Cat looked at her great-aunt sitting calmly opposite her, hands resting in her lap, with not a trace of embarrassment on her face. She had come for a catch up, to chat about her life in Italy. Instead, after complimenting her on her tan, Em had immediately hijacked the conversation and delivered a below the belt body blow with this revelation. How could she? Talk about traitorous.
‘But why? You know the situation. What he did.’ She got to her feet, feeling furious. Walking to the window, she paced slowly back and forth as she gathered her thoughts.
‘These lunches, they are just with him I hope.’ She swung around to look at Em. ‘You haven’t includedher,have you?’ She prayed the answer would be no, otherwise she would walk right out of the door without looking back. Added to that, she would never speak to her great-aunt again. Such a betrayal deserved extreme measures.
Em gave a tired sigh and shook her head. ‘Cat, before we go any farther, can we please get something straight? Luke lives alone. He has done since you left.’
‘Oh rubbish,’ Cat spat out as she returned to her seat and settled herself, her brows butting together angrily as she tried to cope with such a ridiculous statement. ‘Why do you think I went away in the first place?’
‘Because you thought he’d lied to you and couldn’t bear to stay here and watch him in a relationship with someone else.’
‘Exactly. And when I left she was definitely here. With him.’
‘No she wasn’t,’ Em argued. ‘She was long gone. She left the evening of your argument. He sent her away. He tried to see you the next day to tell you. But by that time you’d already left with Étienne.’
‘You didn’t let him know where I’d gone, I hope?’ Again Cat was on the defensive.
‘Of course not. Believe it or not, I do have some family loyalty.’ Now it was Em’s turn to be annoyed. ‘Although, after hearing his side of the story I have to say I was tempted.’
‘What do you mean, his side?’ At Em’s words, annoyance upgraded to anger. ‘Em, why have you meddled? There is no point. You should know when to leave well enough alone.’
‘Well, that’s the problem, Cat.’ Her great-aunt clasped her hands together dramatically. ‘I can’t.’
‘Can’t or won’t?’
‘He deserves to be heard. It isn’t fair.’ She tilted her chin indignantly. ‘Look, I’m not trying to get you two back together again … well, actually, I am because he’s lost and he needs you.’
‘He does not.’ Cat rolled her eyes. ‘And besides, even if I did believe you about him not being with Tanya, after the lies he told I could never trust him again.’
Aunt Em gave a disapproving sniff. ‘I’ll allow the fact he should have been more open with you about that Marika girl, but Tanya was different.’
‘And how exactly have you come to that conclusion?’ Cat challenged. ‘Ah, of course, through his version of the truth, which he’s clearly managed to convince you of in my absence. And how did that happen? No doubt he came knocking on your door one evening, stirring up trouble.’
‘Actually, I knocked on his.’
‘What? How dare you interfere.’
‘Will you please give me a chance to explain?’ Em pushed herself upright in her seat, her calm voice upping a few octaves. ‘When I discovered you’d gone, I wanted to give Luke a piece of my mind. It seemed to me we’d all worked so hard to support him, getting Liam on board, and he’d simply brushed all of that aside when this new woman turned up. I was outraged and I turned up at his door ready to take on both of them. However, when I arrived at the cottage he was alone. He explained the events of the previous day and how he’d been too late to see you that morning.’
‘No doubt he bowled you over with his charm,’ Cat interrupted, unable to resist having a dig. Everyone, it seemed, was a pushover where Luke Carrack was concerned, and given Em’s attitude towards him, even feisty old ladies seemed to have little immunity.
‘Certainly not,’ Em protested. ‘Yes, he was very charming but I could see he was also very upset about something.’
‘Because Tanya had gone, no doubt.’
‘Will you stop it, Cat?’ Em glared at her irritably. ‘She was never there in the first place.’
‘So what caused this supposed upset?’
‘After his unsuccessful attempt to see you,’ Em continued, ‘he drove up to Arcadia to meet his uncle. Gareth confirmed his offer of the director’s job. Luke accepted and then thanked him for hiring Liam.’
‘Oh no.’ Cat pressed her fingers against her lips imagining what had followed.
‘I won’t go into detail but it appears Gareth handled things badly. As you know he’s never been much of a diplomat but there we are,’ Em said with a shrug. ‘There was an argument, Luke handed in his notice and left. He hasn’t seen his uncle since.’
‘Luke’s no longer at Arcadia?’
‘No.’
