Page 29 of Love By Sunset

Emily could almost echo Jake’s words.

‘Hey,’ Gerry said, his voice soothing as he held his hands out to each side. ‘Look, I’m sorry about before. I was upset about something, and I behaved badly. I shouldn’t have come down here and shouldn’t have offered you money.’

‘I don’t want your apologies. If that’s what you’ve come for, okay, you’ve said it. Now get lost.’ Jake leaned with both hands splayed on the table between them, a cleaning cloth under one. He glared through his tangle of hair at Gerry, emanating hostility.

‘I’ll go, I’ll go. But I’m looking for Emily. I thought she might be here, or you’d maybe know where I could find her?’

Emily’s head dropped and an icy wave washed through her, all the euphoria about finding the will seeping away. No, no,no. Not now. Not when it was all over. Not before she’d had the chance to talk to him. This was a disaster.

‘Emily?’ Jake’s voice was incredulous. He straightened, leaving the cloth on the table, his eyes narrowing. ‘Emily? Just what do you need from Emily? More to the point, how do you even know her?’

‘Emily Delamere? She’s my business partner. Well, no, she isn’t anymore—’

‘What? Your business partner?Emily?’

‘It’s not quite what you—’

‘Let me get this right.’ Jake’s voiced hissed with fury. ‘I have a café and a carpark and an access road to the beach, maybe the prime part of Henry’s estate, which is for sale. Approach wants to buy it, but I’m in the way. I’ve no legal proof this place is mine, but enough evidence I could fight back. Which would be a pain for your company.’

‘Well, yes, I know, but we’ve withdr—’

‘Shut up!’ His voice was a whip, cutting off Gerry Hansard’s attempts to explain. ‘So along you come, offering me money to get out, but I won’t play, right?’

‘Yes, I know, butlisten, will you? We’vewithdrawnthe—’

But Jake was beyond listening, beyond reason, his eyes inward looking, pain twisting his features. ‘Didn’t work, did it, your attempt at bribery? But hey, there’s Emily. It surprised me she seemed to know who I was. Emily…’ His voice trailed off into silence as one fist came up to his mouth, pressing against his lips.

‘No!Listen, I said! You’ve misunderstood the whole thing. She and I, we’ve split—’

‘I’ve misunderstood nothing!’ Jake’s voice lashed out, filled with pain. ‘Emily came along and batted her eyelashes. She’d done her homework, and she knew who I was.’ His voice dropped almost to a whisper. ‘She knew she’d be in with a chance, didn’t she? And I fell for it. It wasn’t me persuading her to let go of control. She was controlling me.’

‘No!’ Gerry raised his voice, his eyes wide as he realised where Jake was going with his reasoning. ‘Emily didn’t ever—’

‘Get out,’ Jake said, his voice menacingly soft. ‘Get out. Now. While you can walk. While you’re still in one piece.’

‘But I need to explain! You really don’t understand the full—’

‘Oh, I understand all right. I understand. Get out!’ His voice rose as he took a step round the table.

Gerry grabbed his bag and turned. He had no choice. Reaching the door, he tried once more. ‘You’ll regret this, Bradstock. You’ll regret not listening to me. Emily hasn’t betrayed you—’

‘Get out!’ The shout echoed through the café. It was just as well there were no other customers. Jake whirled round, a white line round his mouth, and strode into the kitchen, letting the door swing shut with a dreadful finality behind him.

Emily, her hand pressed against her mouth, fled outside just before Jake entered. He was so furious, he wouldn’t even notice the current of air caused by her rapid closure of the back door.

Oh, hell! This was the worst scenario she could have envisaged, that Jake would jump to the conclusion she’d set the relationship up just to gain access to the café. Looking at it from his point of view, it was a logical step for him to take. After all, he didn’t know she’d fancied him before even knowing his name. Now, he thought the whole thing had been planned.

She pressed herself against the wall, tears pooling in her eyes, her breath heaving in and out. He hadn’t let Gerry speak, and from what she’d heard, her erstwhile partner had been doing his best to explain the whole thing. No, as soon as Jake had realised she was part of Approach, he’d decided she was manipulating him for the café. What could she say to make him change his mind?Surely,he’d listen? Oh, why had she let herself be diverted this morning? For Jake to hear this from another person, someone he’d already brushed up against, must be devastating for him, and it was all her fault. This was appalling.

Emily ran round the corner of the building, calling Gerry’s name, her mouth dry, her hands trembling.

Gerry looked shocked. ‘Emily!’

‘Why are you here? Why thehellare you here?’

He frowned. ‘Because I need papers signing, and it seems impossible to get hold of you these days. You’re the one who started the dissolution of the company, and I want to get it done.’

‘You could have rung.’

---