Page 5 of Never Tell Secrets

“She follows you around like a little puppy.”

The‘she’in question chose that moment to join us and I offered the reserved woman a bright smile. She was thirty years old though her plump cheeks made her appear younger. Her curls sat in a cascading waterfall about her face. Her style was…functional. Not an ounce of creativity there. It drove Keira insane, but I liked it. It suited her steadiness. Maia handed a glass of wine to Keira and a Diet Coke to me.

“I figured you might need to pace yourself.” As usual, Maia had anticipated a need I hadn’t even thought of. I gave her agrateful smile. I was going to save the drinking till later, till after the speeches, when everyone else was too drunk to remember if I got a little tipsy. Maia glanced up at the sculpture. “That’s…impressive.”

“That’s a nice way of saying lopsided,” Keira said, sipping her wine, Maia’s eyes shot to mine.

“That’s not what I meant at all! I?—”

“Ignore her, Maia. And thank you, but I just did the grunt work. It’s all Imani’s genius.”

“Whatever. I still think it’s…is that a buffet?” Keira wandered off to eat and Maia hovered beside me. It was unnerving but I was getting used to it. After our first roommate had defrauded us out of three months’ rent, Maia, even with her quiet quirks, was a godsend. She was the opposite of Keira in every way and it provided a balance in our patchwork home.

The next hour was a whirl of hand shakes and big smiles as I worked my way through the crowd. Maybe, if I got incredibly lucky, another job opportunity would come out of tonight.

As I networked my arse off, I spotted a vaguely familiar, middle-aged, bottle-job redhead. My stomach turned at the memory of what had happened at the Serenity Gardens the last time I saw her, when I’d chosen leaving with Alfie over a career opportunity. This time nothing stopped me introducing myself to one of the board members for The Chelsea Flower Show. I sent a silent thank you to the skies for giving me this second chance.

My hands shook with excitement as I greeted Janet Green. The Chelsea Flower Show was one of the biggest horticultural events in the world but I had never been able to afford to go. It had been my mum’s dream to see it and I still remembered her telling me countless times how she would take me when I grew up.

I tried not to betray my nerves as we chatted. Janet was in the middle of complimenting my work on the sculpture when the curator of the Kew Gardens stepped onto the small podium to introduce Imani. She swept to the front of the room, a goddess in midnight blue. Her soft, lilting voice captured the room as she described the piece. Her gaze fell on me and I smiled wide in surprise as she called me to her side to introduce me as a rising talent. My knees trembled and the butterflies in my stomach had turned into bats, but I kept my smile steady as we took our applause together.

Imani Kishi had just honoured me in front of some of the most influential people in my industry. If that didn’t get me a lead on another job, I didn’t know what would. I would have to do some serious work to seal that deal though. I was swept up in another sea of congratulations when Maia appeared at my side again.

“Do you know that gentleman?”

“Hmm?” I followed Maia’s gaze to see a familiar set of large ears and an outlandish purple suit heading my way. “Patrick?” A smile spread over my face as I recognised the man who had designed the Serenity Gardens, and my chest tightened with a twisted sense of deja-vu. I swallowed, forcing that monster back into its box, and pasted a smile on my face.

“Darling!” Patrick Ferguson clasped my hands and kissed both cheeks. “How are you? You look so well!”

“Thank you and so do you! No one wears purple velvet like you.” He put up his hands and pointed one foot like a model having their photo taken, showing off his glorious suit in all its glory. “Oh, Patrick, this is my friend Maia Hyde.”

“Pleasure.” Patrick grinned as Maia gave him a stiff handshake. We exchanged pleasantries for a moment, and he had just finished complimenting me on the piece before he gota mischievous glint in his eye. “So, whatever happened with that beautiful man of yours?”

His words twisted in my gut but I didn’t flinch. I could ask how he’d known but Patrick was a notorious gossip. He’d seen Alfie and I together and read us like a book.

“The way he looked at you at the Serenity opening I was sure you’d be able to hold onto him but then I heard he was back on the market a few years ago. What happened, darlin’?”

“We just didn’t work out. Fundamental differences.” I didn’t want to say more than that. In my tiny town it had been easy to forget that Alfie was somewhat in the public eye. He’d been able to hide there but here…if Alfie Tell was in or out of a relationship the world would know it.

“Ah, that explains his lackey. Couldn’t face you himself, eh? Can’t say I blame him, if I was?—”

“His lackey? What do you mean?”

“You haven’t seen him yet?” Patrick asked, his thick brows rising. I shook my head, my heart pounding. “Oh, well I was just talking to…oh, there he is!”No. no. no. Not again.Fighting rising panic, I followed Patrick’s gaze.

Riley.

He hadn’t changed. Same thick square glasses, same dark hair, except Riley Fitzpatrick looked very wrong in a tuxedo. Handsome as hell, but wrong. My palms began to sweat as he walked towards me. Oh god, washehere?Please no…

“Riley, what are you doing here?” I shot a furtive glance behind him but I couldn’t see Alfie, though of course that didn’t mean he wasn’t here.

“I came to congratulate you.” He gestured at the sculpture, his Dublin accent as thick as ever. “It’s a beautiful piece.” He gave me his trademark easy smile but I wasn’t buying it for a moment. I let the silence drag on. Patrick's eyes flashed between us and Maia was an immovable presence at my back. I didn’tcare. My entire focus was on Riley and what the hell kind of bombshell he was about to drop on me. “How are you?”

“I’m very well, thank you.” Silence again. His gaze landed on Maia and lingered there for a moment, his brows knitting. Patrick was approached by another guest and reluctantly wandered off, leaving us alone. I stared up at Riley and eventually got sick of waiting. “Spit it out, Riley. What do you want?”

Riley snorted, shaking his head at me. “I’d forgotten how blunt you can be.” He took a breath and I braced myself, like a recovering addict meeting their old dealer, having their favourite brand of drug dangled in front of them. “We need to talk. Can you step outside with me for a moment?”

“No.” I spat the word, not giving myself a chance to consider his question. “I’m at aworkevent. This is huge for my career. Why would you come here and blindside me like this? You could have just called me, my number hasn’t changed.”