Mills & Boon Christmas Delights Collection. Rebecca Winters

sure all of our clients were happy and on top of things. One had rung in a panic, advising they had had a ‘relapse’ so we’d juggled diaries and I fitted them in to mine, scooting over early this morning to see what calamity had occurred. In the end, it wasn’t anywhere near as bad as I’d feared. The client had just had a bit of a wobble with the thought of various visitors coming to descend on her over the holidays, and had suddenly felt a little overwhelmed. But within a few hours, we’d tackled the problem and the client was back in control and ready for her seasonal visitors.

      Michael O’Farrell was next on my list and I was a little surprised that I was almost looking forward to the appointment. I was pretty sure that this feeling was down to the fact that, as we cleared out the space, the real character and beauty of the house was becoming easier to see and appreciate. It really was the most beautiful house. I only hoped that he appreciated it as much I did. Indeed, more so, since he lived there. However, as he kept his thoughts about anything remotely personal to himself, he could be either completely oblivious or entirely ecstatic and I’d still be none the wiser. I finished my drink and hooked my bag over my shoulder.

      ‘Off to see the delectable Mr O’Farrell?’ Bernice asked, grinning.

      ‘Does your fiancé know you’re referring to clients as “delectable”?’

      She laughed. ‘I said he was delectable. But he’s still not as delectable as my Rufus.’

      ‘Glad to hear it.’ I smiled. ‘Have a good day and I’ll see you tomorrow.’

      ‘Have fun!’ Bernice waved and I pulled the office door closed behind me.

      ***

      Michael was on the phone when he answered the door to me. He gave a brief smile and gestured me inside as he continued the conversation. Work stuff, by the sound of it.

      ‘Can you hang on a minute Bob?’ Michael pulled the phone away and pressed mute. ‘I’m sorry, I don’t know how long I’m going to be on here.’

      ‘It’s fine. We’d planned on tackling your books today. That’s a favourite bit of mine anyway so I can just get going on that if you don’t mind me starting without you.’

      ‘Not at all. But I know the deal was for me to take part in the process. A fact that you were insistent on making crystal clear on your first visit.’ His mouth was serious but there was a hint of mischief in his eyes.

      ‘It was and you are. But there’s got to be flexibility built in to the process. Carry on with your call. It sounds important. I’ll see you when you’re ready.’

      ‘Thanks Kate. I’ll be as quick as I can.’

      I nodded and turned to hang up my coat as Michael resumed his conversation, then headed across the hallway before casting a sneaky glance back. I saw him run a hand through his hair, still desperately in need of a tidy up. There were dark circles under his eyes and his skin had a pallor to it that didn’t exactly scream healthy. I might just mention it, in passing, to Janey the next time I saw her, just so that she could check he was OK. I knew she’d want to know.

      Turning away, I walked into the dining room where Michael had decided that he’d like to keep all his books. I stood for a few moments and couldn’t help but smile at the beautiful, white painted bookcases that now lined one wall of the room. Glancing back, I noticed Michael had now followed me into the room. He raised his eyebrows at me, almost in question, as he continued his phone call. In return, I made a circle with my thumb and forefinger, signalling that I thought the new addition to the room was absolutely perfect. He gave a rare, beautiful smile and the green eyes crinkled at the edges before he turned away and took the phone call out of my hearing.

      It was over forty minutes later when Michael hurried back into the dining room and found me kneeling on the floor, surrounded by piles of books.

      ‘I’m really sorry about that.’ He looked around, his brow creasing. ‘Maybe I should disappear more often. You seem to be even more speedy when I’m not here.’

      I sat back on my heels. ‘Don’t even think about it.’

      ‘Worth a try.’

      ‘Are you finished or do you need to get on with some work stuff? It’s OK. I can get these organised myself and we’ll just schedule another appointment when it’s more convenient to do the bits we need to do together. I think we’re making good progress, so it would be fine to do that.’

      ‘No, I’m done for today.’ He flopped down onto the floor beside me. ‘In more ways than one.’

      I looked down at him sprawled on the carpet, his head to one side. He looked more than capable of going to sleep right there with very little encouragement. Perhaps a little break would be a good thing. In truth, I was actually a little worried about him. Just because we hadn’t exactly started out the best of friends didn’t mean that I was completely oblivious to his current state.

      ‘Long morning?’ I enquired.

      He rolled his head onto his bicep so that he was looking at me. ‘Long afternoon, evening, night and morning.’

      I frowned. ‘You worked all through the night?’

      ‘Last-minute crisis. And then they wanted a meeting about it at 9 a.m. I’ve had a four-hour round trip this morning.’

      ‘Why on earth didn’t you tell me?’

      He gave a gentle laugh as, with some effort, he pushed himself up into a sitting position. ‘I thought about it. And then I thought how well me ringing you and saying, “Hi Kate. Do you think we could we postpone our appointment today? I’m a little tired,” would go down.’

      ‘You make me sound horribly unreasonable.’ I’d learned years ago not to care too much about what people thought of me. So why did it bother me what Michael O’Farrell thought now?

      He gave me a look. ‘I messed about with your schedule once before and it didn’t go well.’

      I sat straighter. ‘That was completely different and you know it. For one thing, you’ve apologised this time.’

      ‘I’m sure I apologised that first night too. Eventually.’

      ‘No. You didn’t.’

      He shook his head. ‘I must have. In a roundabout way. Maybe you missed it.’

      I gave a prod to move him off a book his legs were lounging over. ‘I didn’t miss anything, thank you very much. You didn’t apologise at all. In any form, roundabout or otherwise.’

      ‘Really?’

      ‘Really,’ I confirmed.

      Michael raised his eyebrows in thought. ‘Right. Then I guess you were absolutely right to call me what you did.’

      ‘You’ve only just realised that?’

      He let out a laugh that for a moment disguised the weariness of his face. ‘I guess I walked into that one.’

      I smiled and continued working. Feeling Michael’s eyes on me, I spoke without turning my head.

      ‘Feel free to help.’

      He knew by my tone I was joking. Mostly. I was acutely aware of the deadline on this job and although it had all been progressing fairly well in the last couple of weeks, I’d been caught out in the past by someone suddenly producing a hidden mountain of items from their loft/garage/Great Aunt Maude, with the casual declaration that they had ‘just a few more things’. I was desperately hoping that wasn’t going to be the case here and, when I’d enquired as to whether there was anything lurking elsewhere, Michael had confirmed that everything I’d seen was everything he owned. I didn’t think he’d be purposely hiding anything but, as he had the occasional tendency to seem distracted, I wasn’t ruling it out one hundred percent.

      ‘Right. Yes. Of course. So, what exactly are we doing here?’

      Having explained