‘The flight is just after nine so we’ll need to be at the airport by six. We haven’t got as long as we thought.’ He smiled at her. ‘You go and relax while I hunt down a generator for the dig.’
She nodded. She’d shower, and if there was time, goand find a dress. She had very little money in her bank account but that was why you had credit cards, wasn’t it? You could buy things without having the money.
However, by the time they’d found the little apartment, got in and had coffee, Cass had lost the will to go and hunt for outfits. Ranulph had a shower and then went out. She had one too, standing under the warm water for far longer than she had been able to recently. On the island she’d just soaped and rinsed as quickly as possible. Now she took time to wash her hair properly, and put conditioner on it. When her hair was thoroughly clean, she found the hair dryer.
Feeling very different, she went through to the sitting room and turned on the television.
No sooner had she discovered a programme she could understand she fell asleep. She only awoke a couple of hours later when Ranulph shook her awake.
‘Sorry to wake you but it’s nearly time to leave for the airport.’
Cass instantly began to panic. ‘We’ll have to clear up here before we leave. I hate rushing when I’m travelling.’ They’d had a conversation about this lifetimes ago.
‘You looked so … peaceful, I couldn’t bear to disturb you. I’ve done the washing up. We haven’t left a mess.’
Ranulph seemed a bit awkward but Cass, feeling thoroughly caught out, didn’t have time to try and work him out. She was now desperate to leave for the airport.
‘We really do have plenty of time,’ said Ranulph. ‘The airport is nearby.’ He put his hand on her shoulders. ‘Now calm down and breathe.’
She removed his hands; however hard she’d been fighting it, him being too near her, touching her, still made her stomach flip.
‘Right,’ said Ranulph when Cass was satisfied they’d left the flat perfect. ‘Have you got everything you need on your phone? Here.’ He held out his hand and, meekly, Cass passed it over.
‘I bought another phone charger,’ said Ranulph. ‘To replace the one that Austin ran off with. You should be fine.’ He took another look at her phone, scrolling down to check the tickets and the online check-in details.
It all seemed to be taking far too long. ‘Let’s go, please!’
The taxi ride was indeed extremely quick and it wasn’t long before they were at the airport. There was no baggage to check in.
‘Come on, Ranulph,’ Cass said, heading to the machine to scan their boarding passes.
He didn’t follow her. ‘Erm, Cass?’
What was the problem? ‘What?’
‘I’m not coming with you.’
Her heart did a somersault. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I’m not going home now, Cass. I’m going to stock up with things we need and go back to Dominica. You’ve got to travel home on your own.’
Cass felt sick, hot, cold and faint, all at the same time. ‘Why the hell didn’t you tell me sooner?’ she demanded as anger came to her rescue and made it possible for her to respond. ‘Why leave it until now?’
‘I didn’t want you to worry about the journey until I couldn’t avoid it. I know you have travel anxiety—’
‘Fine!’ she said, furious suddenly, turning away from him and walking as fast as she could to where she hoped she needed to go. ‘Bye, Ranulph,’ she muttered to herself. ‘Have a nice life!’
But the thought that it would be a life without her in it cut like a knife.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
It was only a little later, when she’d been through several sessions of showing her passport, her phone and various other things, that Cass found herself being shown to the business-class lounge.
‘Oh no, I don’t think so,’ she said, smiling at what was clearly a mistake. ‘Do I look like a business-class traveller?’
‘Check your ticket, ma’am,’ the lovely woman said. ‘It’s definitely business class.’
Cass checked. ‘I had no idea. My father bought me the ticket,’ she said, to explain her extreme lack of attention to the finer details.
