Chapter 13

THIRTEEN

Three days ago, Robbie would have watched Toby and Charles Duckworth talking in the hallway and assumed Toby was trying to undermine the family and sell out Hawthorne House. Now, he wasn't so certain.

"How did things go with you and Toby up in Staffordshire?" his dad asked as the two of them waited for whatever Duckworth and Toby had to say to each other to be finished.

"Hmm?"

Robbie was too deep in his thoughts to register his dad's question right away. He'd been thinking of how Toby had fetched him paracetamol, not once, but twice. He was thinking of the deep conversation Toby had had with the guy from Silver Productions, how he had assumed the two of them were flirting. He was thinking of the easy, friendly manner Toby'd had at the pub, how everyone had seemed drawn to him, and how, now that Robbie thought about it, most of the conversation had revolved around Hawthorne House.

He thought about the way Toby nearly carried him home after the pub and the way things had felt so sweet between them. He didn't want to think about how that had all ended.

"They were fine," he said, turning away from his dad with the intention of cleaning up his studio a bit.

He couldn't drag his eyes away from Toby, though. It looked like he and Duckworth were arguing. Robbie frowned in concern.

"Just fine?" his dad asked.

Again, Robbie's reaction was delayed, but when he glanced to his dad, he caught him grinning.

Robbie's frown deepened. "Have you been talking to Rhys? Don't go making up things, Dad," he said. "Toby and I are just?—"

His false protest was cut off as Duckworth broke away from Toby and marched back into the studio, a tight smile on his face and something a lot sharper in his eyes.

"Sorry about that," he said. "How about we sit down and sign a few papers, hmm?"

Robbie glanced past Duckworth to where Toby still stood in the hall, looking like someone had hit him in the head with a bat.

"I need to speak to the entire family about this first," his dad replied to Duckworth. "This isn't the sort of decision that can be made in a day."

"I understand perfectly. Take all the time you need," Duckworth said. "But I can assure you, this is a deal of a lifetime. You don't want to pass it up."

Robbie only half heard the drivel Duckworth was spouting. It was as clear as ever to him that Duckworth was nothing more than a salesman, and that the thing he was selling wasn't something Robbie wanted.

What he wanted stood out in the hallway, a frown on his face, like he was thinking through a particularly sticky problem. Robbie would have given anything to know what Toby was thinking just then.

Then again, it probably didn't have anything to do with him. Toby was nothing if not focused on the job he'd been hired to do. As much as it stung Robbie to not be the center of Toby's current focus—which was ridiculous, really, since they both needed to keep their focus on what really mattered, Hawthorne House—he was glad, at least, that Toby was working for them.

"Like I said, I need to consult with the family first." Dad's statement pulled Robbie out of his thoughts. "We should be able to get back to you by the end of the day."

Dad clapped a hand on Duckworth's arm and steered him back toward the hall.

When Robbie looked again, Toby was already gone. He tried not to be disappointed.

"Come up to the meeting room as soon as you can," Dad said to Robbie over his shoulder as he and Duckworth left the room. "I'm going to gather the others right away so we can discuss this new development."

Robbie almost laughed at how businesslike his dad sounded. It was so unlike him that Robbie almost wondered if his dad was having a laugh at Duckworth's expense.

Then again, people didn't tend to joke around when two hundred and fifty million pounds was on the table.

That thought had Robbie bristling with energy that he put towards cleaning up the studio. He had a class in less than an hour, no matter what happened with the family meeting, and he needed everything to be set for that. It was one of his adult classes that morning, which, because of the hour, was mostly retirees. They would be able to get themselves started if he was a little late, but that meant he needed to have the room ready for them.

It took a good ten minutes for him to put away the bowls he'd been making, to clean up his wheel, and to set supplies out on the tables for the class project. He didn't bother cleaning himself up more than washing his hands and removing his apron before heading out to go upstairs for the meeting.

His focus was so intense that when he crossed into the front hallway, turning to head up the stairs, Keith's greeting of, "Hey, Robbie. I'm glad I ran into you this morning," nearly startled the life out of him.

