good. As always it was James who gained control first, gently putting her from him but still supporting her trembling body.“This is killing me inside, Addie… I swear it is,” he said trying hard not to embrace and kiss her again.“I don’t want to see you go, James, but they need you there… I’ll be right here, waiting for you,” Audrey replied forcing herself not to cry.“I’ll call you and let you know how things are… Okay, darling? But it might be hectic…”“I understand… That’s alright, James. Just call when you can. I hope those children are alright… The father, too.”“Addie…”&ldquo
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The next month was the most deliriously happy of Audrey’s life, in spite of all the hard work during the day at Seymour House. Even that was enjoyable because James arrived most mornings and stayed with her throughout the day before he went home to change to take her out in the evening. They didn’t always go too far afield. Sometimes he arrived with a picnic Amy had prepared and they took the basket down to the beach below the house where the waves rolled gently on the clean warm sand. Other days, they would walk and swim and explore the rock pools before eating, then stretch out under the dying sun and relax. At twilight, they often had the beach all to themselves and that was when they began to talk, or at least when James did.&n
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Audrey busied herself filling the kettle and placing two of the six mugs she had kept handy for the builders on a tray, keeping her back to him as she did so. She couldn’t blame him for coming to check on his investment and she had half expected he might call over the next day or two while he was in England. She just hadn’t bargained for a dawn visit! And she found his presence acutely disturbing, especially after the home truths which had been exchanged the evening before. Still, she would have had to face him at some point, she told herself bracingly, so it might as well be earlier rather than later.“Sleep well?” he asked out of nowhere. Steeling herself to turn and face him, Audrey brought all her willpower to bear in a polite smile.“Not too bad. And you?&rdq
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James watched her go, knowing he was going to let her walk out of his life. He continued to stand frozen for a full five minutes before starting to walk, and then it wasn’t back to the village, nor to Seymour House, but across the fields to the cliff path. It took a while to find a spot where he could climb down to the beach but, once there, James started to pace the sand, his mind in turmoil. He marched up and down for an eternity before sitting on a rock that still held the warmth of the day.“She’s right,” he said yelling in the direction of the sea. “We’re too different… A story between us would have a very short life. I could never want the things she wants. Not anymore… Not ever!” He frowned, and then looked up at the sky. It was
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“Anyway, you’re a miracle worker…” Silence fell between them, a bit uncomfortable for Audrey. They walked, still in silence, and several times she had to swallow against the tightness in her throat. It was when they branched off into the narrower lane which bordered the cliffs and led to Seymour House that James spoke again.“How have you been?”“Me? Uh… Busy,” she replied lightly. “How about you?”“The same,” he answered and paused. “Audrey, you aren’t afraid of me, are you?” There was a strange quality to his voice and she couldn’t quite define it.“Of course, not.” It wasn’t the truth. Physically, Audrey knew he would do nothing to hurt her.
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The next few weeks were frantic and messy with umpteen minor panics as the builders moved in but, although she only averaged four or five hours of sleep a night, Audrey welcomed the agitated pace. The knowledge that she was responsible to oversee the alterations to Seymour House virtually on her own was heavy at times, but it did mean her mind was fully concentrated on the job at hand. During the day, that was. Her dreams, which regularly featured a tall dark man with riveting blue eyes, she could do nothing about. George seemed surprisingly glad to leave everything to her and Audrey hadn’t expected this. Apart from the odd hour or two once or twice a week when he visited the house with Amy, she only saw the pair of them when she called in George’s house for her evening meal.&nb
