So Tania had been right all along about Harry and Petra. But she’d clearly had her own motives for trying to keep them apart. What on earth was wrong with them? If he didn’t love Petra enough to be faithful to her, why did he propose?
Lucie pushed open the door to the room in which she’d left Petra, and almost dropped the glass of water when she saw who was trying to comfort her distraught friend.
“Jamie.” His name was like sawdust in her mouth. Her survival instinct kicked in, telling her to run, but she couldn’t exactly leave Petra right now, so she took a few steadying breaths and closed the door behind her. Besides, what could he do to her? It wasn’t as if they were alone. And he was in a wheelchair. She knew people could move quickly in them, she’d watched the paralympic athletes after all, but suspected that the bulky furniture might hinder his speed as he’d have to negotiate the chair around it all.
You’re safe. Be calm. He can’t hurt you now.
“Hi, Lucie.”
“What’re you doing in here?”
“What does it look like? I’m trying to comfort Petra.”
“I’d have thought you were the last man to have the capacity to offer a woman comfort.” The coldness in Lucie’s own voice surprised her and Jamie winced.
Petra was sobbing into a napkin, oblivious to the tension in the room.
“People change, Lucie.”
“Do they?”
He nodded. “Look at me.” He gestured at his chair then smacked his hands against the wheels. “I’ve changed a lot.”
“Just because you’re… you’re… I don’t even know what’s happened to you but it doesn’t change what you did.”
“I know and I’ve wanted to speak to you about that for years. But you never accepted my calls and I don’t know if the letters and emails I sent even got to you? Did they, Lu?”
“Don’t call me that. Ever!” she spat. She suddenly remembered the glass of water she was holding and took it to Petra before she became tempted to throw it over her ex. “Here, lovely. Drink this.”
Petra raised red eyes to the glass. She had snot smeared over her face and the strip of fake eyelashes had moved from her chin to her cleavage where it now perched like a spiky slug. “Thank you.” She sipped from the glass and Lucie tried not to notice as Petra’s snot drifted onto the surface of the water.
Lucie perched next to Petra, trying not to look at Jamie. But her eyes had a mind of their own. They crept up to look at him. Outwardly, he was still the same Jamie; his face tanned, his hair well cut, his clothes smart and trendy. But his eyes were different. They were still grey but now the grey of a stormy sky rather than the silver grey that used to remind her of the sky at dawn. She had loved to gaze into Jamie’s eyes.
Once. Upon. A. Time.
Now they made her recoil.
So different from Dale’s…
She shuddered. She didn’t even want Dale and Jamie to be in the same thought process. Dale certainly didn’t deserve that. He was a good man. Jamie was not.
“What am I going to do?” Petra wailed, dragging Lucie from her thoughts.
“What exactly happened?”
Jamie answered. “She went to find Harry because he’d been gone a while and she found him—”
“With that… slut!”
Lucie frowned. “Slut?”
“Tania,” Jamie replied.
“They were… doing it in the toilets. In the ladies’ loo! I walked into the cubicle and there she was… straddling him as he sat on the toilet. Bouncing around, her bridesmaid dress pulled down to her waist and hiked up to her thighs. She… was… screaming with pleasure.”
“Oh no!” Lucie slid her arm around Petra’s shoulders, trying to dismiss the graphic image from her mind. “What a thing to see! I’m so sorry.”
“Not your fault. I knew… he was like that.”
Lucie thought about what Tania had said to her. Could she have helped Petra avoid this if only she’d told her? But would Petra have listened? “You did?”
Petra reached out and took Jamie’s hand. Lucie flinched. She wanted to snatch her friend’s hand right back.
“Jamie knows.”
“You do?”
He hung his head. “It wasn’t my place to say anything to Petra about it but she caught him once before at a golf club dinner.”
“With Tania?”
They both shook their heads.
“With another one of his tarts,” Petra explained.
“When was this?”
Petra shrugged. “A few years back. But I suspect he’s been doing it all along and Tania’s just one in a long line.” She turned to Jamie and he blushed. “I’m right, aren’t I?”
He swallowed hard. “Don’t do this to yourself. What’s happened today is bad enough.”
“I know. But… you know what makes me really mad? He never made me scream with pleasure. Not once. Not in all the years we were together. I thought it was me… that he just didn’t fancy me as much as I did him. Perhaps it was.”
“Petra, don’t try to analyse it all,” Jamie said. “Sometimes we say and do things we later regret. Things we regret as soon as they’re done.”
“Harry didn’t look like he was filled with regret!” Petra snapped.
“Maybe not. But perhaps he just cared a lot more about himself than you. He probably cares more about himself than he ever will about anyone else.”
Petra released a long sigh and deflated on the sofa until her head rested on its back. “I can’t believe I’m married and this is my wedding night. What a let-down, eh?”
Lucie squeezed her shoulder. “You want me to try to find him. So you can talk?”
Petra shook her head. “Nothing to discuss with that creep. It’s over. I’ve given him chances and look what he did. Merry Christmas to me.”
Lucie bit hard on the inside of her cheek. Merry Christmas indeed.
“Oh, Lucie, I’m so sorry. Isn’t today the anniversary?”
