‘Yes, a long overdue honeymoon, I think he said.’
‘And that was his only reason for working at the bar and all that overtime?’
‘I guess… I don’t know him that well.’
‘And the waitress?’
‘What waitress?’
‘The one there the night I saw you, she seemed a bit… a bit over friendly with him… and you too, now I come to think of it.’
‘Katie? She’s the owner’s wife. I think she and Pete go back years, and, as for me, we put out a fire in the kitchen last year. She’s grateful, that’s all.’
‘Oh!’
Nathan stopped walking. ‘I do believe you were jealousthere for a minute.’
Lisa trudged on, sticking to the edge of the piste, the rough snow helping her keep her balance. ‘No. Just curious.’ She felt her cheeks flush.
‘Jealous.’ Nathan laughed, running to catch her up.
‘No more than you seeing me with Dom,’ she retorted. She had explained that she and Dom were just friends, and, while at no point Nathan’s interest in theirrelationship felt like the kind of jealousy she had experienced with Ben, the fact that seeing them together had inspired his trip to France meant he could hardly argue.
‘Ha, touché!’
Having won the point, she returned to establishing what Pete had planned for Felicity. ‘And they’re leaving the day before New Year’s Eve, for a week?’
‘Apparently.’
‘And, along withwildlife and beach excursions, he has booked an Atlantis submarine excursion?’
‘Yes, that’s the brochure I saw. I said I’d travelled a bit so we had a chat about it, before he knew that I knew you, obviously.’
‘OK.’
‘And I said to him that maybe a two-hour submarine trip, going over forty metres below the sea might not be for everyone. I guess he didn’t listen.’
‘I don’t think that can be it. Can it?’
‘Whatever it is, if Flick needs you, if you need to get back, I can drive you, OK?’
Lisa looked at Nathan, warmth spreading through her, and wondered why she had ever let him go.
Not wanting to risk a dodgy signal, Lisa waited until they were back in the chalet before calling Felicity, and her heart sank at the sound of her friendsobbing at the other end of the phone. Lisa told her to take a breath and to start at the beginning. She listened, while Felicity told her how wonderful Pete was and about their trip to Barbados. Despite the fact she already knew, Lisa found she didn’t need to force a reaction, she felt genuinely happy for them. Barbados would be Felicity’s idea of heaven and Lisa knew the two of them loved theirchildren to bits, but needed some time for themselves. As Felicity continued Lisa could hear the strain of holding back tears in her voice.
‘And Pete’s mum was going to have the children. That’s why he wanted to tell me while she was here. She wanted to help. He said she had offered when he mentioned it. I couldn’t believe it, I’m not sure Pete could either. But then… then…’
‘What? What happened?’
‘She fell down our bloody stairs. Trod on some Lego and lost her balance.’
‘Oh no! Is she all right?’
‘No, that’s the thing.’ Felicity sniffed.
‘Oh, Flick, what’s happened?’
‘Pete’s at the hospital with her now; she’s broken her ankle. Just like that, on our stairs. How bloody unlucky is that?’
