Free Saving Willowbrook by Anna Jacobs Page B

break-ups, there just wasn’t enough to keep us together.’
    â€˜What exactly do you do at the bank?’
    Should he confess? No, not yet. Not everything, anyway. ‘I’m not actually employed by the bank. I just work on projects here and there.’
    Something to do with her property? She didn’t want to think about that now, didn’t want to spoil the evening. ‘And when the current projects are finished?’
    He shrugged. ‘Who knows? I certainly don’t. I’m at one of those crisis points in life.’ He smiled, but it faded quickly. ‘I’d call it a mid-life crisis, except I’m only thirty-five.’
    Silence fell between them. She wondered whether to get up and clear the table, but felt exhausted, so sat on, nursing her wine glass, sipping occasionally and watching the moonlight play on the gently moving water of the lake. The conservatory was one of her favourite places to sit.
    â€˜I can see why you love your home,’ he said after another few moments of comfortable silence. ‘Have you ever thought of expanding this place into a larger operation?’
    She jerked upright at that, feeling suddenly tense. What had made him ask that? ‘I’ve got as much on my plate as I can manage at the moment.’
    â€˜If this is a one-woman operation, I’d say you’re managing more than most people could, and the place is a credit to you.’
    She inclined her head in acknowledgement of this compliment. ‘Anyway, I don’t have the capital to develop anything else or I’d not have had to apply for a loan to pay out my ex. Once that’s done, I shall need to consolidate for a year or two. You’re a business consultant. You should understand that.’
    â€˜But would you expand, if you could?’
    â€˜Yes, I would. I’d like to keep the history of the farm alive, have staff wearing old-fashioned clothing and perhaps keep some period costumes to loan to guests. People love dressing up if you give them a good enough excuse. I’d conserve the land, offer small animals and birds an asylum, and give the townies and foreign tourists the chance to appreciate the natural beauty of Wiltshire. There’s a local nature society that would help me set up nature walks and observation points.’
    She’d dreamed of it so many times, lain in bed picturing it, studied old history books. She realized she was betraying her most cherished dreams, dreams she hadn’t told anyone else about, and cut the conversation short, surprised at herself. ‘Well, you get the picture. I definitely wouldn’t want to offer guests a noisy resort full of expensive restaurants, shops and bars that could be found anywhere in the world. A large company made me an offer a few years ago, but I turned it down. And now another company is interested. I’m not selling, though, not unless I’m forced to. It’s my family home. I want to go on living here and hand it to my daughter one day, just as my father handed it to me.’
    â€˜I know what you mean about resort hotels. I’ve stayed in enough of them to last me the rest of my life. And when there were conventions going on, I kept mostly to my room. I’m not a party animal, I’m afraid.’
    How lonely his life sounded! She kept the conversation firmly on him, feeling she’d already betrayed too much about herself. ‘You must have seen quite a bit of the world, though? Which countries did you like best?’
    He spoke for a while about some of his favourite places – Vancouver, Sydney – then the talk drifted to a standstill again. It had been a long time since she’d enjoyed a man’s company so much, a long time since anyone had listened to her as Cameron had, as if he was really interested in what she was saying.
    Eventually she forced herself to break up the evening, nervous of how much she’d told him. ‘If I don’t go to