Page 26 of Her Dom's Secret Past

Chapter Nine

Anabelle

“Excuse me, Ms. Rowley. There’s been a phone call for you. A Mr.Lytonrang and asked if you could contact him urgently.”

“Oh, thank you. Do I just come up to the office?”

“Yes, I’m sorry you’ll need to come up here. The house phones don’t connect to the outside world. If it’s convenient for you now, I can come down and then I’ll drive you up to the office then drop you back.”

“Yes, thank you.”

I turned to John stretched out on the settee. “I have to ring my office manager, something’s come up. I won’t be a moment.”

“Okay, sweetheart.”

There was a knock at the door and one of the staff ushered me to a motorized golf buggy thing. After zipping up to the office, Irangthrough to Charlie.

“Hi, Charlie.”

“Anabelle? Oh, thank goodness.” The relief in his voice was like a wave rolling over me. “We have a major problem, sorry to ring you, but…”

“What’s happened?”

“Remember the Davis wedding? Well, it’s this Saturday and somehow the dress got torn. The bride’s having a meltdown and the father dropped the dress off.”

“Can’t Carina fix it?”

“She thinks it’s beyond repair and wants you to see it. The lace and layers underneath are torn badly. She’s not sure what we can do. In fact, she doesn’t think anything can be done to salvage it.”

“What? You’re joking! Fuck.”

I glanced at the clock above the reception desk—seven-fifteen. Far too late to travel back tonight.

“Damn. Okay I’ll leave here early in the morning and be there about ten.”

I could hear the relief in his voice. I knew it had to be serious for Charlie to interrupt what he knew was an important break for me. It was also way out of character for him to be worried.

“Thank you, thank you. See you then.”

I got the ride back to my villa and told John what had happened. He was going home the day after tomorrow.

“I’ll go early tomorrow and sort them out. It’s a four-hour drive.”

“Will you be okay driving? I can take you. In fact, I’d like to.”

“No, it’s fine. Your leg wouldn’t stand up to all that driving or even only sitting in the car that long. I’ll leave here about six. Once I show them what to do, I’ll come straight back. You can relax all day or pack.”

“Only if you’re sure. As long as I see you before I go.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll definitely be back here tomorrow night.”

More famous last words.

We finished watching the movie and went to bed. I woke early and dressed, and John lay watching me.

“Sure you don’t want me to drive you?”

“Heavens no. I’ll be back tonight. Once I sort them out, I’ll drive straight back. Should be here about four, or five at the latest. Don’t worry, I’ll be here well before you leave on Saturday.”