Come Away With Me
Page 29
We had done it; India was married and, by the look of her, blissfully happy. You couldn’t ask for more than that for your sister.
‘Alexa.’
I turned to see Gabriel had followed me, watching me from the doorway with an unfathomable expression. Suddenly I couldn’t meet his gaze and I turned to straighten up a couple of the presents, tucking a gift tag in under the ribbon.
‘We need to talk,’ he said.
He closed the door behind him and the noise of the chattering guests milling around in the hotel faded. It was just him and me alone.
‘Yes,’ I said.
‘I came back to find you.’ Slowly he crossed the room, his footsteps behind me getting closer with every moment.
‘I want to tell you the truth. I told you; I’m divorced, reasonably civilly. It wasn’t my wish but Elsa wanted more than I could give her.’
I remembered my thoughts: what more could any woman want but him? And yet there was that lingering doubt. It was so long since I’d taken those memories out of their dark bag that I couldn’t quite remember them properly.
I wasn’t cold but I shivered.
‘I met Elsa at university. She was bright, ambitious; we were married for seven years. At first we made a good couple. I thought we wanted the same things. Then somehow things drove us apart. My work, travelling, the pressures of trying to keep everything together. And then she found someone else. Someone she thought could give her what she needed. So she had an affair. It went on for a long time – I don’t quite know how long, but long enough to make me understand I wasn’t what she wanted any more. I think I could have forgiven her but she didn’t want my forgiveness; she wanted him.’
‘Really?’ I so wanted to believe it was this straightforward.
There was a long silence. I could hear my heart beating, thumping in my chest. It was getting warm in the conservatory. Gabriel took off his jacket and looped it over the back of a chair. Then he loosened his tie.
‘Are you all right?’ he said.
‘Yes.’
He ran one hand through his hair and came to stand in front of me.
‘You’re not making this very easy,’ he said.
‘I don’t know what you want me to say.’
‘Alexa, I thought there was something very special between us,’ he said at last, ‘something I’ve never felt.’
‘What do you think it was?’
He laughed and turned away, standing with his hands in his pockets. God, he had a fantastic bum. Stop it, stop looking.
‘I came here to see you,’ he said. ‘I mean it was lovely to see India getting married too – weddings are great occasions.’
‘I thought you didn’t believe in marriage,’ I said.
He turned round. ‘There, that’s what I’m talking about. This business with marriage and men lying. What do you think I’ve done?’
‘Lied to me about things. About your terrible divorce, about your children. The ones who had to go into therapy after your divorce.’
‘What? Where did you hear this nonsense?’
‘Marnie Miller.’
‘Oh, for heaven’s sake! And you believed her?’
‘I didn’t know what to believe! Why wouldn’t I believe someone who was a friend of yours? She said you had a history of seducing women, that you took what you wanted and then –’
‘Look, Alexa, firstly I’m not a friend of Marnie Miller, and I never have been. I’m her lawyer. Well, I was. I think it’s time she and I parted company on any level if this is the sort of nonsense she’s going to spout. My daughters are well-rounded, happy little girls. I thought I explained …’
‘Beatrice and Amelie,’ I said.
‘You’ve got a good memory,’ he said. He was beside me now, just a touch away from me.
‘I remember a lot of things,’ I said.
‘So do I,’ he said, his voice very low. ‘My divorce was as amicable as these things can be. Elsa has remarried and has the life she wanted. My daughters spend their holidays with me and are not in therapy. I swear on my mother’s life.’
‘Is your mother even still alive?’ I asked stubbornly.
He fought a smile. ‘She is alive and well and living in the house I told you about. Her name is Lynnette Mary-Beth Frost, she’s sixty-seven, although she wouldn’t thank me for telling you that, and she’s been happily married to my father, Victor, for over forty years. She nags me to visit more than I do and worries that I’m still unmarried.’
‘No significant other?’
‘No significant other,’ he said, trying hard not to laugh.
‘It’s not funny!’ I said.
‘No, I know it’s not funny.’
He came towards me and ducked his head to look at me.
‘So why would Marnie say such things about you if they weren’t true?’ I asked, feeling my heart start to race again.
He reached out and traced my collarbone with the tips of his fingers, making me shiver.
‘Why do you think?’ he said.
I shook my head, not knowing what to say.
‘Because she could tell that I was attracted to you, that you were attracted to me.’
I looked up at him. His face was so wonderful, his expression so kind, that I almost wanted to cry. He pushed my hair off my face and took another step towards me so that we were almost touching.
‘Because she knew I looked at you in a way I would never look at her. That I wanted you in a way I would never want her.’
His voice had dropped to a whisper.
‘Oh,’ I said, looking up at him.
He ran his thumb over my lower lip and I licked it with the tip of my tongue. He gasped. Then he held my head between his hands and kissed me.
‘Perhaps that’s why,’ he said. ‘I’ve found someone wonderful. Someone I never thought to find. Someone I couldn’t forget. A beautiful, funny, sexy, sweet girl I could love.’
‘Oh, and who’s that?’ I said, wondering how my legs were still holding me up.
‘You, you daft thing,’ he said and then he kissed me again.
And after that we nearly missed the party altogether.
Acknowledgements
My third book – as always – owes much to the help and hard work of several people.
So thanks go to the team at Avon UK, especially Victoria Oundjian, Helena Newton and the clever Diane Meacham who provided such a lovely cover.
Also to my agent, Annette Green.
Thank you to the readers and bloggers who have been so generous with their time and lovely reviews of The Summer of Second Chances and A Year of New Adventures. I hope they enjoy this one just as much.
Thank you to the Literary Lovelies who never fail to encourage, cheer and sympathise when the need arises!
In no particular order: Jane Ayres, Kirsten Hesketh, Catherine Boardman, Susanna Bavin, Chris Manby, Kaz Coles, Christina Banach and Vanessa Thornton Rigg.
They are all talented and hardworking writers and good friends.
To James, Beth, Claudia, Jon and David, and also the wider family who have been so encouraging.
Finally, to my wonderful and exceptional husband, Brian, who helped inspire me with two transatlantic crossings on the lovely Cunard liner Queen Mary 2, purely for research purposes of course.
Even when you think you’ve lost everything, hope and romance can be just around the corner …
Click here to buy now.
It’s time for Billie Summers to have an adventure, but it might not be exactly what she expected…
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About the Author
Maddie Please was born in Dorset, brought up in Worcestershire and went to university in Cardiff.
Following a career as a dentist, Maddie now writes full-time, and lives in Devon with her exceptionally handsome and supportive husband.
Also by Maddie Please
The Summer of Second Chances
A Year of New Adventures
Abou
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