The Turning Wheel by Christina Green

Author:Christina Green [Green, Christina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781471308970
Publisher: AudioGO

CHAPTER FOUR

London, despite its crowds and noise, seemed unbearably empty, Nicki thought morosely, as she dealt with the phone messages and faxes that had piled up over the weekend. However, with a restorative coffee at her side, she soon had it all under control.

It was already late afternoon, and she knew tomorrow would be hectic. A light snack and an early bed would surely get her back into work mode, and discipline and unruly emotions still threshing inside her.

Allowing them one final fling, she sat sipping her coffee and thinking back to leaving Devon. Only a few hours up the motorway, yet she was in a different world. She hadn’t stayed long at the mill, for Robert’s exuberance at finding a likely buyer, and Laura’s unconcealed smiles in his direction had been hard to accept. So she had quickly returned to Rose Cottage, picked at Gee’s roast dinner and then bade the family goodbye, promising to be back again soon.

Dad had held her close for a long moment, his voice gruff in her ears.

‘Don’t leave it too long. I’m not here for ever, you know.’

‘Come on, Dad, who’s the one always talking about positive thinking?’ she had joked, and was relieved to see him smile before she left.

Gee had been short, and to the point.

‘I'll do all I can for your dad. At least you can trust me about that, honey.’

As she switched on the engine of the car, Leo bent his head over her.

‘Don’t be too hard on me, Nicko. Most people fight. Don’t take it too seriously.’

His words reawakened an echo of their old, shared affection, and, without thinking any more of the trick he’d played on her recently, she’d lifted her face for his kiss. Togetherness, ruined by incompatibility, she thought sadly, driving away and leaving him in the lane, watching her go.

But that was all done with now. Resolutely, she forced herself to concentrate on the present. A huge work-load awaited her. Dealing with it would put paid to all the old dreams and new hopes.

And then, the next evening, relaxing after the wild day’s problems, the phone rang.

‘Nicki? It’s me, Rowan.’

‘How lovely to hear you! How’s things?’

‘OK, I suppose.’

Nicki waited, heartbeat suddenly unsteady. ‘What news of the mill?’ she asked, adding, ‘And your dad?’

‘He’s OK. Terribly busy. He has an exhibition next week, so we don’t have much time together. And anyway, Laura’s in and out.’

Rowan’s grumpy tone indicated disapproval, and Nicki grinned sympathetically.

‘I get bored,’ Rowan complained, certainly sounding it. ‘So I thought I’d ring you.’

Nicki’s smile died. Well, better to be a substitute for boredom than entirely forgotten, she supposed wryly. But Rowan’s next words gave her a great glow of pleasure.

‘Actually, Dad said he must call you, but I said not to bother, I would.’

Rowan’s voice took on a note of excitement. ‘We want you to come to his birthday party, on the twelfth, that’s Saturday. He and Laura are seeing the business guy who’s buying the mill, so this is an important day.

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