Читать книгу The Night Of The Wedding - Kathryn Ross, Kathryn Ross - Страница 8

THE phone was ringing as Kate let herself into her apartment. She wondered if it was Stephen. It was almost six weeks now since he had left and she hadn’t heard a thing from him. Most of his clothes were still hanging in the wardrobes; his CDs were still beside the hi-fi. She supposed he would get in contact if only to collect them, but she wished he’d get it over with—this waiting around seemed interminable. It felt as if she were living in no man’s land; their relationship was over and yet he was still here in essence. Every time the doorbell or the phone rang her nerves seemed to go into freefall.

She put her shopping down on the kitchen counter and snatched up the receiver.

‘Hi, Kate, it’s Tanya.’

‘Oh, hi, Tanya.’ She sat down at the breakfast bar, not knowing if she felt relieved or disappointed that it wasn’t him. ‘How are you?’

‘More to the point, how are you?’ Tanya said, sympathy filling her voice and for some reason jarring on Kate. ‘I’m really sorry to hear about you and Stephen splitting up.’

‘Well, don’t be too sorry, it’s probably for the best.’ Kate tried to sound upbeat. She liked Tanya and they had been friends for a while, but she was very aware that the other woman worked with Stephen and so anything Kate said might be repeated to him.

‘So you’re really OK?’ Tanya sounded surprised.

Did she think I’d fall to pieces? Kate wondered, feeling a tinge of anger. And, if so, why hadn’t she rung before now?

‘Yes, I’m really fine. In fact I couldn’t be better,’ Kate purred, her voice exuding a glowing happiness that was completely at odds with her reflection in the mirror opposite. She looked tired, testament to the fact that she hadn’t been sleeping very well recently.

‘I’m so pleased, Kate. I’ve wanted to ring you for a while but I’ve kept putting it off. I feel a bit torn, being friends to both you and Stephen…and also with working with Natasha.’

‘There’s no need to feel awkward, Tanya,’ Kate assured her. ‘It’s all water under the bridge now and I’m happily getting on with my life.’

‘Are you seeing someone else?’

Kate hesitated, wondering how much of this conversation would go back to Stephen. ‘Well…you know, I’ve got a few irons in the fire.’ How many more clichés could she use to extract herself from this situation? she asked herself sardonically.

‘That’s great! Listen, what are you doing the weekend after next?’

‘I don’t know.’ Put on the spot, Kate blustered feebly. ‘Nothing much, just the usual—’

‘That’s brilliant, because David and I are getting married.’ Tanya’s voice resounded with happiness. ‘And I want you to come.’

Kate could feel her temperature rising. She wanted to ask if Stephen and Natasha would be there, but that would go against the relaxed ‘I’m over him’ attitude, wouldn’t it? So instead she resorted to cheerful congratulations, while trying to work out a sensible reply to the invitation. Why hadn’t she said she was busy that weekend? Why the hell hadn’t she said she was out of town, going to Paris…anything?

‘I’m so pleased for you, Tanya,’ she heard herself gush.

‘Thanks, Kate. I was worried about telling you…what with you and Stephen splitting up. You two had lived together as long as we have…and, well, I felt a bit…awkward.’

‘There’s no need,’ Kate said sincerely. ‘I really am happy for you.’

‘Yes, I should have known you would be. I’m glad you will be able to come, Kate, it means a lot to me. I’ll stick an invitation in the post for you…oh, and bring a partner if you like.’

‘Thank you.’ Kate didn’t know what else to say.

‘OK, see you soon. Bye, now.’

Tanya’s cheerful tones rang in her ears as she put the phone down. You should have just told her you were busy, that you’d forgotten some important previous engagement, Kate told herself fiercely. You don’t want to see Stephen and Natasha. It will be pure torture. On the other hand, why should she stay away? She had been Tanya’s friend before Stephen. Hell, on his request she had even pulled the strings to help him get the job there. She had nothing to be ashamed of…unlike Stephen. If he and that woman had any conscience, they would be the ones to stay away.

It crossed her mind that she could ask Nick to accompany her. That would cause a few raised eyebrows. It would also wipe that note of sympathy out of people’s voices. No one could feel sorry for her if she had a man as gorgeous as Nick on her arm. She could pretend that he was her lover, they could dance close together on the dance-floor, gaze into each other eyes. That would knock the arrogant smile off Stephen’s face. For a moment she felt a burst of happiness at the thought, then the daydream faded into reality. Stephen wouldn’t care if she were dating Prince William, and Nick wouldn’t want to pretend to be anything but her friend. It would be too embarrassing even to ask him.

Kate glanced at her watch and then got up to put the shopping away. She had better get a move on. She had invited Nick for dinner and he would be arriving in a little over an hour.

The lasagne safely in the oven and the table laid, she went to make herself presentable. She showered and changed into a pale blue skirt and matching top. Then she applied some make-up to hide the dark circles under her eyes and some brighter lipstick.

Not bad, she thought as she ran a smoothing hand over her long dark hair and stepped back to survey her appearance in the full-length mirror. She hadn’t seen Nick in a few days. He’d been to Paris on business and she had really missed him.

She didn’t think she would have been able to get through these last few weeks if it hadn’t been for Nick. Somehow being with him had made things feel better. He’d taken her out quite a bit, to the cinema and for drinks. Of course, she knew he was doing it to cheer her up, but she appreciated it…and it had worked. He had been very good company.

She felt excited at the prospect of spending the evening with him tonight; she glanced at the clock, counting the minutes until he’d arrive, and hoped his flight wasn’t delayed.

As Kate made to leave the bedroom she noticed a pile of Stephen’s books sitting on the top of a chest of drawers. She really needed to start sorting things out, putting his stuff into boxes and clearing out the debris. She took out an old suitcase from the top of one of the wardrobes and dropped the books inside. Then on impulse she started throwing a few other things in. It felt quite good tossing bits of Stephen into a box—his football kit, his magazines, his dreadful pictures of motor racing. She was starting to enjoy herself when the front doorbell rang.

Nick was standing on the front doorstep, a bouquet of flowers in his hand.

‘Hi.’ He smiled at her.

‘Hi, yourself.’ She grinned back at him, feeling happier than she had felt in a long time. ‘You’re just in time to help me carry a heavy suitcase down the hall.’

‘Am I? Whose suitcase is it?’

‘Guess?’ Kate reached to kiss him on the cheek and was overpowered by the scent of lilies and mimosa. His arms went around her, delaying her momentarily beside him.

‘So how are things with you?’ He looked deep into her eyes, his gaze moving over her face, noting the hollows beneath her cheeks, the slight shadows under her eyes.

She felt her body tingle with awareness at his closeness. Felt her heart starting to speed up, her pulses race. ‘I’m OK, but I’m glad you’re back.’ Did her voice sound as breathless as she suddenly felt? Perplexed by the rush of adrenalin, she pulled away from him and led the way into the apartment. ‘Thanks for the flowers,’ she said, burying her face into their sweet scent and breathing deeply.

‘It’s the least I could do when you’ve offered to cook me dinner.’ Nick grinned. ‘So, where’s this case you want me to carry out for you?’

‘It’s in the bedroom. You can do it later.’

As he followed Kate through the smart apartment to the dining room, he noticed that she had lost weight, the pale blue skirt that used to reveal the delightful curves of her hips now hung on her.

‘So, what’s the news?’ he asked. ‘Have you heard anything from Stephen?’

‘No, I’ve no news on that front. I just thought I’d make a start and pack up some of his stuff for him so it’s ready if he calls by.’

‘I’d throw it out if I were you,’ Nick muttered.

‘I couldn’t do that.’

Why not? Nick wondered as he watched her walk through to the kitchen to put the flowers in water. Surely she wasn’t still carrying a torch for Stephen after the way he’d treated her? The notion angered him. He wanted to tell her to just forget the guy.

‘Anyway, I’ve started to pack things up, because I’m going to have to move,’ she said as she returned to put the vase of flowers on the sideboard. ‘This apartment is too expensive for me to manage on my own, so I’ve had to give in my notice.’

‘Oh, Kate, I am sorry. I know how much you love this place.’

The gentleness of his tone made her insides twist with a painful kind of longing. She shrugged. ‘Maybe it’s for the best. There are a lot of memories here for me, and I’m better to move on, forget them.’

He nodded. ‘Have you seen anywhere you like yet?’

‘I’ve only looked through the papers. I’ll start in earnest next week.’

‘Well, if you’re stuck you can always stay in my spare room for a while.’

‘Thanks.’ She wondered what it would be like to stay at his place. For a moment her mind flicked back to the night she had slept there. She remembered the way she had felt when they had been alone in the bedroom, and how she had forgotten where she was the next morning and raced out into the landing to answer the phone, only to find Nick standing there with a towel around his waist, his hair and his body still glistening damply from the shower.

‘It’s for me,’ he had said calmly as he’d turned and met her eyes.

She had found herself gibbering something, her skin on fire, as she’d wrenched her gaze away from the powerful masculinity of his body.

Kate met his gaze now and felt herself heating up at the memory.

Maybe staying at Nick’s place wouldn’t be a good idea, she told herself.

She glanced at her watch and tried to bring her thoughts back to reality. ‘Help yourself to a drink, Nick. I’ll just check on the oven and then you can tell me all about Paris.’

When she came back, Nick had poured them both a glass of red wine.

‘How’s work?’ he asked as he handed her the drink.

‘Fine. I’m working with a new author. He writes horror stories with a difference.’

‘What’s different about them?’ He took off his jacket and slung it over the back of a chair.

‘The fact that I’m actually enjoying them.’ Kate turned and grinned at him, a return to her old good humour lurking in the bright green of her eyes. It had been a source of amusement between them when she had got a job editing horror stories, because she had always disliked the genre.

‘Trouble is, they’re keeping me up at night.’

‘They are so page-turning?’

‘No. Every time I hear a noise I have to put the lights on.’ She widened her eyes in mock fear. ‘They are scaring the hell out of me. If it carries on like this you are going to have to come and camp on my settee.’

‘I’ve heard some excuses in my time from women wanting me to stay the night, but never one as corny as that,’ Nick said with a shake of his head.

‘Spoilsport.’ Kate laughed.

She sipped the drink and surveyed him over the rim of the glass. He looked tanned and healthy. ‘The weather was obviously good in Paris.’

‘Not bad.’

‘Did you have a walk along the Seine?’

He nodded. ‘Only as far as a little restaurant on the Left Bank.’

‘That sounds nice.’ Kate frowned. Had he been dining on his own? she wondered suddenly. ‘It’s not like you to make time for enjoying yourself on a business trip.’

‘Well, even on a business trip I’ve got to eat,’ Nick said with a grin. ‘Speaking of which, there’s a very nice smell coming from your kitchen.’

‘It’s only lasagne.’ Kate wished she had been adventurous and cooked something a little more exotic now. ‘It should just about be ready. Shall we sit at the table?’

As she carried the food through, Nick turned on the CD player and put on some music. He was very much at home here, Kate thought suddenly as she watched him. Yet she couldn’t really say that he was part of the furniture. His presence was too powerful, too disturbingly male.

It was a long time since they had dined alone. Usually when they sat in here it was at a dinner party surrounded by other guests. Was that why she felt a little on edge tonight, suddenly shy in his presence?

‘So, did you meet anyone interesting when you were in Paris?’ she asked as they started to eat.

‘Depends what you mean by interesting,’ he answered with a shrug. ‘The managing director of the company I’m dealing with at the moment was there.’

‘Oh? What was he like?’

‘It was a woman, actually. Clare Aidan. She was very nice, very easy to do business with.’

‘Was that who you had dinner with?’ Kate asked.

‘Yes, it was, actually.’

Kate imagined him walking along the Seine with a beautiful woman at his side and felt a prickle of something akin to jealousy stir inside her. The sensation made her most uncomfortable. It was over six weeks since he had split from Serena, she told herself sharply. Of course he was going to start dating other women at some point, she had done well to have him to herself for these last few weeks.

In all honesty, possessiveness wasn’t an unusual emotion for Kate where Nick and his girlfriends were concerned. Each time a new woman came into his life she felt the same old twinge inside, and she’d worry for a while if the new relationship would be a threat to their friendship. It was a side of her personality that she didn’t really like and always fought down, usually by being extra friendly towards his girlfriends. After all, she wanted Nick to be happy, and she’d no right to feel territorial about their friendship.

‘So things are going OK with this company, then?’ She forced herself to try and concentrate on the business side of things and not the other woman.

‘Yes, they’re talking about extending my contract. So things couldn’t be going better.’ For a while he talked about the work he had done while in Paris, the factories he had visited. Once or twice he mentioned Clare. From what Kate could glean he had a lot of respect for the woman, and had got on well with her. But then Nick got on well with nearly everyone, she supposed.

As the light faded outside, Kate lit the candles on the table and the sideboard. The room flickered in the intimate golden light; it played over Nick’s features. He had rugged good looks, she thought absently. His jaw-line was strong, his cheekbones angular, giving a chiselled, almost aristocratic quality to his looks. And his eyes were the most gorgeous shade of hazel-brown. If Clare was any kind of red-blooded female she had probably fallen for him. But as Nick wasn’t into commitment she would be wasting her time, Kate reminded herself quickly. The thought was oddly reassuring.

‘I have to go out to Stockholm for more talks and there’s a possibility they’ll want me to go out to the States next month.’

‘You’ll be having to get yourself a private jet if things carry on like this,’ Kate said with a smile. She reached to pour him another cup of coffee.

‘Or move to the States.’

Kate nearly dropped the coffee-pot. ‘You’re not serious?’

Nick shrugged.

She felt like saying, You can’t. What will I do without you? But she said nothing. How could she? She had no right to say something like that. ‘I’d miss you,’ she said simply.

Their eyes met across the table. ‘Would you?’

‘Of course.’ She felt acutely self-conscious as she looked into those dark eyes.

‘Well, it’s only been mooted so maybe it won’t be necessary.’ He shrugged. ‘Time will tell.’

She supposed she was lucky that he was here with her now. It was only his European contracts that had made him relocate to Amsterdam last year. Most of his work over the last twelve months had been here. But now that he was working with an American firm, was America the logical next step? Things certainly seemed to be taking off for him; he was so much in demand he could barely keep up with the requests on his time.

‘I’m pleased that things are going so well for you, Nick.’ Kate looked away from him, in case he would see how the thought of him leaving had affected her. ‘I was reading your stars this morning and they said things would be looking up for you.’

‘Really.’ Nick grinned. ‘Well, that’s a relief.’

She ignored the sarcasm in his tone. ‘You may mock, but the guy in the local paper is very accurate. He seems to hit the nail on the head every time for me.’

‘Sounds painful.’

She looked over at him. ‘Yes, it has been,’ she said pointedly.

Nick ignored the reference to the past. ‘So what about the future?’ he asked instead. ‘Has this guy said anything encouraging about romance? Are the stars favourable for that?’ He leaned his elbows on the table and rested his chin in his hands, fixing Kate with a direct look across the candlelit table that for some reason made her blush.

‘Who for?’ She took a sip of coffee. ‘You or me?’

‘Both of us.’

She shrugged and the uncomfortable thought came into her head that maybe he was wondering how his chances stood with the marvellous Clare. ‘He didn’t say anything about my love life. But I told you…things are good for you.’

‘Really? How good?’

She hesitated. ‘Let me see…I can’t really remember.’ Why was she lying? she asked herself with a frown. She could remember all too clearly. Heaven’s sake, he’s not going to dash off into Clare’s arms because of a few lines of a horoscope, she told herself sternly. He didn’t even believe in them. ‘Apparently you’re going to start a new relationship…’ she told him hesitantly. ‘You’re going to meet someone at a party.’

‘A party?’ Nick grinned. ‘Well, as I haven’t had any invitations to a party, I won’t hold my breath.’

‘You could come to one with me.’ The words popped out before she could think about them. ‘I’ve been invited to Tanya and David’s wedding.’

Nick frowned. ‘Doesn’t Tanya work with Stephen?’

Kate nodded.

‘Is that why you want to go to the wedding—because Stephen will be there?’

‘No! Of course not, and, anyway, even if he is there he’ll be with Natasha.’

‘So you want me there for moral support?’

‘No…well, yes, I suppose so.’ She frowned, wondering where the relaxed atmosphere between them had gone. Nick seemed to be looking at her as if she had sprouted a forked tongue.

‘You need to let go of the past, Kate,’ he said seriously.

‘I have let go of the past. But it’s only six weeks since Stephen and I split up—I’m bound to be a bit apprehensive about seeing him again.’

Nick said nothing to that, just continued to look at her with those dark, somehow disturbing eyes.

‘I’m not sure if I really want to go to the wedding anyway, but Tanya was insistent and I wasn’t quick enough to think of an excuse,’ she continued quickly.

‘When is it?’

‘The weekend after next. I don’t know where the venue is. She said she’d put an invitation in the post.’ She held his gaze steadily. ‘My first instinct was that I definitely didn’t want to go, but then I thought, Tanya was my friend before I even met Stephen and why should I stay away? I’ve got nothing to be ashamed of.’

‘No, you haven’t.’

‘But you don’t think I should go?’

‘What I think isn’t important.’ There was that tone in his voice again, it sounded like disapproval. ‘If you want to go, and you don’t think it will upset you, then go.’

‘I don’t know how it will affect me to see Stephen again,’ Kate murmured honestly, and for a moment her eyes were shadowed, distant. ‘I won’t go if you can’t come with me,’ she said.