How could she say no? They’d had nearly seven years together. It hadn’t always been like this. ‘I don’t know, Chris … you have to give me some time. Stop calling me all the time.’ She couldn’t believe she was actually going to say it. ‘Give me some space.’
‘I’ll give you all the space you need. Just let me know when you want to talk again. This has been good. Take care of yourself.’
‘You too.’ She felt the familiar fondness towards him and as she cut the call off, the sensation of being totally alone here returned.
It was only as she was cleaning her teeth later that she realised Chris hadn’t asked a single question about her and how she was.
ChapterTwelve
‘Marine!’ Hattie hadn’t expected to see her this morning sitting at the breakfast bar with a coffee and a huge smile. Even in last night’s clothes, which weren’t the least bit crumpled, she looked bright and fresh while Hattie just felt tired and worn out and her head throbbed. She’d woken several times in the night and had gone rooting through her toilet bag in a desperate quest for some paracetamol, which had eluded her.
‘Bonjour. Did you not sleep well? You look tired,’ said Marine as she stretched, pushing her long slender arms above her head. ‘I slept very well.’ Her smile was as satisfied as a cat that had spent the night in an aviary and eaten every last resident.
The stab of sudden jealousy, insidious and unexpected, caught Hattie off-guard. The pain was so sharp it took her breath away but she covered it well. Swallowing, she moved quickly over to the half-full cafetière and with a shaky hand she poured herself a cup. She had no right to be jealous. Obviously, Luc had been flirting with her the day before and, poor sex-starved sap that she was, she’d made more of it. Now she felt foolish and absurd, as well as ridiculously naïve.
‘Interesting outfit. Are you going to repair the boiler?’ Marine giggled as if that robbed the words of insult.
Hattie tightened the scarf on her head and hitched up her dungaree straps like she meant business. ‘You never know. I’m a woman of infinite talents.’ She might be feeling rubbish this morning, but it didn’t mean she was going to take any crap from this … this clothes-horse. Her muzzy brain struggled to find a better insult but had to settle.
‘She is,’ said Luc, leaning past her to snag the coffee, and she caught a whiff of his freshly washed skin. The fresh tang of lemon and pine smelled so good, she wanted to press her nose to his neck, to the smooth tanned skin above his navy T-shirt. ‘Thank you for a lovely meal last night.’
‘My pleasure,’ she said distantly, tying hard to distract herself from the tantalising scent.
He gave her a look. ‘Are you okay?’
‘Yes, I’ve got a really nasty headache.’ And so much to do. She was determined to finish the windows in the ballroom today and after that she needed to round up all the dust bunnies lurking in the corners and find a long pole and duster to remove the wispy grey cobwebs that were strewn everywhere like funereal streamers.
‘Did you drink too much?’ asked Marine.
‘Hattie had less than we did,’ said Luc, adding, with a teasing wag of his finger, ‘You were the one who couldn’t drive home, remember.’
‘I didn’t have too much, I was just being sensible,’ said Marine. ‘But in my experience, English people are never very good at drinking wine.’
‘You’re probably right,’ said Hattie, not wanting to engage but disappointed at being so spineless in the face of Marine’s sly malice.
‘Well, some of us have a lot to do,’ said Marine, springing to her feet and looping her arms around Luc’s neck. ‘Thank you for a lovely evening.’ She pressed her lips to his.
‘It was good to see you and catch up,’ said Luc.
‘Of course it was,’ Marine replied with a light, breezy laugh. ‘Don’t forget theComité Champagnedinner.I’ve put in a good word for you with Papa,’ she said, tapping his face gently before striding out of the room, her heels tap-tap-tapping across the marble floor in the foyer. He watched her go with an amused shake of his head.
Hattie needed something to do, so she picked up Marine’s abandoned coffee cup and put it in the dishwasher.
‘You don’t need to do that,’ said Luc, laying a hand on hers.
‘It’s no trouble,’ said Hattie, stiffening under his touch. He gave her an odd look and removed his hand. ‘Marine’s an old friend.’
‘She’s very glamorous,’ said Hattie, swinging away from him.
‘She likes the good things in life, that’s for sure,’ said Luc. ‘And she’s good fun.’
‘I’m sure she is.’ Hattie looked at her watch. She sounded horribly prim but she couldn’t help herself.
‘I hope you don’t mind that she stayed over. She—’
‘Of course not.’ Hattie jumped in quickly. ‘Don’t be silly. It’s your house. Why would I mind?’ She flapped one hand which struck her as probably looking really odd but she just did not want to talk about this and she was trying to move the conversation on. ‘We are all adults.’ Hattie’s briskness made her sound like Mary Poppins.
‘Yes.’ Luc looked a little uncertain. ‘Right. I’ll see you later. There’s … breakfast.’ He nodded towards the paper bags on the counter. ‘I’ll go.’
