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‘I got her into therapy because I thought she might be anorexic or bulimic or something.’
He shot upright, his face going bloodless. ‘She’s anorexic? Why the hell didn’t you contact me?’
‘It’s OK, Luke. Don’t panic. She’s not and she never was. I completely overreacted about a perfectly normal weight loss a year or so ago.’
‘What made you think she had an eating disorder? There must have been a reason.’
Warmth swelled in her chest. She’d never seen Luke with his concerned parent hat on before. It was remarkably cute. Maybe not as cute as watching his toned body cannonball into a mountain pond in his boxers, but close.
More surprising, though, was how comforting it was to realise she wasn’t the only one who had performance anxiety issues where their daughter was concerned.
‘Honestly?’ she said. ‘I totally panicked. She got so skinny when she grew. The GP didn’t think it was anything to be too concerned about, but I refused to be convinced.’ Especially after Lizzie had hooked up with the hideous Liam, and Halle’s relationship with her daughter had gone into meltdown … ‘She refused point-blank to discuss it with me. So I paid for a very expensive therapist.’ Because her working-mother guilt had insisted on hiring the best. ‘And it took him four months to tell me the same thing.’
‘She’s no skinnier than I was at her age,’ he pointed out.
‘Well, yes, I suppose now you mention it, that’s true. Her build’s always been more like yours than mine.’
Perhaps if she hadn’t been determined to erase all thoughts of Luke from her consciousness, she might have figured that out a bit sooner. And saved herself a few thousand pounds in therapist’s fees—not to mention several hundred sleepless nights.
‘I’m sorry, Luke.’ Apologies had never come easily to her, but she supposed she owed him this much at least. ‘I should have got Jamie to tell you what was going on. I just assumed you knew. That Lizzie spoke to you about that sort of stuff.’
‘No need to apologise. At least you’re speaking to me now.’ He stretched his legs in front of him and turned his face into the sun. ‘It’s hard to know what the best thing is sometimes, when you’re stuck doing this all alone.’
His gaze caught hers and, seeing the complete sincerity there, she was suddenly struck by an even more disturbing thought than the last one. A thought that once let loose would not be ignored. Was this the real reason he’d blackmailed her into coming to Tennessee?
‘Please tell me you didn’t set this whole thing up with Monroe just to get me to talk to you about Lizzie? Because, if you did, I may have to self-harm.’
But as she looked up at the brilliant blue sky, it felt entirely like a trap of her own making. If she had met him halfway, if she had communicated with him, he never would have been forced to pull a stunt like this.
The rueful tilt of his lips turned into a grin. ‘Don’t be daft, I’m not that cute. Or altruistic.’
‘So there is actually an article on Monroe?’
‘Of course.’ The grin became sly, triggering the dimple in his cheek. ‘I’ve already sold the pitch to Vanity Fair, so it’ll be well worth my while dragging you out here whatever happens.’
‘Good to know.’ She smiled, no longer angry with his tactics. And oddly grateful that there was, and had always been, an article. An altruistic Luke would only be more of a threat to her peace of mind. She didn’t want the warm spot under her breastbone getting any bigger.
Plus, she was actually sort of char
med by Luke’s un-shakeable confidence in his work.
She had a similar pride in her own career achievements. But, more than that, she’d always known how bright he was, and how desperate he had been to get away from where he’d started. For once, she didn’t feel bitter that he’d gotten there in the end, even though he’d refused to take her with him.
‘So, who is Aldo’s dad?’
She eased onto her back, slung her arm across her face to protect herself from the sun’s glare—not to mention Luke’s curiosity. ‘Still none of your business.’
‘True, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to keep asking you till you tell me. And I should warn you, I can be very persistent.’
‘Really?’ She lifted her arm, not feeling quite so charmed by his journalistic confidence. ‘I never would have guessed.’
‘Come on.’ He nudged her with his foot. ‘You might as well give it up before I get out the thumbscrews.’
She huffed, wanting to be annoyed, because it was a question she’d resolutely refused to answer from pretty much everyone else. But why not confide in Luke? She didn’t have to be specific. And talking about her ill-fated affair with Claudio should help put this arbitrary warm spot back into perspective. ‘If you must know, Aldo’s dad was a complete tosser.’
‘More of a tosser than you think I am?’
She chuckled at the sanguine tone. ‘Incredibly, yes.’ Even though she’d always been so much angrier with Luke than Claudio. Probably because she’d never kidded herself she was in love with Aldo’s father. ‘Not only was he a tosser as a boyfriend, he turned out to be an even bigger tosser as a father.’
