“She lives in Tooting.”
“Tooting?”
Laura heard the lack of enthusiasm in her voice. “Isabella Rudd, you are such a snob. I’ve heard it’s got lots of great Indian restaurants.”
“Darling, so has Goa. And I’d rather go there. So, how long have they been dating?”
“A week.”
Isabella’s eyes widened. “A week?And he’s already madly in love with her?”
“Well, he hasn’t said so exactly, but they do seem to be spending every spare minute together. This morning, they even did the commute together . . . well, until she took off in his car.”
Isabella frowned. “Sorry? She’s waltzing around town in his Merc?”
“Well, to her office. I’m sure she had to park it, once she got there.”
Isabella looked quite worried and Laura smiled. “What?”
“Nothing. . .”
“Come on, I can tell you’re dying to say . . .”
Isabella shrugged. “It’s just that, you know, she’s from Tooting, he’s here in South Ken . . . different ends of the spectrum . . . and she does seem to have attached herself to him rather quickly.”
Laura’s mouth dropped. “You’re not suggesting . . . No! My goodness, Izzy, that is one heck of an imagination. I could use your help on my television scripts.”
Isabella laughed. “Okay, okay, sorry. Just keeping my sadly-never-to-be-son-in-law’s best interests at heart.”
“You know, I was thinking of inviting her to the villa, when we all go out next week.”
“Saint-Tropez?” said Isabella, taken aback.
“Yes. Make her feel like part of the family.”
“That’s your downtime. The only two weeks of the year you actually let yourself relax.”
“I know, but she won’t be there the whole two weeks. I was thinking maybe she could join Daniel and me for a long weekend or something. You and Brigitte will be down the road and it’ll be fun.”
“Sounds great, darling. And I’ll get to meet her.”
“Be nice,” Laura said sternly.
“Of course!” Isabella smiled. “I’m just jealous. I’d already planned the wedding.”
10
Monday, June 16
“EXCUSE ME, NEIL, DO YOU HAVE A MINUTE?”CHERRY HAD ONLYjust arrived at work and had gone directly to her boss’s desk.
He raised his groomed head, saw her stricken face. “Sure. Do you want to come to the back . . . ?”
Cherry nodded and followed Neil into the back office, a small room they kept tastefully furnished for when the more private clients wished to discuss their property needs. She felt Emily’s and Abigail’s eyes follow her as she left, burning with curiosity. Let them look. She wouldn’t be confiding in them, not since they’d rebuffed her efforts to make friends when she’d first started the job. They were tight, just the two of them, and didn’t let anyone else in, especially not someone they sensed as “different.”
“Take a seat.” Neil indicated a brown leather armchair. She sat perched on the edge, sensed that her boss was a little anxious about whatever problem she was about to unleash onto him. He sat too, on the chair next to hers, and she got a stab of irritation at his shiny shoes, knew he paid for them to be buffed as he sat on a raised seat with a cappuccino and theFinancial Times,completely oblivious to the man below him.
“Is everything all right?”
