Page 83 of Save You

Wren raises his hands in an appeasing way.“You know howproud my folks are.They’d never accept charity.Anyway, having your parents as landlords would be super weird, Cy,” he replies.But Cyril just shrugs.

“What happened?”I ask.

Wren sighs and rubs his chin with his free hand.“Dad was playing the markets.He put all our eggs in one basket—and lost.”

All I can say is, “Fuck.”I don’t know exactly how rich the Fitzgeralds were, but I know their house and their various holiday homes.I know the companies they had shares in.It’s hard to imagine that they could have lost it all—and in such a short space of time.

“Is there anything we can do?”I ask after a while.

Wren twitches one shoulder.“It’s all a bit chaotic at the moment.And Dad…He’s kind of down.”

“Just let us know—anything at all,” I say, and Cyril murmurs in agreement.

“It’s a lot.I can’t keep up at school at the moment.And now I have to think about loans and scholarships for Oxford too.I…I really don’t know if I can deal with it all.”

Wren buries his face in his hands while Cyril and I exchange glances.I’m sure we’re thinking the same thing.In the worst case, we’d all chip in to lend Wren some money.Hell, we’d give it to him no questions asked, but we know him well enough to know he’d never accept that.

“You’ve got this.And we’ll help,” I declare, bumping shoulders with Wren.He slowly lowers his hands from his face.

“James, the thing with Ruby—”

“Is in the past,” I interrupt him.

At this moment, this isn’t about me, or Ruby, but about thefact that Wren’s been carrying all this around for ages, without his best friend having a clue.That’s not how things should be.Not with us.

I don’t care about our fight now.All that matters to me is that I want to help Wren.Even though I have no idea how.

24

Ruby

My heart is hammering in my throat as I open the door.Percy is standing there, and he nods slightly, a smile on his lips.

“How nice to see you again, Ms.Bell.”

“It’s nice to see you too, Percy,” I reply, following him to the car, gripping my silver clutch bag tightly.James refused to tell me anything about our date all week, so I’ve just had to guess at what to wear.But Ember’s helped me put together an outfit for all occasions: a simple black dress, shoes with tiny heels, and the little silver bag.My hair is half up and I’ve glued my fringe down with a ton of hairspray in case we’re spending any time outdoors in the wind.

“We’re meeting Mr.Beaufort there,” Percy explains as he holds the door for me and gives me a hand into the Rolls.I smile up at him to thank him.To my shock, I see that there are dark rings under Percy’s eyes and his skin is pale and dull.And he looks miles away, like his thoughts aren’t really present.

“How are things, Percy?”I ask.

“I’m fine, miss, thank you for asking,” he replies mechanically.Smiling politely, Percy shuts the door behind me and walks around the car.The screen isn’t up and I watch with a frown as he sits down behind the wheel.Is it my imagination, or is there considerably more white in his hair since Cordelia Beaufort’s death?

“How long have you been working for the family?”I ask, edging forward slightly on my seat.

“Over twenty-five years now, miss.”

I nod sympathetically.“Wow, that’s a long time.”

“I started driving Mrs.Beaufort when she was in her early twenties.”

“What was she like?”

For a moment, Percy seems to be hunting for the words to describe her.“Fearless and intrepid.She turned the firm upside down, even before she finished university, which didn’t please her parents.But it paid off.”I can see in the mirror as his eyes narrow as if he’s smiling.“She always had a good eye for the trends.She continued working all through her pregnancy, and set so many things in motion.Nothing went out under the company logo without her personal approval.She—” Percy breaks off.“She was an amazing woman,” he concludes, his voice hoarse.

I feel a wave of compassion.It seems like Mrs.Beaufort meant a lot to Percy.Maybe more than that, if I’m reading the look in his eyes correctly.

“Are you really OK, Percy?”I whisper.