Absent in the Spring (The Shakespeare Sisters 3)

But Lachlan did. He had to grit his teeth every time she spoke.

As the meeting came to an end, and Malcolm and John were exchanging pleasantries, Lachlan found himself leaning in to the speaker. ‘Lucy, can you stay behind for a moment?’ he asked. ‘There’re a couple of things I want to go through with you. One on one.’

She picked up her glass and took a mouthful of water, her neck undulating as she swallowed it down. ‘I’m not sure how long we have before we need to leave for the airport,’ she said, glancing at Malcolm.

‘You’re fine. I have another meeting before we go. And this room is free for the rest of the afternoon.’

‘Oh, okay.’ Lucy nodded, but didn’t look at the camera. Lachlan stared straight at her, as if willing her to look at him.

John stood, and stretched out his arms. ‘Well, I need to head to another meeting, too. It was great to see you again, Malcolm, and you too, Lucy.’ He turned to Lachlan. ‘I’ll call you later, okay?’

Lachlan nodded. ‘Sure.’

As soon as the two older men left the room, Lucy looked at him. ‘Once again, I apologise for my lateness. I hope I didn’t cause any problems.’

‘I don’t care about your lateness,’ Lachlan said.

‘Oh. What was it you wanted to talk about then?’ Her face remained impassive. ‘Did you get the figures from Alistair for the renovations?’

‘I don’t want to talk about the lodge, Lucy.’

She said nothing.

He could feel himself tense up. ‘I just wanted to check if you were all right.’

‘I’m absolutely fine.’

‘Bullshit.’ Where was the woman she’d been in Paris? She’d opened up to him like a flower, slowly unfurling her petals one by one. But right now she was so tightly closed he couldn’t see any colour at all.

She looked shocked at his outburst. Finally, a reaction. He wanted to shout hallelujah. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ she said firmly. ‘Did I miss something? Are you unhappy with my work?’

‘You know I’m not.’

‘Then what’s the problem?’

A flash of frustration washed through him. ‘I’m not the one with a problem. You’re the one who arrived late and then acted like a robot for the whole meeting. What’s going on?’

‘I thought you said you didn’t care about my being late.’

‘For fuck’s sake, Lucy, what’s wrong? You’re acting weird. What kind of personal business were you attending to?’

She wasn’t looking at him again. Damn, if they were in the same room he’d be tipping her chin with his finger until she couldn’t avoid him. ‘Lucy, what’s wrong?’ he asked, trying to keep his voice softer.

‘It’s… it’s nothing.’ She tried to smile, but her bottom lip trembled. ‘Just family business.’

‘What kind of family business?’ He wanted to run his thumb along that lip, feel its softness.

‘My father’s not well. I went to visit him.’

‘I didn’t know your father was sick.’ A mixture of sadness and relief washed over him. He hated seeing her upset, but was so goddamned pleased it wasn’t him that had made her that way.

‘We moved him into a care home a few weeks ago. I went to visit him this morning, to see how he’s getting on.’

Lachlan quickly took a sip of water. ‘And how is he?’

When she looked up, her eyes were shining. Christ, was she crying? ‘He… he didn’t recognise me.’ She covered her mouth with her hand, barely stifling a sob. For a moment she closed her eyes, and he could hear her inhale a deep breath. Without thinking, he reached out, then pulled his hand back again.

He didn’t say anything for a minute, letting her collect herself. Finally she took her hand away, reaching for her water. ‘I’m so sorry, this is really unprofessional.’