Debra had a meeting first thing in the morning. It was an innovation Marsh had instituted, an opportunity for everyone to get together and to discuss work problems.
Normally Debra would have joined in the discussions enthusiastically, but she couldn’t put Karen out of her mind.
She had phoned the home before leaving for work.
Karen was fine, the superintendent had assured her. She was not to worry. But she was worrying. She couldn’t help it.
She was still thinking about Karen when the meeting broke up. She got up to leave the office with the others, but Marsh stopped her.
‘If you’ve got a minute, Debra.’
She waited apprehensively as the others left, aware of their curiosity about why she had been asked to stay behind.
She could feel the anxiety mounting inside her. Had she done something wrong? Something she herself knew nothing about? Marsh had Eric Smethurst’s file; had he found some error in it, something she had overlooked or neglected?
An uncomfortable panicky feeling tightened her chest. Marsh opened the door from the conference-room to his own office.
Nervously Debra preceded him inside.
‘Sit down, Debra,’ Marsh invited her. ‘Would you like some coffee?’
She shook her head, her stomach churning too tensely.
‘You seemed rather preoccupied this morning,’ Marsh commented as he sat down opposite her.
His desk was between them, a heavy, solid and definitely inanimate block of wood, but it still didn’t prevent her from being acutely aware of him.
She could smell the clean freshness of his soap, and her heart somersaulted at the recognition; at the subtle invasive memory of that same smell on his body when he had held her in his arms.
She pulled back quickly from the thought. She had promised herself that she was going to be sensible; that she must concentrate on the plans she had made for herself. She was afraid of the desire Marsh aroused within her, she acknowledged, but that fear was her route to safety.
‘I know it isn’t always easy, adjusting to changes in our working lives,’ Marsh continued. ‘And the more sensitive we are, the more we react to those changes.
‘I admit I had my doubts about taking over down here. It’s always difficult when two firms amalgamate. There’s bound to be confusion and a certain amount of resentment. People coming in can sometimes seem to be insensitive, even unfair.’
Debra frowned. Was he suggesting that he might have been unfair towards her?
‘It’s true that I am only human,’ Marsh continued. ‘But I would hate anyone to think that I would allow my personal judgements and...’ He paused and frowned, getting up and walking over to the window, his abruptness startling Debra. There was a tense set to his shoulders as he stared out of the window. ‘And my feelings, ’ he went on tersely, ‘to influence my professional judgement. You’ve handled Eric Smethurst’s affairs very well. I didn’t take over the case because I doubted your ability to deal with it, Debra. Perhaps I did act too precipitately but...’
He thought her silence this morning had been caused by the fact that he had taken over Eric’s affairs, Debra recognised, and now he was trying to reassure her that that was not the case.
Immediately she corrected him.
‘It isn’t that. I do understand why you felt that someone else should handle Eric’s business. It...it isn’t work at all,’ she admitted a little guiltily, hardly surprised to see the way he was frowning when he turned round to focus on her.
‘I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t bring my personal problems into work with me, but I saw Karen last night. She was very distressed. One of the boys in the home has been threatening her.’
Debra gave a small shiver, her eyes suddenly bleak and just a little afraid.
‘I saw him myself. We were in McDonald’s. He was very.. .intimidating. I’ve had a word with the superintendent at the home. He promised that he’d do something.’
‘This boy,’ Marsh questioned her tersely, ‘did he threaten you?’ Debra stared at him, caught off guard by his perception.
‘No...not exactly. But there was something about the way he looked at me... a... a knowingness .. .a...’ She shook her head. ‘I can’t describe it, but I knew somehow that Karen had every reason to be afraid of him.
‘I shouldn’t be telling you this.’
‘Rubbish—of course you should. That’s one of the reasons I’m here; to listen to everyone’s problems.’