She sat, tapping the phone against the palm of her hand, willing the phone to ring. She’d downed yet another coffee before it did, and she tapped to answer without looking at the screen. ‘Benjamin, thanks for getting back to me so quickly. I’m so distraught. I—’

‘Allison, it’s me, Hazel.’

The interruption, coming as it did when Allison had launched her carefully phrased spiel of devastation and sorrow, threw her completely. When she tried to adjust and address the caller, she drew a complete blank. Who the hell was Hazel?

‘Hazel Manners.’

As if that made it clearer. Allison’s free hand thumped the side of her head as if that would loosen the information she needed. ‘I’m sorry…’

‘Hazel, from work.’ The voice sounded offended. ‘I rang to offer my condolences on your loss, see if there was anything I could do for you.’

Her! Bloody marvellous, just what she needed. ‘How kind, sorry, as you can imagine I’m all over the place, and not sleeping either. All I can think about is poor Peter.’

‘So awful for you. Such a terrible shock. When I heard the news, I went straight to management and offered to take on your workload until you were feeling up to coming back, so don’t worry about here. Take all the time you need.’

‘So kind.’ The conniving bitch! No doubt she’d move into Allison’s office for convenience, making herself completely at home. From having no intention of returning to work, ever, Allison did a complete about-face. ‘Work can be a kind of solace, though, can’t it? I’m planning on being back next week so, although your offer is extremely kind and considerate, I wouldn’t think of putting you out. But thank you, it means so much to know how kind and supportive my colleagues are.’

‘Next week!’

Allison smiled to hear part shock, part irritation in those two words. She dropped her voice to a lower, more sorrowful register before speaking. ‘It’ll be a relief to bury myself in my work, to take my mind off my loss.’

‘Yes, yes, I see. Well, I’m here if you need me, and willing to accept any work you’re finding too difficult to get through, okay?’

‘So kind.’ Allison couldn’t trust herself to say more. She hadn’t wanted to go back to the job, but she was damned if she was letting that bloody woman gain from her loss. Anyway, it would be better to return if probate was going to be delayed for as long as the liaison officer had implied. She’d know better after speaking to the solicitor.

She’d go back to work for a few weeks, maybe even a couple of months. Plenty of time to deal with Hazel, her feigned concern and obvious attempt to leapfrog into Allison’s job.