“Excellent,” Marnie replied mindlessly, pulling out a pen and signing the contract in all the places Sebastian pointed out.
Sasha looked delighted, turning to Sebastian and pulling him into a hug once more. But Marnie only had eyes for Ari.
“Your daughter,” she started slowly. “You said her name was Reine?”
Ari blushed. She was very pretty, Marnie realised. She could see why he’d been taken with her.
“Reine means queen, in French,” Ari explained. “Like my playing card. I wanted Tom to have a say in her name, even when he wasn’t there.”
Marnie felt a rush of warmth run through her. “You must have really loved him.”
“Yes,” Ari replied. “He was everything to me.”
Something inside of Marnie warmed further.She still loves him, she realised.She’s never stopped loving him.
“Well, I am most assuredly looking forward to working with you, Miss Lightowler, and—”
But Marnie didn’t get a chance to finish her words. Sasha’s phone was ringing. When she answered it, she went pale, clutching Sebastian.
“Marnie,” Sasha called. “It’s Tom.”
“What about Tom?” Marnie asked.
“He’s in the hospital,” Sasha replied, “His plane crashed.”
Marnie fell back into her chair with a slump. “Is he . . . Is he . . .”
“No,” Sasha answered. “Only injured. But we need to get to him. Now.”
* * *
When Tom opened his eyes, his mother loomed over him like an agitated spectre.
“I need to talk to you,” she said sharply.
He moaned. “I’ve literally just woken up after crashing Dad’s plane. Can we talk later? My head hurts. Go and get a doctor.”
“The doctor already spoke to me, you’re fine. A bit beat up maybe, and they’re going to keep you in overnight in case you have a concussion, but otherwise you’re in pretty good shape for a man who just fell out of the sky.”
“How’s the plane?” Tom asked.
“Salvageable,” Marnie replied. “Just.”
“Great.” Tom closed his eyes again. “Can I have some pain relief now?”
“Later,” Marnie snapped. “I want to talk to you.”
“Yeah, you said that. What about?”
Marnie took a deep breath. When Tom opened his eyes, she was pacing about his tiny hospital room.
“Mom,” he complained. “You’re making me nervous.”
When Marnie turned back, her eyes were black. “Growing up in our family, you learn not to ask questions,” she began, and Tom groaned.Great,he thought.Another ‘in our family’ chat.
“Mom, not now, okay? I’m—”
“My mother died of cancer and my father couldn’t cope. I accepted that. I was shunted from family member to family member while he got himself together, from good old Uncle Corentin who farmedwormsto good old Uncle Tom who played chess in his dressing gown. I never asked any questions, I just did as I was told.”
