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CHAPTER 24
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2021-09-16 00:21:21The 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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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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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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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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“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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‘Just a few more hours and then everyone would leave. I can do it… I have no other choice,’ Audrey thought looking outside from her bedroom’s window. It was what her parents would have expected of her. She could almost hear her mother’s warm, faintly admonishing voice whispering in her ear. “Come on, Addie… Keep your eyes on the prize, sweet girl. And remember, this too shall pass.” It had been one of her mother’s favorite sayings when as a small child, she had tried to duck out of anything unpleasant. Audrey Seymour drew in a deep breath and straightened her drooping shoulders. Checking her reflection in the bedroom mirror, she satisfied herself that the recent flood of tears didn’t show and then left the room.&n
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While making her way around the room, talking to one group of folk and then others, Audrey was uncomfortably aware of a pair of blue eyes watching her every move. Most people had plates of Amy’s delicious buffet in their hands by now but, although Anthony had wandered off into the dining room, she knew James Mayer had not budged from his stance by the door.“Who is Maxim de Winter type Dad’s been talking to?” As Audrey joined the group consisting of Anthony’s children and their partners and his wife, it was Clarice, Anthony and Gillian’s youngest daughter, and the only child still unattached, who spoke.“He’s new around here, isn’t he?”“Oh, Clarice.” Her mother shushed her, but Clarice continued.“Wha
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Only it wasn’t going to be so simple. An hour later, sitting across the coffee table in the living room from Anthony, Audrey and Amy stared in horror at the lawyer.“I thought you knew…” Anthony had said this twice in the last ten minutes since he had dropped his bombshell and his voice was wretched. “I didn’t imagine… I mean…” He stopped abruptly.“Your father said he was going to tell you, Addie.”“I… Um… I suppose he was going to,” she replied numbly. “He’d asked me to come down to Seymour House the weekend before the crash but I’d got something on. I was coming down the next…” Her voice trailed away.“How, Uncle Tony? How could he lose e
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Over the next couple of days, Audrey and Amy followed one unproductive idea after another, but by the end of that time, Audrey was forced to acknowledge the fact that the situation looked absolutely hopeless. If either of them had shedloads of cash they could afford to pour into the old house it might be different, but if they had then they wouldn’t be in the position they were anyway. Her father had gambled on the business reviving and he had lost. End of story, end of Seymour House. The debt was huge, colossal. Audrey called Anthony Blackburn on the third morning after the funeral. She and Amy were sitting close together on one of the couches in the living room, so they could both hear the conversation, their faces tight and strained.&
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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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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