Lucie nodded. “It’s okay.”
“How many years?” Petra took Lucie’s hand.
“Twenty.”
“Wow.”
“I know. Christmas Eve has always been hard because of it but I don’t know. This year, being in Manhattan, focusing on your wedding and seeing the sights and…”
“Being with Dale?”
Heat crawled up Lucie’s neck. “Yes. It’s all just helped me to deal with it. And at some point, I guess, we have to move on.”
Petra nodded. “Sure do. And you have that wonderful fiancé to help you now. He’s a good one, Lucie, I can tell.”
Lucie avoided meeting Jamie’s gaze but she felt his eyes burning into her. She wasn’t about to explain herself to him. He had no right to expect it of her. To expect anything of her in fact.
The door opened and Joanna entered, bringing with her the unpleasant combination of cigarette smoke and floral perfume. She must have just been outside to cater to her addiction then doused herself in scent to try to cover it.
“Oh, Petra!” She held open her arms.
“Mummy!” Petra stood and accepted the hug.
“Come on, my angel, let’s go to your room and get you a proper drink. Daddy will deal with everything downstairs. He’s already talking to his lawyer… at the bar I don’t doubt. He’ll make sure that cheater doesn’t get away with this.”
“I can’t believe it, Mummy.”
“I know, darling. But we’ll sort it. Mummy’s here.”
Petra allowed her mother to lead her from the room.
Lucie sat still for a moment. Everything seemed to have taken on a fuzzy haze. Was all this really happening?
“At least it brought her mother to her side,” Jamie said.
Lucie looked at him. He was right. “If this helps them to mend their relationship, then that will be a positive. But what an awful way for it to happen.”
She stood up.
“Please don’t go yet.”
“What?”
�
�Now you’re here, I’d really like to talk to you. About what happened.”
“Between Petra and Harry?”
“No, Lucie. Between us.”
“I… I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Please, Lucie. Just hear me out. I promise you’re safe with me.”
She eyed him for a moment, yearning to flee, yet slowly accepting that perhaps if she heard him out, she would be able to obtain some closure. If not, she wouldn’t have lost anything. Besides, if she left now, she might always be wondering what he was going to say.
She sat back down, moving as far away from him as she could so that her back was against the broad sofa arm. “Go on then. Explain.”
He nodded. “Thank you.” He took a deep breath then released it slowly. “First of all, I want to say how sorry I am.”
***
Dale kept looking at his watch. Lucie had been gone over an hour. What was an acceptable time to wait when a woman went to comfort her best friend? Perhaps it would be okay to go and find her now. He’d gathered from the others at their table that Harry had been caught with his pants down. Dale had never warmed to Harry, finding him a bit too full of himself, but for him to cheat on his new bride at his own wedding reception was something he hadn’t expected. Harry was a successful banker, a man who’d glided through his life, apparently without a care in the world. But that unfortunately made some people lack values. And now Harry hadn’t valued his fiancé. Why had he bothered proposing to her if he didn’t love her or value her? Now he’d humiliated her in front of their families and friends and for what? A quick bonk with a woman who Dale thought actually looked a bit like Petra.
He shook his head. It was very sad and he was grateful that his life had been simpler. He didn’t need to be rich or to live the city life. He loved working with plants and tending to people’s gardens rather than their finances. Plants didn’t cheat or lie. They didn’t ask for much other than feeding and watering and some sunshine. People could be so very complicated. He was also grateful for his family; loud, noisy and jostling for attention as they were, he loved them all. He couldn’t imagine any of them acting as Harry had. Hank would go ballistic if any of his sons treated a woman like that. Yes, he’d been taught values and morals and he was glad of it.
He’d try to find Lucie then see if she wanted to go back to their hotel. Lots of the guests were leaving, realizing that the party was over, so there was no point hanging around.
He checked that they hadn’t left anything on the table or chairs, but Lucie hadn’t brought a bag as she’d been a bridesmaid, which meant that all her possessions – small purse, lipstick, fold-up brush and mobile were in his jacket. He was, basically, Lucie’s makeup bag today and he didn’t mind at all. In fact, he quite liked that she had entrusted him with her things. And he’d liked the way she just slipped her hand into his jacket pocket for her lipstick or tapped his hand when she needed a tissue.
Dale said goodbye to the people at the table then left the room through the exit Lucie had taken. He walked along the corridor and saw Petra and her mother going through double doors at the end.
“Petra!” he called and she turned to him. He made an effort not to grimace at the state of her face. She was extremely puffy, red and smudged. Her tiara hung at an awkward angle reminding him of the leaning tower of Pisa.
“I’m… uh… sorry about what happened. It must have been awful.”
She nodded.
“Mummy’s got you now though.” Joanna cooed as she stroked her daughter’s messy hair. Dale watched as she wobbled on her impossibly high heels, clearly worse for drink.
“Well if there’s anything I can do…”
“Thank you. Are you looking for Lucie?” Petra asked.
“Yes. Do you know where she’s gone?”
“In there.” She pointed at a door.
“Thanks. Uh… see you soon.” Dale gave a small wave then hurried back down the corridor. What did you say to someone in these circumstances? He had no idea at all. Lucie was far better at this stuff.
