Page 15 of The Family Remains

‘What? But you just said—’

‘I said he isn’t married. He has been married. He’s divorced. He has a son.’

‘Baggage.’

‘Well, sort of. But not really. He doesn’t see the son. The ex won’t let him.’

Her father collapsed back against his chair theatrically. ‘Oh, Rachel.’

‘Look,’ Rachel interjected. ‘It’s not serious. OK? He’s only here for six months. It’s just some fun. Don’t overthink it.’

‘Someone has to overthink things, Rachel. Someone has to think about things, full stop.’

The conversation moved on then, as it always did, to the business.

These conversations had once been exciting and energising when she’d been a twenty-something whose dad was ‘helping her get it off the ground’. Now that he was basically bankrolling her, the conversations made her feel inadequate and edgy.

On her phone she opened the app she ran her business through to show her dad her latest orders. But something looked wrong about the lines of figures in the columns, out of proportion. She clicked on the newest order and stared at it numbly for a moment.

Someone had ordered £54,000 worth of jewellery. In one order. Including the white gold eternity ring with yellow diamonds that was the most expensive single item of jewellery available on her website at £8,500.

‘You OK, sweetheart?’ her dad asked.

‘Er, yeah. Just had a big order. Like a really big order.’ She turned the phone to show him. She watched his face light up, his hands clap together.

‘There. You see? All along. What did I say? You just need one big order and then you’ll be flying.’

She was only half listening to him. Mentally she was calculating how long it would take her to fulfil the order, how quickly she could get hold of the gems – she kept only a small amount in stock – and her heart raced gently with the beginnings of stress.

‘I’m not sure,’ she said, scrolling down the items on the big order. ‘I’m not sure I’m going to be able to fulfil this, not in six weeks. Not on my own.’

‘Well,’ her father replied, ‘you need to bring someone in. Maybe someone from college? Or is there anyone else in your studio complex? That nice girl next door?’

‘Paige?’

‘Yes. Paige. Here’s what you do. Write to the customer. Advise them that because of the size of the order it will be closer to eight weeks than six weeks for delivery. Tell them you’ll need a fifty per cent deposit up front. Bring Paige in, on a ten per cent basis. Work every hour of every day. Fulfil the order. Simple. Yes?’

Rachel nodded, but her heart wasn’t convinced, and neither was her gut. She pressed the back button on her phone and then the ‘Customer details’ tab. And then she breathed in sharply.

Michael Rimmer

Flat 4, Moynihan Mansions

Radcliffe Gardens

London

SW6 2AS

‘Rachel?’

She glanced up at her dad.

‘It’s going to be fine, you know. You can do this. You can totally do this.’

She quickly shut down the ‘Customer details’ page on her phone and smiled at her dad. ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘Yes, I think I can.’