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“What?”
“That wild child came back. Drinking; seriously, you can knock them back. And I feared you might get into drugs.”
“You’ve said I’ve changed. I take it you don’t think that anymore?”
“No,” said Jane, shaking her head. She leaned forward. “Are you in a relationship, because you have that glow about you for the last few months and you’ve stopped going out with the others. They’re gossiping like crazy.”
Leah smiled. There was little point in trying to hide things from Jane. She wiped a smear of hot butter off her lips. “Truth be told, I do have a boyfriend.”
“I knew it!” said Jane gleefully. “Tell. You have to tell me.”
Leah took a deep breath. “It’s Rick.”
Jane’s eyes widened. “Your chauffeur,” she said loudly.
About them were other diners, enjoying a late breakfast in the city centre restaurant. Leah put her fingers to her lips. “Ssssh.”
“Oh, come on. I mean he is gorgeous, sexy looking. Dark and broody too. Have you, you know…”
“Jane!” shrilled Leah under her breath. “None of your business.”
“You have,” said Jane. “You’ve gone bright red.”
Leah sighed. “Alright. He lives with me.”
“Oh. My. God,” said Jane. “For how long?”
Leah let the words tumble out. Jane knew about the licence ban and the reason why she had a driver, but Leah kept her mouth shut about the spankings.
“I fancied him from the first time I met him. When Daddy hired him to drive me. But Rick said I was too young, or not ready, and then he left for a different job. I never stopped thinking about him.”
“So you hired him back.”
“It is just one big coincidence. He came back and I needed a driver, and there he was on my doorstep. This time things are different. He feels the same way as I do and… we’re together.” She ended lamely.
“What happens when your ban is finished?”
“I don’t know,” said Leah honestly. She fingered her cup and saucer, avoiding Jane’s inquisitive blue eyes. Confessing to the relationship had eased a burden of secrecy for Leah with her best friend, but it hadn’t given her peace of mind. “Rick has secrets too.”
“Oh?” said Jane, intrigued.
“He went abroad, while I was at university, and something happened. In Italy. But he won’t talk about it. He has bad dreams and shouts in Italian. I wish I could find out what is troubling him.”
“Have you asked?”
Leah explained about his constant dismissals, his refusal to answer questions, even to the point of becoming angry with her. She didn’t mention to Jane his suspicions that they had been followed—the car journey had been a moot point. The relationship had moments during the last week when it had been strained to the point of breaking. It was only Rick’s need to be in control, to seek sanctuary in his authority, which brought them back together. Leah couldn’t say no to him, not when he reminded her of the request she had made, to let him lead her, look after her.
“If only I knew who he had worked for. Maybe Mum could help me track them down and I could ask. He won’t even give the town or city he lived in. Switzerland—he talks happily about that country and his job there, but nothing about Italy,” said Leah, exasperated.
“Look, my advice and speaking as a journalist.” Jane worked at the local newspaper—the Echo—and fancied herself as an investigative journalist. “You’ve got nothing to go on. You need more information. Spying on him, behind his back, isn’t going to do you any favours. Talk to him. Explain your concerns. Don’t scare him off, not if you love him. Do you?”
Leah opened and shut her mouth. Love and Rick. Two words she had kept apart. He had left her once, he could do it again. She feared to love him. She daren’t say the words to him. She caged them in other words of adoration and devotion. Yet neither of them had come out and said it—I love you. Their relationship felt doomed again, just like the first time.
“I’ll speak to him,” said Leah.
Jane stared at her for a few seconds and then changed the subject. Leah knew her friend well enough. She hadn’t answered Jane’s question—Leah wasn’t the only one with doubts.