Robbie jerked around, spotting Keith walking toward him from the office. As always, Keith looked like the picture of elegance and perfection, even though he only wore a pair of jeans and a plain, blue shirt. It set off the blue in his eyes and made his smile seem bright.

But Keith's eyes weren't the same, deep shade of blue of Toby's eyes. His smile wasn't half as genuine or filled with life as Toby's either. In fact, as Keith came close enough to greet Robbie with a hug, glancing briefly at the smears of clay on his jeans and the arm of his t-shirt, it struck Robbie that Keith didn't have the same feeling of life and excitement that Toby had.

"You're looking well," Keith told him, stepping back and taking another look.

There was something hungry and unexpected in that look. It reminded Robbie of the beginning of their relationship, when the two of them hadn't been able to take their eyes or their hands off each other.

"So are you," he said, nodding.

"I guess it's all that lovely, Staffordshire air," Keith went on, his smile turning warm.

Robbie couldn't quite figure out where Keith was going with the conversation, or with the flirty smile. His thoughts were already down the hall, in the family's meeting room.

"It was an exhausting trip," he said, not wanting to be rude.

No, it was more than that. A small part of him thrilled to the idea that Keith was paying attention to him again.

"Do you know when the episode of The Ceramics Challenge that you filmed will air?" Keith asked.

"In a few months," Robbie answered, impatience rippling through him. He glanced to the side hallway, mentally walking that way already. "They have to work their production magic with it."

"I see, I see," Keith said, inching a tiny bit closer to Robbie. "You're going to have all sorts of attention once it does."

He reached out and brushed the bare skin of Robbie's arm.

Prickles raced through Robbie from the touch, igniting old wants and sending blood pumping through him.

"I don't know about that," Robbie said, glancing to the stairs again. "It's just a guest appearance, one episode."

Keith looked to the hallway, as if trying to figure out where Robbie's attention was focused.

"I've got an important family meeting right now," Robbie said, answering the unasked question. "Excuse me."

He stepped past Keith, but Keith grabbed his hand to stop him.

"We should talk later," he said. "I…I've been thinking about us a lot lately."

A shiver of something instinctual and bright shot down Robbie's spine. "You…have?"

"Yeah." Keith stepped closer, still holding Robbie's hand. "I've been thinking that maybe I was a little hasty in letting you go."

Robbie's thoughts ground to a screeching halt. "Aren't you with John now?"

Keith wrinkled his nose in a way he thought was cute and said, "That was more like a fling. It's already burnt itself out. That was part of what made me realize it's you I want."

He tipped his head down slightly and gave Robbie a fiery, suggestive look.

Robbie's mouth dropped slightly open. Now? Keith wanted to get back together with him now ? With so much hanging in the balance and Hawthorne House in trouble?

He would be lying if he didn't admit a part of him liked the idea. A large part of him, if he were honest.

But Toby, and the rest of the family, were waiting for him in the meeting room.

"We'll talk later," he said, pulling his hand out of Keith's grip. "I really need to attend this meeting."

"Go on, you," Keith said, flirty and fun.

Robbie nodded to him, then turned and headed for the hallway, his eyes wide and his head spinning. Was Keith really serious? He probably thought he was. It wouldn't have been the first time Keith acted on impulse and did something questionable. But was the questionable thing wanting to get back together with him or breaking up in the first place?

It was too much to consider on top of everything else. Robbie shook his head as he tried to push it all aside and strode down the hall to the meeting room.

When he arrived, Toby was already there, explaining some of what had happened in Staffordshire to Rebecca, Nally, and Nate, who had reached the meeting room before Robbie.

"Aaron Powter is one of the vice presidents of the acquisitions department," he was in the middle of saying, "so he's well-versed in what scripts and concepts Silver Productions has in their pipeline."

Toby glanced in Robbie's direction as soon as Robbie walked through the door and straightened a little.

A spark of something hit Robbie square in the middle of his chest. The ferocity in Toby's eyes was worlds away from the banal sophistication that Keith wore like a cloak. Already, Robbie could tell that Toby was in fighting mode, and he was fighting for something that Robbie believed in.

"Robbie, there you are," Rebecca greeted him, breaking away from the discussion at the other end of the table to come over and kiss his cheek. "Toby was just telling us about Staffordshire, and about this new offer from Willoughby Entertainment?" She phrased her statement as a question, looking to him for confirmation.

"That's what Dad wants to talk to us all about," Robbie said. He set aside his own, personal tangles and confusions to focus on the bigger question of the family.

"Your dad can't seriously be thinking about selling Hawthorne House immediately, can he?" Nate asked as Rebecca walked Robbie down the length of the table.

Robbie met Toby's eyes, and for a moment, the rest of the room disappeared and all that was left was the hot, pulsing sensations Robbie had felt when it was just the two of them in the hotel room. He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he could have Toby whenever he wanted him. But he could have Keith now, too.

"I'm seriously thinking about it," Dad said in a raised voice as he and Rhys entered the room, snapping the moment between Robbie and Toby. Robbie twisted to face him. "But thinking about it is all I'm doing right now."

"I can't believe Mr. Duckworth tried to get Dad to sign something on the spot," Rhys said, looking beyond irritated. "That smacks of desperation to me."

"I thought so, too," Robbie said, sense and focus returning to him. "Don't contracts like that usually take weeks to work out with multiple layers of lawyers looking them over?"

He turned back to Toby.

"They do," Toby said.

He paused, his face pinching slightly, like he was dealing with some sort of internal struggle. Robbie wondered if it had anything to do with the conversation Toby and Duckworth had had in the hall outside the ceramics studio. Whatever it was, it had Toby's eyes filled with far more emotion than Robbie would have expected to see in an impartial efficiency expert come to assess an estate's potential value.

Again, Robbie thought of the paracetamol and the note Toby had left for him in the hotel the morning before.

"I'm eager to hear more about this offer from Silver Productions," Dad said, gesturing for everyone to have a seat at the end of the table as he pulled out his mobile phone and started dialing.

"It wasn't so much an offer as an expression of interest," Toby said, taking a seat at Dad's right-hand, where Rafe usually sat.

A moment later, Dad smiled and said, "Janice, good morning, sweetheart."

Silly though it was, Robbie breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed, knowing his dad had just called his mum.

"I'm going to put you on speaker so you can take part in this meeting," his dad went on.

He tapped a button, and his mum's crisp, bright voice came through with, "…quickly, because I'm not certain this cell service is entirely reliable."

"Hello, Mum," Rebecca called out, waving at the phone, which made Robbie want to laugh.

"Morning, Rebecca dear," Mum's voice sounded. "Who else is there?"

"Rhys, Robbie, Nally, and Nate," Rebecca said.

"Oh! That's nearly everyone," Mum said. "Morning, all. I trust you're getting into the appropriate amount of trouble without me?"

"Of course," Nally answered with a fond grin. "But we wish you were home."

"I will be next month," Mum said, which, again, put Robbie more at ease.

"We can chit-chat later," Dad said. "Right now, Toby Tillman is here to tell us how we can save the estate from falling into the hands of Willoughby Entertainment Group."

"You're not actually considering their offer, are you Robert?" Mum asked.

"I don't want to," Dad said, "but two hundred and fifty million pounds isn't a sum you can just turn your nose up at."

"We don't need to be millionaires," Rhys agreed. "We just need to keep the place in the black."

"And I think Silver Productions could be one facet of a plan to do that," Toby said. "With your permission, Mrs. Hawthorne," he said, speaking up for the cell phone.

Robbie grinned and even flushed a bit at the easy, teasing way Toby spoke, almost like he was one of the family.

"You don't need my permission," Mum said. "And call me Janice."

"Right," Toby said, clapping his hands together. He looked straight at Robbie, which had a bolt of excitement coursing from Robbie's heart to his balls. "It's not a quick and easy solution, but Aaron Powter from Silver Productions has expressed interest in taking a look at Hawthorne House, specifically the grounds, to see if it would be a suitable place for filming."

"For filming what?" Mum asked.

"All sorts of things," Toby said. "He mentioned there's a medieval drama in the works that may or may not be greenlighted soon. When I mentioned the jousting arena, his eyes lit up."

"Cool!" Nally exclaimed with a smile.

