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Five hours later, as Dolly watched her load the dishwasher while eating the leftovers she was supposed to be putting in the fridge, Luce had to admit it had been worth coming back for. Even with her mum’s pointed comments about the food.
‘Did you think she seemed nice?’ Dolly asked.
Since the others had already left, Luce didn’t bother hiding the surprise in her voice. ‘I did.’
Dolly laughed. ‘I know. I wasn’t sure whether to expect another monster, or what. But, no, she’s nice. A little bossy, maybe. It’ll be weird not having Tom here for Christmas Day, though.’
‘It will. But he seemed happy.’ That was by far the most important part. Tom hadn’t been remotely happy for a very long time.
‘He did.’
Dolly paused, and Luce looked up at her, forehead creasing.
‘You don’t.’
‘I’m fine,’ Luce lied.
Dolly boosted herself up onto the kitchen counter. ‘What happened this week?’
‘I went away. To a conference. And ended up taking a bit of a detour home, what with all the snow.’
‘And were you alone?’ Dolly pressed, eyebrows raised.
‘Not entirely.’ The memory of Ben kissing her against the castle wall invaded her mind and she bit her lip and tried to concentrate on her little sister, in the here and now.
‘I knew it! Who did you go with? Oh, no—it wasn’t Dennis, was it? That would explain why you’re so miserable.’
‘It was not Dennis,’ Luce said, with feeling. ‘Wait—I thought you liked Dennis?’
Dolly rolled her eyes. ‘Mum liked Dennis. And only because she thought he was what you wanted. Boring, staid and uneventful. But if you weren’t with Dennis...’
‘My train got cancelled and an old university friend offered me a lift home. We got stuck in the snow and holed up at a cottage in the hills for a couple of days.’ She shrugged. ‘That’s all.’
But Dolly wasn’t content to leave it at that. The same curiosity that drove Luce to discover the past had made her sister incurably nosy about the present. ‘And was this friend male or female?’
‘Does it matter?’
‘Yes!’ Dolly bounced down from the counter, her eyes bright and intense. ‘If you’re finally getting a life I want to know all about it. Hell, I want to throw a party in celebration.’
‘It’s not... There’s nothing to celebrate.’ Because she was probably never going to see Ben again.
Dolly’s mouth turned down at the corners, her eyes full of sympathy. ‘Do you want to—? Ooh, I bet that’s him!’ she interrupted herself as Luce’s phone rang.
‘I doubt it— Oh.’ Ben’s name flashed across the screen. Of course he’d have programmed his number in on one of the many occasions when he’d stolen her phone. No respect for personal boundaries, that man.
Dolly had already swept up her coat and bag and was halfway out through the door. ‘I’ll be along tomorrow for my Christmas dinner,’ she said with a wave.
Luce stared at the phone again. And then she pressed ‘answer’.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
IT WENT AGAINST all his usual rules about women and relationships, but Ben needed to talk to someone. And for some reason the only person he wanted to talk to was Luce.
He sprawled across his bed, waiting for her to answer, wondering if she would just ignore it. It was late, after all. Gone midnight. She might be asleep. Or maybe her dinner party was still going on. Maybe Dennis of the annoying e-mails was there. Maybe—
‘Hello?’
Maybe she would answer after all.
‘Hey. Merry Christmas. You okay?’
‘Happy Christmas to you, too.’ There was a rustle of fabric on the other end of the phone. Was she in bed? ‘I’m okay. Tired.’
‘How did dinner go?’ That was what you did, wasn’t it? When you wanted someone to stay in your life even if just as a friend? You asked about stupid things you didn’t care about.
‘You can’t tell me that you’re suddenly interested in my family gatherings after all the time you’ve spent maligning them this week.’
Luce’s voice was amused, but Ben could hear a sharper edge under it. He’d hurt her, even though he’d tried so hard not to.
‘No, not really.’ Ben sighed. ‘I just don’t understand why it was so much more important to you than...everything else.’
‘Because you never asked,’ Luce responded promptly.
She had a point. Unfortunately, he’d found, she usually did. ‘Okay, then, I’m asking. What was so important about this dinner?’
