Page 22 of You Only Need One

We both fell silent. I took the last bite of my muffin. This was awkward and I didn’t know what to say.

Failure wasn’t an option for Theo, and it wasn’t for me either. The whole situation was so messed up.

‘So, about last night…’ I lowered my voice and scanned the tables around us. A couple on the table a few feet away seemed to be very interested in our conversation.

‘Maybe we should take a walk and talk. Away from prying ears and eyes,’ Theo said.

‘Good idea.’

Once he’d wiped his hands on a serviette, he reached into his wallet and dropped a twenty-pound note beside the plate. I doubted his crumpets and coffee cost much more than a fiver.

‘You’re leaving that as a tip?’ I asked. Theo nodded. ‘Isn’t that a lot?’

‘Maybe.’ He shrugged. ‘When I was at uni, I had a friend who had to work in restaurants and saw how he struggled because the pay was really low. So after that I always vowed to tip well. I never do it on the card, though. I always give cash to make sure it gets to them directly and doesn’t just line the pockets of their bosses.’

Wow. I thought he always tipped a lot because he was being flashy, but I should’ve known. Theo was a good guy.

‘Oh,’ I said as we both got up, waved to Maddie, then left. ‘That’s really kind. I wish the customers I served whenever I worked in bars and hospitality were that generous.’

Theo shrugged like it was no big deal, then paused at the kerb.

‘Shall we walk on the beach?’

‘Okay.’ I followed him across the road, then took a deep breath. ‘So, as I was about to say at the bakery, given how critical the presentation is, for both of us, maybe it’s better if we keep our distance. To make things easier.’

‘That would definitely be the sensible thing to do. Last night we were both high on the adrenaline of winning and got caught up in the heat of the moment, but I agree, we should both focus. I’ve already got my father breathing down my neck. I can’t disappoint him.’

‘He sounds like a taskmaster,’ I said.

‘That’s an understatement,’ he sighed.

‘Why does he want the land so badly?’ I asked, thinking that I didn’t really know why it was so important to get this particular place.

‘The truth? It’s a good investment. He’s wanted to develop something in this town for years and has been waiting for something to come up. And if I don’t get this place, I can kiss goodbye to the CEO position I’ve been working towards for my whole life.’

Oh.

My stomach twisted.

‘So if you don’t get this, you won’t get promoted?’

‘Correct. Since birth, he’s been preparing me to take over the business. Everything I’ve ever done at school, college, university and business school has all been for this moment. He wants to retire soon, and this is the deal I need to secure to prove that I’m worthy of stepping into his shoes.’ Theo blew out a breath.

‘Sounds like a lot of pressure.’

‘Tell me about it.’

A pain shot through my heart. I hadn’t realised there was so much at stake for Theo. I’d just assumed this was another money-spinning deal to make him richer than he already was.

But now his whole world would come crashing down around him if he failed. He was a good man, and I hated the idea of something bad happening to him.

Did he need this deal more than me? Was he more deserving? I couldn’t decide. It was so difficult.

I wished there was a way that we could both win. That would be fair. But as I’d learned the hard way, life wasn’t fair.

I’d made a commitment to do my best to honour Mrs Davis’s wishes, and I had to stick to that.

Lucky for me, I wasn’t the one who had to make the decision, which was down to Edwin. Rather him than me.