their interference still had the potential to make things very difficult for her if they decided she was a threat to them and their family’s assets.
She was going to have to watch her back around them.
Shaking off the twinge of worry, she took a deep breath and went over to the phone in the hallway. She wouldn’t worry about that now. There were more important things to give headspace to before they left for Cambridge.
The first thing she needed to do was call her boss, Clio, and let her know what had happened last night at Jolyon’s house.
Clio picked up after a couple of rings and before she had a chance to say much, Emma launched into an abbreviated story of last night’s debacle, quickly filling her boss in on the state of her and Jack’s relationship and the complicated situation she found herself in now.
There was a pause on the line as Clio took a moment to digest all that Emma had told her before she spoke.
‘It sounds like you had quite a night, Emma. Are you okay?’
Her boss’s concern for her well-being above all else reminded Emma of why she loved working for her so much.
Even though she hadn’t expected Clio to be angry with her it was still a relief to actually hear that she wasn’t.
‘I’m okay. Sort of. I’m not quite sure how this is all going to play out, but there’s a good chance I won’t be available to work for at least a week or two.’
‘Don’t worry about that,’ Clio reassured her in soothing tones. ‘I’ll be able to find another job for you as soon as you’re ready, Emma. You’re one of my best girls; all the other clients you’ve worked for have sung your praises to me.’
Emma let out an involuntary sigh of relief. ‘That’s good to hear, Clio. Thank you.’
There was a pause on the line before her boss spoke again. ‘You know, Emma, if you ever need to talk you give me a ring, okay? I’m always here if you need a listening ear.’ She paused again. ‘I had a similar experience myself a few years ago so I understand what you’re going through.’
‘Really?’
Emma was shocked to hear this. Her boss seemed so together, so focussed on her business. It was comforting to hear that someone she respected and looked up to so much wasn’t infallible either.
‘Are you secretly married too?’ she asked tentatively.
Clio made a wryly amused sound in the back of her throat. ‘Unfortunately it’s not as straight forward as that.’
‘When are relationships ever straight forward?’ Emma said with a sigh.
‘A good point,’ Clio agreed.
There was a short pause. ‘Listen, Emma,’ Clio said carefully, ‘for what it’s worth, my advice is to keep in mind that just because the marriage wasn’t right for you then, it doesn’t mean it isn’t right for you now. Both of you have had a lot of time to grow and learn things about yourself since then. That’s worth considering.’
Emma’s first reaction was one of scepticism that Jack would be at all interested in a reconciliation based on his angry outburst last night, but maybe Clio had a point. Sure, they’d grown apart over the years, each finding their own way forwards, but neither of them had gone so far as to ask the other for a divorce. And surely he never would have lost his cool with Jolyon if he didn’t still care about her, at least in some small way?
Her heartbeat picked up as she cautiously entertained the idea of it. Even though he’d been standoffish around her since then, she couldn’t help but wonder whether the more time they spent together, the more chance there was she’d spot a chink in his armour.
That there might still be hope for them.
But she’d be a fool to get too excited about the idea of it. There was probably too much water under the bridge now for them to turn things around.
Wasn’t there?
‘Anyway,’ Clio said, breaking into her racing thoughts, ‘like I said, don’t worry about anything. Just let me know when you’re in a position to take on another job and I’ll make sure to find you something. In the meantime you take care of yourself, okay?’
‘I will, Clio. And thanks. I really appreciate the support.’
She became aware of an achy tension building at the back of her throat and she concluded the call quickly so that her boss wouldn’t hear the emotion in her voice.
She felt so confused all of a sudden.
After putting down the phone to Clio she took a moment to compose herself before calling Sophie, whose number she’d memorised because they’d worked so frequently together for the agency.
After giving her the same quick summary that she’d given Clio, she asked her friend to drop her missing bag and coat over to Jack’s house, as she couldn’t risk picking them up in person in case the press took more photos of her leaving.
Sophie’s mixture of earnest concern and soothing support nearly set Emma’s tears off again, but she managed to hold it together until they’d arranged how to get the missing items back to her.
Twenty minutes after she’d put the phone down to her friend there was a discreet knock at the back door where they’d agreed to rendezvous. Emma opened it to find Sophie waiting there with a look of worried anticipation on her face.
‘One handbag, one coat,’ Sophie said, holding the items up for her to grab as she dashed inside before any press noticed that she’d vaulted over the back wall and snuck through Jack’s garden to gain entry.
‘You’re a lifesaver,’ Emma said, giving her a tight hug.
‘Are you okay?’ Sophie asked, her voice muffled by Emma’s hair.
It took Emma a moment before she was able to let go of her friend—the comfort of the hug seemed to be releasing some of the straining tension in her—and they drew away from each other.
Emma nodded, tried to smile, failed, then shook her head. ‘Not really.’
‘You poor thing. What a mess,’ Sophie cooed.
‘I know, and it’s all of my own making. I should have contacted Jack before now...’ she sighed and tugged a hand through her hair ‘...but I never seemed to find the strength to do it.’
‘It must be a horrible thing to have to deal with. I don’t blame you one little bit for letting it slide.’
‘Well, there’s no sliding out of it now. We’re leaving to see his parents at their massive stately pile in Cambridgeshire in about ten minutes. I’ll certainly be facing the firing squad there. They’re very uptight about how their family is portrayed in the media and I’m not exactly the daughter-in-law they were hoping for.’
‘Emma, how can they not love you? You’re an amazing woman, kind, compassionate, smart. They’d be lucky to have you as part of their family.’
Emma managed to dredge up a droll smile. ‘Try telling Jack that.’
Sophie gave her a discerning look. ‘You still have feelings for him, don’t you?’
Emma sighed and rubbed a hand across her aching forehead. ‘To be honest I don’t know how I feel about him right now. He can be the most frustrating man in the world, but he does something to me on a visceral level, you know?’
‘I do,’ Sophie said, watching her with a worried frown. ‘You can’t help who you fall in love with.’
‘No.’
They were both silent for a moment, each of them lost in their own personal reverie.
‘Hey, do you have something knockout to wear to meet his parents?’ Sophie asked, breaking Emma out of her thoughts about how she was going to deal with spending more