Wholesale Love

By Catherine Carson

Assistant Manager Abby Lewis has to cope with the installation team who have come to Brandon Branch of Douglas Wholesale Corporation to revamp the store as well as a Manager who shirks his duties.
Robert 'Doug' Douglas agrees to lead the team when a skiing accident leaves his brother with a badly broken leg but for reasons of his own he prefers to remain incognito.
What happens when Abby discovers his true identity has a life changing effect on both of their lives.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Apr 18, 2014
• ISBN: 9781291840247

Book preview

Wholesale Love

Wholesale Love

by

Catherine Carson

Content Copyright © Catherine Carson

ISBN 978-1-291-84020-

ISBN 978-1-291-84024-7 eBook

About the author

I live in the North West of England and have been married to the same man (whom I left my native Scotland to be with) for some considerable time. We have three grown up children who between them have given us six grandchildren who are the light of our lives.

Writing was always something I enjoyed but confined it to letters, but over the years the recipients of those missives used to say I could write a book, to which my set answer was ‘I daresay I could but who would want to read it’.

Thanks to my very good friend Lisa who convinced me to have a go I found the courage to release the stories which had always been in my mind.

I hope anyone who reads my stories will enjoy them, and the characters I have created as much as I loved writing them.

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www.facebook.com/catherinecarsonbooks.uk

www.catherinerenacarson.jimdo.com

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my very patient son-in-law who puts me right when I get in a muddle with my lack of computer skills and shout - HELP!!!

The characters in this book are completely fictional and bear no resemblance to any living person.

Other books by this author

The Mouse in the Library

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Design Plot (Book 1)

Island Escape (Book 2)            

Linked by Love (Book 3)

Speculative Risk (Book 4)       

Accounting for Peace (Book 5)

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Tapestry of Love (Book 1)

Twins Exchanged (Book 2)    

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Overall Construction

Wounded Wolf

Coffee and Cakes

Memories Rekindled

Chapter 1

Robert (Doug) Merryweather Douglas was supervising the unloading of new racking which would be installed in the Brandon branch of the Douglas Wholesale Corporation.  It had been an executive decision to update some of the older branches of the Corporation to bring some uniformity in the layout in order to allow customers to find their supplies quickly no matter which branch they purchased them from.

At school he had picked up the nickname Doug and somehow it stuck and only his parents actually called him by his given name and of course his fiancée Sonja Perkins. Normally Doug would be sitting in his office within the Head Office building in the city of London but through an unforeseen circumstance he found himself at the sharp end of the renovation work.

His younger brother Curtis was usually in charge of this side of the business but he had broken his leg whilst on a skiing holiday and their father Lionel had decreed that Robert should be the one to travel north to supervise the installation.

Jeez Doug your own mother wouldn’t recognise you with that fungus on your face.  I know you wanted to be incognito but did you have to go that far?  Pete Foster was his cousin and he and Curtis had developed a good working partnership and he knew that Doug wanted to keep a low profile on this job because of his recent engagement to a very attractive socialite whose father would not be happy that his future son-in-law was engaging in blue collar work.

Pete I will let you away with that but if you make any further reference to my identity you will feel the consequences.  If Sir Alfred Perkins gets so much as a whiff that I am here he will pressure Sonja into breaking our engagement.  It took me months to get back into his good books after that damned incident at the nightclub when the paparazzi took those compromising photographs of me with that starlet, so low profile is the order of the day.

Okay boss understood.  Secretly Pete thought that Sonja Perkins and her high handed father were not worth the trouble but it was not his place to tell his cousin his opinion of his fiancée as he would probably end up with a fist in his face for his troubles.

The racking was at last unloaded and Doug signed the necessary documents allowing the driver to return to the depot to pick up his next load. 

Walking into the warehouse to seek out the manager Doug was met by a young woman who did not look too happy.  I hope you and your men are not going to take all day to move this lot.  We have customers coming in and out of this building and they do not take kindly to being inconvenienced by workmen.  Doug stepped back to look at this woman who dared speak to him in such a manner and was about to tear a strip from her when he remembered that he was Doug in charge of the installation crew and not Robert Douglas the Finance Director of the Douglas Wholesale Corporation.

Sorry Miss but we shall be out of your way as soon as possible and I was actually looking for the manager – Mr Melvyn Jessop so if you could let him know I shall get my crew started and we shall be out of your way.  He was fascinated to see the expressions on this woman’s face.  It was obvious she was not happy with the disruption but that was not what fascinated him.  He had never seen such an expressive face nor should he say such a lack of self control as this young woman portrayed.

