Page 203 of Original Sin

A pushy blonde with a microphone stood up. ‘Is the wedding postponed or off altogether?’

Liz shot her a withering look. ‘Postponed.’

A tall man in a loud tie waved a notebook. ‘Is the rumour true that Leonard Asgill was attacked by a member of his family?’

Tess laughed quietly.

‘Absolutely not,’ said Liz with the right note of surprise and disapproval. ‘Unfortunately my uncle has not been in the best of health lately. I can’t say anything more at the present, but his condition is stable.’

Suddenly a dozen questions were being shouted out at once. Liz calmly raised a hand. ‘No more questions, please. Both the Asgill and Billington families would be grateful if you’d respect their privacy at this time.’

Tess slipped off as quietly as she could. There was little point staying at the Pelicano, where journalists would persist in asking questions she could not answer. She caught the ferry back across to Jewel Cay and was shown up to the master bedroom. There Tess found Brooke on the balcony, gazing out onto the azure ocean. When she heard Tess approach, she turned, and Tess could see that her eyes were red–rimmed from crying. She walked back into the bedroom and began packing her beautiful clothes into brown Louis Vuitton trunks.

‘Is it done?’

Tess nodded, then looked around. ‘Where’s David?’

‘He’s at the house where his brother is staying,’ she said, not looking up.

Tess examined Brooke’s face. ‘The wedding’s not postponed, is it?’ she said qui

etly.

Brooke shook her head, then glanced up at Tess. ‘I told him. About Matt.’

‘Oh Brooke … ’

‘It’s over,’ she continued, ‘but we’ll let people know that when the dust settles.’

‘I’m sorry. Sorry about David. Sorry that Matt didn’t turn out to be the person you thought he was.’

Brooke finally met Tess’s gaze. ‘I didn’t break up with David because of Matt,’ she said. ‘I broke up because of me.’

Tess frowned. ‘Hang on, you broke up with him?’

‘I suddenly realized that I’m not going to be happy with David, or Matt, or anyone, before I’m happy with myself,’ she said, sitting down on the bed. ‘With David, I was smothered, forced into a role I didn’t want to play. Everyone expected so much from David, but no one expected anything from me – except to be the wife, seen and not heard.’

‘Thousands of girls would swap with you, Brooke,’ said Tess with a wry smile.

‘Why does everyone keep telling me that?’ she laughed. ‘And maybe in the past I would have been happy with that too. But things have changed this year; I’ve changed this year. Discovering Eileen Dunne’s book, seeing it at the top of the New York Times’ best–seller list, flying to Hollywood: Tess, I think this is just the start of things. I’m not ready to be a part of someone else, I’m just beginning to be me.’

‘But I really thought you loved each other,’ said Tess sadly.

Brooke smiled at the thought. ‘I think what I had with David was like winning the lottery and finding out your numbers had been for the wrong week. Love isn’t enough to make the relationship work – there’re too many other factors. Family, ambition–’

‘Lust … ’

They both laughed. Brooke reached over and took Tess’s hands. ‘You’ve been a good friend to me, Tess, so thank you, thanks for everything,’ she said, her eyes sparkling with tears.

‘It’ll all work out,’ said Tess quietly, realizing how much she was going to miss her.

Brooke nodded. ‘I know. I feel free, Tess. I feel free. And that’s all the happy ending I need.’

*

Tess walked barefoot out onto the beach, walking past the empty marquee, the canvas flapping disconsolately in the gentle breeze. As she walked, she let her mind run back over the last ten months; all that excitement, all that drama and glamour – and it had all come to this. She had no job, no secure home, and – as the wedding hadn’t happened – no bonus. Meredith had merely whispered ‘thank you’ before retreating back to her room before the press conference that morning. Tess hadn’t been sure if was heartfelt or loaded with irony. Either way, it didn’t really matter. She couldn’t stay working for the Asgills. And the reason for that was right in front of her, sitting on the sand near where the waves lapped onto the shore. Sean. Her heart leapt just a little when she saw him and she thought of his words just twenty–four hours earlier: ‘Come back with me to London.’

She doubted the offer still stood. She wondered whether he would hate her for the damage she had caused to his family. Well, she would return to London anyway, she decided suddenly. If Sean Asgill was one of the pieces of her life that had been missing, then she knew that her home – and maybe even her own family, her mother – was part of the rest. She walked slowly over to where he was sitting, holding a drink that look suspiciously alcoholic.