Chapter One
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Jay finished arranging the devilled eggs on a silver platter so they could be taken out to the waiting guests. It felt strange to be back at Weatherton Grange, the home of Lord Henry Weatherton. He had last cooked here for the engagement party for Henry’s daughter, Lucinda. Now they were celebrating the christening of her first child. But the place was locked in Jay’s memory for other reasons. It had been the first event where he and Emma, who had then been a part-timer with the company, had worked together as a couple. The heady memory of that first flush of love filled him with longing. Eighteen months later, their affection had only grown, but their relationship had settled into something of a routine. They both had demanding jobs with unsocial hours, so time was definitely not their friend.
As though his thoughts had conjured her up, Emma walked through the kitchen door. Although she now worked as a trainee manager at a prestigious West End hotel, today she had offered to help out on her day off, as this was such an important event to Jay and Liz. As he watched her, Jay thought that her slim figure suited the black pencil skirt and fitted white shirt shewore, and, with her dark brown hair tied neatly at the nape of her neck, she was the epitome of efficiency. She might be dressed conservatively, but he still thought she looked hot. Emma never failed on that score.
Jay gestured towards the platter of eggs. ‘These are ready to go out.’ He tried and failed to focus on the food rather than the lurid thoughts about his girlfriend.
‘Great,’ she said. Instead of picking it up, she placed a hand gently on his arm. ‘It takes me back, being here again.’
‘I was just thinking the same.’
Emma grinned. ‘When we first got together and couldn’t keep our hands off each other?’
‘Umm...’ His face flushed, and not from the heat of the kitchen.
‘We should try to make some more time to spend together and date like we used to.’
Jay leaned down to kiss her. ‘We should. But between your shifts and my functions, it’s not always easy.’
‘I know.’ She nodded. ‘But promise me we’ll try?’
‘I promise.’
‘Better get these out then.’
She looked at him lovingly, but something in her tone worried him. Did she not believe him? His last relationship had failed because he’d been too busy with work. He didn’t want the same thing to happen with Emma. This time it wasn’t just him who worked long hours, though. But then again, she was just starting out in her career and didn’t have any control over the shifts she worked.
Not that he had much control over his time either. As a partner in an increasingly successful catering business, he was busy too. Jay loved working with his friend Liz, and enjoyed the variety of the work, but it wasn’t his ultimate dream. He always hoped he’d be running his own restaurant with his name abovethe door by the age of thirty. He was turning twenty-nine on his next birthday and time was running out to reach that goal.
Jay shook his head as he began to assemble more hors d’oeuvres. All this wanting was getting him nowhere. He and Emma loved each other and they would be fine. He knew it.
* * *
Emma pinned a smile to her face as she handed out the platter of devilled eggs. Her cheeks ached with the constant effort. She’d always loved working in the hospitality industry, loved the sense of fulfilment from making someone’s event perfect, of making them feel special. She’d worked hard on her degree, coming out with top grades, and had immediately secured a management position at the Rosemont Hotel. And that was where she had got stuck.
Of course she realised that advancement in her career would take time, but what she hadn’t expected was her line manager, Heather. A woman who, for some unknown reason, seemed intent on making her working life a misery.
Emma shuddered as she remembered the humiliation she’d suffered the previous day in front of several members of staff. She was at a loss to know what she had done to deserve such treatment and she didn’t know how much longer she could carry on like this. Every day she dreaded going into work, not knowing what would greet her when she got there. At least she had Jay, she thought, trying to console herself. They might be in a bit of a rut at the moment, which would take a lot of time and effort to get out of, but they would get through this. She knew they would.
* * *
‘Liz! How lovely to see you again!’ Lord Weatherton said, giving Liz a kiss on each cheek.
‘It’s always a pleasure to see you too,’ she replied. She liked Lord Weatherton. For all his wealth and status, he was so downto earth and she loved his enthusiasm for both life and her food. She’d met him when she’d been catering at an open evening for a block of apartments that her now-husband, Alex, and his business partner, Tia McIntyre, had refurbished and were hoping to sell. From there, Lord Weatherton had asked her to cater for his daughter Lucinda’s engagement party on his estate in Hampshire, which had been a huge success.
Lord Weatherton interrupted her thoughts. ‘The food is as exquisite as usual.’
‘I’m glad you’re enjoying it.’
‘How could I not? I’m not going to be able to eat for a week after today.’
Liz laughed. ‘That’s how it should be. And it’s good to see Lucinda looking so happy.’ She remembered the first time she’d met Lord Weatherton’s daughter. To her surprise, Lucinda had had very little to do with the actual planning of her own engagement party — she’d left the details to her father’s personal assistant, and on the day of the event itself she’d seemed rather aloof. But motherhood had changed her and today she’d greeted Liz like a long-lost friend, eager to show off her baby son, who was ensconced in a confection of vintage lace, a family heirloom. As Liz had gazed down on the chubby-cheeked, blue-eyed boy, she’d thought Lucinda had every reason to be proud. Her hand had involuntarily hovered on her own stomach, with a feeling of hope.
She hadn’t told anyone yet, not even Alex, but she suspected she was pregnant. In the days leading up to the christening party she’d been run off her feet, and she wanted to keep her suspicions to herself until she knew for certain. She would do a test and, if it was positive, she’d share the news with Alex. She couldn’t tell him before because she didn’t want to build up his hopes. She needed to handle the situation sensitively.
