Page 82 of Outlier

Margot came over twice. She didn’t cry the second time, which I thought was progress.

For some reason though, Mike didn’t seem totally comfortable around Margot. In fact, he seemed to watch her like she was some sort of unexploded bomb when she was near me.

And her visits seemed to provoke some sort of anxiety from him. Like he was worried about something. As she was leaving the second time, I saw them through the window, having what looked like a heated conversation by her car.

I couldn’t hear what was being said, but Mike looked agitated and was frowning down at her whilst he spoke. I’d asked him about it afterwards, but he just shrugged it off. Then, thinking he was trying to be protective again, I reassured him that Margot was always kind to me, and that he had no cause to worry about her around me.

“I know that, love,” he’d said softly, still with that worry in his eyes. “She loves you something fierce. Believe me, I know.”

And Mike’s reaction to my offer to buy him a new van after it broke down for the second time was also strange. He was vehemently against it, to the point of being ridiculous.

I honestly could not understand his attitude. It was totally nonsensical that he didn’t have a working vehicle.

“I invest in businesses all the time,” I told him when he’d tried to kiss me into silence, which to be fair, had been working well for him thus far.

He’d stiffened and pulled away when I mentioned investing.

“I don’t need your money, Vics,” he told me. “I’m not with you because of that. Understand me? I want you for you.”

I frowned at him. “Of course I know that, Mike. I would never have such a low opinion of you. You’ve got more integrity than any other human I know.”

Something had flashed across his expression when I said that. I wasn’t very good at reading emotions. If I had to guess,I would have said it looked a lot like fear, but that couldn’t be right.

What did Mike have to be afraid of?

But before I had a chance to ask him, he’d grabbed me to him in a bear hug so tight I had trouble breathing.

“I mean it Vicky,” he said into my hair, his voice gruff. “I only want you. Right?”

My reply in the affirmative was muffled by his shirt, but it did seem to settle him down enough that his arms loosened, and I could take in some much-needed oxygen.

Mike wasreallycagey when it came to anything to do with the business finances. I mean, finance wasmy jam,as Lottie would say. If anyone could help him balance the books it was me. It was also clear to me that Mike needed to expand. He couldn’t cope with all the orders coming in. He needed to expand his workforce, and he needed a delivery driver. But he was stubborn.

I was stubborn too, so I wasn’t giving up.

But meanwhile, I was something I hadn’t been in a long time, if ever.

I was happy.

So happy, I let my guard down.

I forgot who I was, who Mike was, and that someone like him was unlikely to be with someone like me without a reason.

Chapter 27

Vicky has no idea

Vicky

“Vicky?”Claire’s soft voice sounded from the end of the yard, and I turned to face her as she walked towards me. “Er… hey, do you need a hand? Florrie’s off at Hetty’s with Legolas, so I’m free to help muck out.”

I’d come here to stroke the horses’ velvety noses and see if Tony, the yard manager, would let me take some work off his hands. Tony had been the yard manager at Buckingham Manor for decades. He was a quiet, stoic man, more at peace with animals than humans.

As a child, I’d loved that, finding someone almost as silent as me, someone who didn’t ask relentless questions.

Tony was a man of action rather than words. When I’d arrived today, he handed me a wheelbarrow and a fork and nodded towards one of the stables.

I’d done one stall and was moving onto Margot’s horse, Bertie.