‘I know.’ Abbey resisted the temptation to point out that he had been the biggest advocate for expanding the business when both she and his wife had been content with the status quo. ‘Perhaps we should take on someone to help you with the accounts-’

‘No!’ Her brother disagreed with a vehemence that made her look at him in astonishment. ‘Sorry, but I have my own way of doing things,’ he added tautly when he intercepted her questioning glance.

‘Fine.’ But Abbey studied him, wondering why he was so determined not to accept help when he was obviously finding the financial side a burden. Not for the first time she wished she had a better head for juggling figures. ‘I just feel that you should have had the time to come to the fashion show-’

‘I’m not into fund-raising and stuff. That’s Caroline’s territory. I would’ve been a fish out of water,’ he asserted.

‘Caroline’s lonely,’ Abbey responded gently. ‘You’ve been working late a lot recently.’

Drew shrugged. ‘Caroline and I live and work together,’ he reminded her. ‘Sometimes it feels suffocating. I’m not always here in the office working when I’m late home. Sometimes I just like to go out on my own.’

Abbey was dismayed by the tenor of that admission. Suffocating? That was not a healthy word to describe a marital relationship. ‘Is there anything wrong?’

‘Why should there be?’ Drew frowned with annoyance at his sister. ‘Why should there be anything wrong?’

‘You just seem very jumpy and defensive all of a sudden.’

‘You’re imagining things.’

Abbey was unconvinced. ‘Is there anything up with the business?’

‘I’d soon tell you if there was. We could do with some more customers-’

‘You told me business was brilliant-’

‘Our new fancy office premises are swallowing up more of our income than I expected,’ Drew admitted ruefully.