Page 73 of A Christmas Celebration
‘I will,’ I said vehemently. ‘I absolutely will.’
I didn’t say anything until we were well out of earshot of the studio and Brodie didn’t either. He seemed to be in a daze. Walking just ahead of me, his legs looked to be as wobbly as mine usually were in his presence. Not that I had an issue with mine then though. I was so angry, every part of me was rigid.
‘What the hell was that?’ I started as the cottage came into view.
He turned to look at me.
‘What?’ He frowned.
‘You barging in and asking twenty questions is what!’ I scowled.
‘Did you not see those paintings?’ he asked incredulously. ‘They were extraordinary. That work is exceptional.’
‘Never mind “the work”,’ I snapped, making air quotes with my fingers. ‘What about Albert?’ I raged. ‘He’s extraordinary too and he’s an extremely private person. I’ve been working so hard to gain his trust and try to help repair his life and you just barge straight in and undo it all in a matter of minutes!’
Brodie looked shellshocked.
‘I didn’t do that,’ he said, glancing back in the direction of the studio. ‘Did I?’
‘Put yourself in Albert’s shoes,’ I told him. ‘Just for two seconds.’
Brodie swallowed and looked at his own shoes.
‘You’re a total stranger and you waltz in and start poking about and asking a hundred questions,’ I stormed on, recreating the scene. ‘How would you have felt if someone had done that to you?’
He didn’t answer.
‘Given that no one around here knows a lot about you, I get the impression that you’re a private person too, Brodie,’ I fumed. ‘Like Albert, you’re hiding away from the world right now, aren’t you?’
‘Why would you think that?’ he asked, his head snapping back up.
‘Never mind,’ I said, refusing to spell it out for him. He was clearly still unaware that I knew any of the unsavoury details about the company he had formerly worked for or hadsussed out that he was lying low as a result. ‘Let’s not make this about you. Think of Albert.’
Brodie bit his lip and shook his head.
‘Shit,’ he eventually said. ‘I’ll go back. I’ll go and say I’m sorry.’
‘You will not,’ I said, blocking his path. ‘You’ll do no such thing.’
‘Paige?’ came another voice, from closer to the road.
‘Who the hell is this now?’ I demanded.
I ushered Brodie back along the path and found Jack’s truck parked next to the Land Rover on the road.
‘Oh, and Brodie,’ he added when he spotted the pair of us emerging from the hidden path. ‘You haven’t got a flat battery again, have you, Paige?’
‘No,’ I said, making sure Brodie was still in front of me where I could keep an eye on him. ‘I’ve just been visiting a friend.’
I hoped Albert was still my friend.
‘I didn’t even realize there was a cottage here,’ Jack said, scratching his head. ‘I haven’t noticed it before.’
I hoped both he and his brother would soon forget it existed.
‘So, what are you doing here?’ he asked Brodie. ‘I thought you were out on the bike.’
‘He was,’ I said, unlocking the Land Rover and answering on Brodie’s behalf.