Robbie thought back to the moment he'd stumbled across Toby and Powter in the green room. He'd thought Powter was interested in Toby and the feelings were mutual. Now, however, he could easily see how the interest had been in Hawthorne House.

More than that, it suddenly dawned on him that the comment about not being used to its full potential wasn't about him, it was about the estate.

There wasn't time for him to feel like a self-absorbed, moping idiot before Toby went on.

"Whether Silver Productions finds any use for Hawthorne House or not, I've spent the last two weeks analyzing and assessing all of Hawthorne House's businesses, and I think I can safely say there is a way forward for all of you that does not involve selling a centuries' old legacy to someone who would replace the trees with roller coasters and the gardens with concession stands."

"Thank God for that," Nally blurted.

Toby went on to detail half a dozen ideas. He apologized for being so rushed that he hadn't put together a PowerPoint presentation, or anything else other than the story of his ideas, but Robbie was still impressed. Part of him had begun to think that Toby had been hanging around Hawthorne House for the past two weeks as a way to stay out of a cubicle in a London office building, but he'd actually be working his perfectly tight arse off for all of them.

"With any one or two of those ideas, I think you could make Hawthorne House profitable again," he finished after a good twenty minutes. He glanced to Robbie and said, "And you could maintain the integrity of the school as well and continue on with top-notch art classes."

A brief paused followed. Toby smiled at Robbie, as if he'd given the entire presentation exclusively for him.

Robbie smiled back, a whole new feeling of gratitude and respect filling him.

"I think it's a given, then," Dad said, sitting back in his chair as if he'd weathered a storm and come out in one piece. "We'll reject Willoughby Entertainment's offer and pursue the things Toby recommends."

"Don't reject the offer immediately," Mum said, surprising everyone. "Wait and see if this Silver Productions will make an offer of their own first. But otherwise, I like it. I like all of it."

"I've got a class in five minutes," Rhys said, standing. "But I think we're on the right track. Can we agree to not give Willoughby Entertainment an answer until after Toby has spoken to Silver Productions?"

"I think we can definitely agree to that," Dad said.

That was the end of the meeting. Everyone got up to go, leaving the room in a hurry. Dad picked up the phone and continued his call with Mum, his expression turning frisky as he lowered his voice and left the room.

Robbie had his class and got up to go, but he stopped and turned back to Toby before he took more than two steps.

"Thank you," he said, warmth and awkwardness running rampant inside him.

Toby shrugged, his face flushed slightly from the energy of his presentation. His eyes glittered more than a little as he glanced up and met Robbie's eyes. "It's what your family hired me to do."

Robbie swallowed, feeling like he was standing on the edge of a precipice. "No, thank you for the paracetamol," he said in a quieter voice. "Thank you for taking care of me, for…for not laughing at me or ditching me when I was like that."

Toby glanced down for a second as he stepped out from the table. It was a simple gesture, but beautiful at the same time. Robbie's heart thumped against his chest, and he had a hard time catching his breath for a moment, especially when Toby glanced up at him and smiled.

"You would have done the same for me," he said.

He didn't move any closer. Robbie wished he would. He wished Toby would brush his arm the way Keith had.

The silence between them stretched out, feeling more and more like a chasm between them that Robbie couldn't figure out how to cross. He hadn't entirely shed the feeling that Toby was the enemy, but he didn't feel the same visceral need to bite and snap and get the upper hand over Toby. Staffordshire had changed things between them, but he didn't know what to do about it yet.

And then there was Keith.

"Don't you have a class to teach, too?" Toby asked with an almost teasing look, stepping back to the table to collect a few pages of notes he'd made on one of the room's notepads.

"I do," Robbie said, turning stiffly toward the door. "I should get down there."

"Yeah, you should," Toby said, grinning happily, though he wasn't looking at Robbie anymore.

Robbie didn't know how he'd missed the fact that Toby was so gorgeous.

"We'll talk later, then, I guess," he said, inching more toward the door.

"We will," Toby said.

He glanced Robbie's way and winked.

Robbie couldn't breathe. Everything he thought he knew had just been blasted to pieces. He walked on and out the door, but mostly because he had to get away. He had no idea what to do with the jumble of emotions spinning wildly within him.