Читать книгу Dare to Dream - Donna Hill, Donna Hill - Страница 16

Chapter 10

Rachel took her glass of white wine and went into her home office to check her messages. She was expecting an overseas call from one of her jewelry suppliers, and the call was already two days late. Any further delay with this shipment was going to cause her major problems with her clients. She’d make sure never to use this supplier again.

She set her wineglass down on the desk and depressed her messages-waiting button.

“This better be you, Javier,” she muttered.

The last person she expected to hear from was Cynthia. She frowned as she listened to the message.

Damn. Well, if she had anything to do with it, Carl wouldn’t get anywhere near Desiree. The last thing she needed now was to be hassled by Carl. Rachel could never understand how Desiree allowed herself to get so deeply involved with him anyway.

She knew part of it was Desiree’s determination to make it in the art world despite her breakup with Lincoln. It was her way of showing him that she could survive without him, and also of putting her pain behind her. But she hadn’t succeeded on either score. Not really. She’d merely existed through her work. Now she didn’t even have that.

Rachel took a sip of her wine. But now that opportunity had stepped in and brought them back together, maybe Desiree would finally come to her senses and put the past behind her for good and move into the future—with Lincoln.

Rachel picked up the phone and called Cynthia.

* * *

“Have a seat,” Desiree said as she shut the door.

Lincoln stepped in and turned to her.

“Desi, we really need to talk.”

“I know,” she said softly.

She crossed the room and sat at the foot of the bed.

“I don’t want you to be uncomfortable staying here. If my presence bothers you I’ll leave until you check out.”

“You don’t need to do that.”

He took a breath and asked the question that had been nagging at him.

“Why did you decide to come here of all places?”

“To be truthful, it wasn’t my choice.” She paused. “Rachel found it. I had no idea this was your place and neither did she. Although for a minute there I swore she did. You know Rachel,” she said not unkindly.

They chuckled with the knowledge of Rachel’s true feelings about their breakup and her one-woman campaign to get them back together.

Lincoln traced and retraced his steps across the floor before finally sitting down. He braced his forearms on his hard thighs and leaned slightly forward.

“How have you been, Desi?” he asked with genuine concern. “I mean, really.” His eyes probed hers.

“Getting better,” she said on a whispered breath. She looked away.

“What do you mean…getting better?”

Desiree inhaled deeply and straightened her shoulders, then slowly told him what had happened, at least parts of it. She left out the part about her losing everything, that she was still afraid to go to sleep, that she couldn’t paint, that all she had left in the world was a meager savings account and her car and that she owed Carl Hampton thousands of dollars.