He pushed the door open and Lucie turned around. She was on a small sofa and at the other end of it, in his wheelchair, was Jamie.
“You okay, Luce?” They both stared at him as if he had two heads and Lucie seemed to surface from somewhere else, as if she’d been half-asleep, when he said her name.
“Oh… yes.”
A wave of uncertainty washed over him. Why was she in this room alone with her ex?
“I was looking for you.”
“Sorry. I’m okay, though. We were just talking. Jamie was explaining a few things.” Her voice was cold, not the Lucie he knew at all. Wheelchair or not, anger for this man burned in Dale’s gut.
“Are you ready to go back to our hotel? The wedding party’s over and everyone’s leaving. No point hanging around here now.”
“Yes. Of course. I’ll be there in a minute.”
“You want me to stay?” He eyeballed Jamie, willing him to give him a reason to get between him and Lucie.
“No, it’s fine. I won’t be long.” She flashed him a small smile but her eyes were sad. Dale knew that look. It was Lucie’s thoughtful face, the one she adopted when she was weighing things up.
“Okay. As long as you’re sure.”
Jamie hadn’t taken his eyes from Dale’s face and he recognized the challenge there. For a moment, he considered accepting, fighting for Lucie and insisting she came with him, but then he remembered what had happened last night; how she’d pushed him away when they’d got closer than they had done in years. And now Jamie had reappeared. Still suave and monied, confident and arrogant. If Jamie was what Lucie wanted, then Dale had to concede. Didn’t he? Or should he put up a fight and force her to leave with him now?
“Honestly, Dale. I’m all right. I’ll see you soon.” Her words were like an icepick being driven into his heart.
He wouldn’t fight for what wasn’t his in the first place, even though his heart and body were screaming at him to stay and claim her. Not to allow this creep to win her back. To try to make her see sense.
He stood there for a moment.
Waiting.
Willing Lucie to get up and leave with him. But she didn’t; she seemed oblivious to his presence. Numb. As if she didn’t care about his feelings or hadn’t even considered how he might be hurting right now, seeing her with this other man. And after all that had happened between them since they came to New York.
Something in him was crumbling to dust.
“I’ll head on back then, Luce. See you… later.”
As he closed the door behind him, slowly, leaving the woman he loved with her ex-boyfriend, he wasn’t sure he’d see her again that night at all. Because it seemed as though she’d made her choice.
And Dale was the one leaving alone.
Chapter 15
Lucie slid the key-card into the door of the hotel suite. She slipped off her shoes by the door then padded into the room. It was dark except for the small lights on the tree that Dale had bought for her. He was such a sweetheart.
She grabbed a bottle of water from the mini-fridge and drank half of it, swilling it over her tender tongue that had resumed its throbbing as the evening wore on. The water was cold and refreshing and it chilled her inside.
The clock on the elaborate mantelpiece said that it was 2:24 am. She hadn’t meant to be out this late but she’d been talking to Jamie for over two hours. There had been tears, recriminations and more tears. But it had been worth it. Then, as she’d been about to leave, she’d been called to The Plaza reception and asked to go up to see Petra. That had taken up another hour and a half as she’d hugged her friend and reassured her and promised to go out for lots of girls’ nights in the new year. Finally, Petra had fallen asleep in her huge canopied bed and Lucie had left Joanna smoking on the balcony.
She couldn’t believe how much she wanted to see Dale.
To feel his strong arms around her and his soft mouth against hers.
To tell him how she felt about him and to explain why she’d pulled away the night before.
To tell him everything about Jamie and what had happened all those years ago. She wanted to finally be free of the past so that she could move on: have a life, have a future, completely guilt free.
To be with Dale.
If he would have her.
She finished the water then went into the bedroom. It was dark but she could make out his sleeping form.
“Dale?” she whispered. “I’m back.”
She waited.
No answer.
“Dale?”
He shifted a bit in his sleep but settled again.
Lucie stepped out of her dress and pulled on her pyjamas.
It had been a very long day and she was suddenly overwhelmed by exhaustion. She’d get some rest and they could talk in the morning. It could wait until then. They would both think more clearly when they had rested.
She climbed into bed and wriggled across to Dale, slipped her arm around him and snuggled into his broad back.
Then she slipped into blissful darkness.
***
Lucie woke up suddenly. She had that disconcerting feeling that someone had been watching her sleep.
She was right.
“Morning, Luce.”
“Hey, you,” she murmured. His head was on the pillow next to hers and he was gazing at her with surprise in his expression.
“What time did you come back?”
“Late. Or early. Gone two anyway.”
She reached out and stroked his cheek but he flinched.
“What is it?”
He rolled onto his back. “This is all so confusing, Luce. I mean… I left you last night with your ex-boyfriend. It hurt me to do that. To know that you didn’t want me there with you. Then I wake up and you’re in bed with me. You know… which I’m glad about because I worry about you and it’s great to know you’re here safe and all that but even so…” He rubbed his eyes. “With things being as they are between us, I don’t know where I am right now.”
A Very Merry Manhattan Christmas Page 19
