Seven Days(67)

And she wanted the letters to stop, but she couldn’t help wondering how many more there would be.

One? Two?

Twenty?





Four Years Earlier: July 2014


Martin



1


COOPER ELECTRICAL

It was written in large capitals on the side of a van. Martin paused and watched the van go down Deansgate. The driver was Stephen Anderson, one of the first trainees he had taken on. That was seven years ago, and Stephen now oversaw all the projects they did in Manchester. Martin took care of the others – in Liverpool, Lancaster, Preston, Warrington – but was gradually handing them over to Karen Richardson, another trainee he had recruited when he had decided to branch out from doing jobs for other people and become an electrical firm.

It had been slow at first but in the last few years it had gone better than he had ever dreamed possible. He had a simple approach: he was careful who he hired, he was totally honest, and he never cut corners.

It seemed people liked it, and he now had a firm with over twenty full-time electricians and a turnover in the millions. It had attracted the attention of a national building firm, which was why he was in a shirt and trousers, about to go into the offices of an accounting firm in Manchester.

A woman in her late thirties was waiting by the front desk. She held out her hand.

‘Melinda Jameson. Pleased to meet you.’ She gestured towards a door. ‘We can talk in there.’

They sat at a polished metal table. There was a file in front of Melinda Jameson, which she picked up and opened.

‘So,’ she said. ‘You were contacted by Weaver Construction about acquiring your firm. I understand you would like to discuss having us represent you in this transaction?’

‘Yes,’ Martin said. ‘I have a lawyer and he gave me your name.’

‘Who was that, if you don’t mind me asking?’

‘Peter Sidwell.’

She nodded ‘I know him well. Will he be handling the legal side?’

‘He will.’

‘Then I’d say you’re in safe hands.’ She opened the folder. ‘Shall we review the offer Weaver made?’

The offer was to buy Cooper Electrical for three million pounds.

Martin enjoyed what he did and didn’t particularly want to sell, but it was a lot of money. He didn’t know how it could be worth so much, but when they had contacted him they had talked about revenue multiples and brand scalability and a bunch of other stuff he didn’t fully understand or care about.

The problem was that work – the constant hustling for new jobs and hiring new people and visiting new sites – was what kept him sane. It gave him the sense he was moving forward. At night he would still wake up, suddenly and completely, and think, She’s gone. My little girl is gone.

And then he would lie awake and imagine her working alongside him and wonder what kind of a person she would have become, who she would have married, the grandchildren she might have given him and Sandra.

And the sense of loss and grief would be as strong as ever.

Sandra was the same, but she found her distraction in exercise. Yoga, spinning, training for marathons and triathlons. She read magazines about diets and training programmes, went to clinics to work on her swimming, researched new bike technologies.

She was in remission from cancer and focused on living life to the full.

And maybe it was time for him to do the same. Maybe it was time to let go of work and move on, spend time with his wife, try to sort James out.

Melinda Jameson closed the folder.

‘Do you have an initial position? I assume from the fact you’re here that you have some interest?’

‘It’s a lot of money,’ Martin said. ‘I think I should accept.’





2


So,’ Sandra said. ‘How was it?’

She had come in from the gym and was drinking a glass of water. She was wearing running shorts and a T-shirt from a triathlon in Chester. Her arms and legs were lean, the muscles defined and visible.

‘They want to buy the firm,’ Martin said. ‘For three million pounds.’

Sandra put the glass down.

‘Three million?’

‘The lawyer suggested negotiating. We might get four.’

‘Holy shit. Then why do you sound so morose?’

‘Because I can’t decide if I’m doing the right thing.’

‘I can think of three – or four – million reasons you are.’

‘I know, but I had no intention of selling until the offer came in. I don’t want to sell. I enjoy it.’

‘You could enjoy something else. Set up a new business.’

‘I suppose. And it is a lot of cash. A fortune.’ He gestured around the room. ‘But the thing is, I’m happy with what we have.’

‘Me too. But it’ll be nice to have the money. We can travel. See some of the world. And you can get a sports car. Really go for it with your midlife crisis.’

Martin pursed his lips as though considering it. ‘And maybe a younger wife. Now you’re talking.’

‘You better be joking, Cooper,’ Sandra said.

‘About the sports car, yes. The wife – maybe not.’ He put his arms around her. ‘Of course I’m joking. You know I love you. More and more the older we get. I can’t imagine life without you.’