Please follow me Mr……  Tempted to tell her exactly who he was he simply said Doug, just call me Doug. Very well Doug if you follow me Melvyn is in his office.  He watched her as she walked in front of him thinking the tabard she wore over her clothes gave absolutely no hint as to her figure but what he could see of her jean clad legs suggested there was a female form under there somewhere.

Melvyn the installation crew have unloaded and Doug here needs to know where you want them to start.  Turning to the tall bearded man she gave a slight nod of her head indicating he should enter the office.  Oh and Colin wants to know if he can have an early lunch so if you could have a word when you’ve finished with Doug he will be grateful.

Thanks Abby I’ll see him when I’ve finished with this young man.

*****

As Abby passed the tills Zoe one of her colleagues stopped her So what’s he like.  He must be well over six feet and those shoulders are the broadest I have ever seen.  Abby laughed at Zoe He is a great hairy beast if you ask me but he does have nice brown eyes even if they do have an arrogant look about them.  Zoe don’t get involved they are here to do a job and will soon be gone.  They probably have a girl in every town a bit like sailors have a girl in every port.

Abby Lewis was under no illusions where men were concerned she had been dumped by her long term boyfriend when he went to Cologne on a stag party with his brother and met a blonde blue eyed fraulein and married her within a month of their meeting.  The fact that her parents and sisters thought she was still heartbroken made things quite awkward at home and she was seriously considering leaving home and finding someone to share a house with. 

She was so deep in thought she almost walked into the pallets of racking which had been unloaded and now sat by the entrance doors.  Watch out miss you could hurt yourself on those pallets.  Abby turned and almost fell into the arms of a very pleasant looking young man.  I’m sorry I was miles away, thank you for warning me.  My pleasure young lady always glad to be of your service.  Abby laughed as the young man bowed before her. 

Pete stop messing about and get that damned forklift truck in here pronto.  Miss Lewis we will be out of your way much quicker if you do not distract the crew.  Turning on his heel Doug started issuing orders and Abby was left fuming.  ‘Well what a wonderful time we are all going to have for the next few weeks I don’t think’.

For the rest of the morning one of the crew operated the forklift truck moving the pallets of cardboard boxes filled with metal racking whilst two other members including Pete stacked the pallets ready for use.  Doug along with Melvyn inspected the area which would be the starting point for the new installation to begin.

Abby stood behind the Customer Service desk trying to placate irate customers who were not happy at having everything in a turmoil being unable to find the regular items they required.

Zoe and Trish manned the tills with the assistance of Colin.  Zoe was in her late teens; Trish was in her mid thirties married and had two young children and Colin was a sixteen year old school leaver who was happy to run errands, stock shelves, sweep floors or whatever job he was asked to do in order to gain experience – in other words he was the general dogsbody and carried out each task with enthusiasm. There were other employees working behind the scenes in the butchery and fresh fish departments as well as four general warehouse men who kept the freezers and shelves stocked, all of whom came to Abby with their holiday lists and other problems as they found Melvyn completely unapproachable.

The working day started at eight each morning with the store opening its doors to the public at nine-thirty.  When the floor and other regular day staff finished at five, three further members of staff arrived to work the twilight shift manning the tills or finding items for customers until the store closed at seven.  Although it was supposed to be on a rota basis Melvyn always seemed to have an excuse to leave the premises by five resulting in the necessity for Abby to remain to ensure everything was secured for the evening before leaving.

Abby was in fact the Assistant Manager in charge of Customer Services and this included keeping the stock records up to date and making sure Melvyn Jessop was not bothered by the general running of the branch for which he was manager.  She knew that Melvyn was taking advantage of her ability to manage the staff and keep everything running smoothly but was also aware that she would never be considered for management because she did not fit the criteria of being either highly qualified or possessing the figure and good looks admired by the upper echelons of the Corporation.

The branch closed its doors at seven o’clock and by the time Abby had checked all the tills and placed any monies in the office safe along with the keys for the glass cases containing the expensive cameras and other electrical gadgets it was almost eight when she pressed the button to roll down the metal shutter which would protect the glass doors from determined intruders or ram raiders. 

Leaving the building by a smaller side entrance which she locked before securing the metal gate in place she walked to the car park to collect her scooter.

Chapter 2

Frank and Sybil Lewis ran a small family hotel in the town of Brandon in the North of England. Abby and her sisters Gina and Jess often helped out when the hotel was full and tonight there was a Range Rover parked in front of the hotel a good indication that their expected guests had arrived.

Abby vaguely remembered her mother saying that four guests would be arriving and that they had requested an evening meal. Parking her scooter in the garage she entered through the utility room to find her parents busy rinsing plates and dishes before loading the dishwasher.

I kept a meal for you in the oven dear. Abby thanked her mother and walked on into the kitchen after placing her helmet on a