Absent in the Spring (The Shakespeare Sisters 3)

‘Yeah.’ Cesca raised her eyebrows. ‘But hopefully I’ll be able to tell you more soon. Just as soon as we sign on the line.’

‘Wow.’ Lucy couldn’t hide her happiness for her sister. ‘That’s two of you taking Hollywood by storm, now. You and Kitty should team up. The Shakespeare Sisters Productions has a good ring to it.’

‘Sam said the same thing. Reckons we should make it a big family business. Though I suspect he just wants to get all the best roles.’

‘Maybe I should move over there,’ Lucy teased, ‘I could become an entertainment lawyer.’

‘I wish you would.’ The smile slipped off Cesca’s face. ‘I miss you when I’m over there. We all do. I hate thinking of you being left here with all the responsibility while the three of us live it up in the States.’

‘You’re not exactly living it up,’ Lucy pointed out. She opened her

mouth to point out that Juliet and Kitty weren’t either, but a crash from the kitchen drowned out her words. Somebody had pushed over the trolley of trays and dirty dishes, causing cutlery and crockery to fly out across the linoleum floor. A second later an army of nurses and orderlies came rushing in, some of them heading straight to the residents to make sure the calamity hadn’t caused them any anxiety, the others to clean up the mess.

‘I guess that’s our cue to leave,’ Cesca said, when the noise started to die down. ‘I’ll just head up and say goodbye to Dad, and then I’d best grab a cab to Heathrow. My flight leaves in a couple of hours.’

Lucy checked her watch. For a moment she imagined Cesca and Lachlan being in the same place at once. They could pass by each other and not even know they were connected through her.

She shook her head, trying to get rid of that silly thought. Of course they weren’t connected. He was only a client, after all.

The two of them walked out of the dining room and into the large, whitewashed corridor, heading to the heavy door that led to the residents’ bedrooms. The sound of their shoes hitting the tiled floor echoed through the hallway.

‘It feels weird, doesn’t it? Having no idea how long it’s going to take for Dad to get worse? Not really knowing what worse even means. It’s so scary.’

‘And if it’s frightening for us, imagine how he must feel,’ Lucy said, nodding. ‘That’s what I keep telling myself whenever he’s having a day like today. He must be so scared, not really understanding what’s going on, not knowing what day it is. Imagine looking at somebody you don’t know and being told you’re related to them. It’s impossible to put myself in his shoes.’

This time the tears forming in Cesca’s eyes rolled down her cheeks. ‘Poor Dad.’

‘And poor us. This whole thing sucks.’

‘It does,’ Cesca agreed. ‘But it would suck ten times more if it wasn’t for you.’ She squeezed Lucy’s hand. ‘Thank God we all have you to rely on. Our lighthouse in a crazy storm.’

A flame of warmth flickered in Lucy’s chest. She was doing okay. Life kept throwing curveballs, but somehow she was keeping them all under control. The same way she’d keep Lachlan MacLeish under control, too, or at least her stupid reactions to him. She’d be cool, calm Lucy, and that was just the way she liked it.

Lucy reached the office steps at just after seven on Monday morning. She’d taken the late flight from London the previous evening, and then spent a couple of hours finishing her preparations for Tuesday’s meeting, aware that Lachlan MacLeish would be arriving at the office around nine. They’d spoken briefly about the big meeting with Lachlan’s half-brother and his solicitors, but Lucy knew they had a lot more work to do on it yet.

She walked into the reception. It was empty at this time of the morning – even the daytime receptionist hadn’t arrived yet. Instead, there was the night guard, his uniform wrinkled thanks to hours of sitting in the same position, his black peaked cap perched securely on his head.

‘Good morning, Miss Shakespeare.’

‘Hi, Mark.’ She came to a stop in front of the desk. ‘I have a visitor coming today. Can you make sure he’s booked in on the system?’

‘Sure, what’s his name?’

‘Lachlan MacLeish,’ a deep voice said from behind her. She felt a shiver snake down her spine, slithering its way from her neck to her tailbone. Why was it that every time she heard his voice he had this effect on her? Well, she wasn’t having it. As far as she was concerned those shivers could slither the hell out of town.

Taking a deep breath, she arranged her mouth into a smile, before she turned to look at him.

‘Hello, Lachlan, I wasn’t expecting you so early.’

He was wearing a navy single-breasted suit and a white shirt. A thin dark grey tie was perfectly knotted at his neck. He reached out for her hand, his jacket sleeves sliding up to reveal two simple gold cufflinks shining against his wrists.

‘I couldn’t sleep,’ he said, smiling at her. ‘Plus we might need a little bit more time. I want to talk about our strategy.’

Lucy’s smile didn’t waver, even though she was thinking of all that work she’d done last night. ‘Oh?’

‘Don’t look so worried. I just had a few thoughts while I was on the plane. We can talk about them later.’

‘I wasn’t worried.’ She met his gaze. ‘You’re the client, if you want to make some changes, then that’s what we’ll do.’ You see? She could be professional. Cool, calm, Lucy.