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See? Time was doing its job. She was beginning to heal. Slowly but surely things were improving.
‘Bess!’ Freya leapt from her seat by the pool. ‘I wanted to come to your bungalow but Michael said you’d been travelling forever and needed rest.’
‘Michael was right. I was out for the count.’
Bess grinned and returned the hug. The years peeled away and it was like they were teenagers again, Freya arriving for the summer at Moltyn Hall or Bess visiting her cousin’s home in Denmark.
Bess blinked. A reunion with Freya was the nearest thing to coming home that she could conceive. Her real home didn’t feel familiar anymore. She’d only returned to Moltyn Hall once since her wedding and that had been a fleeting visit since her dad and Jillian had other priorities.
‘Let me look at you.’ She surveyed her cousin and what she saw thrilled her. ‘I’ve never seen you so happy. You’re positively glowing.’
Freya shrugged. ‘Michael makes me feel that way. Enough even to become a royal.’
Bess knew duty could pall when love was one-sided. ‘You’re sure you want to take all that on?’
‘It’s part of who Michael is. It will be tough sometimes but I love him and he loves me.’
Bess’s heart squeezed at the stars in her cousin’s eyes. Of course they loved each other and together they were strong. ‘You’ll do it wonderfully. Michael and his people are lucky to have you.’
Her cousin flapped her hand. ‘Enough of that. I want to talk aboutyou. You look marvellous. Like you’ve just stepped from some luxury day spa instead of from the wilds of Indonesia.’
‘Close. Timor Leste. About a thousand kilometres east of Bali. It’s an amazing country.’
Freya drew her to a couple of padded lounge chairs. ‘And you enjoyed it? I worried you’d jumped into something without realising how hard it would be.’
Bess thought of the difficulties she’d experienced. But they’d been nothing against the joy of contributing to something worthwhile, seeing the smiles and enthusiasm of her students and their families, and being welcomed so warmly.
‘You’re right. Nothing prepares you for the reality but it was wonderful.’ Besides, it had been nowhere near as tough as leaping into marriage with a romantic notion that it would all turn out right, then facing the devastating truth that it could never be right. Bess fixed on a determined smile. ‘So tell me, how did you organise an elopement? Royalty don’t do that.’
Freya beamed. ‘Michael’s parents suggested we might want time alone before the big cathedral ceremony and all the razzmatazz. Michael’s even taking me away after tomorrow’s ceremony somewhere where there’ll just be the two of us. Doesn’t that sound like heaven?’
With the right man it would be.
Bess hadn’t had a honeymoon. Though she had stayed in five-star luxury after her wedding and discovered the joys of sex with her new husband. Her pulse rose to a rackety beat. That memory, at least, hadn’t tarnished.
But the rest of their time had been spent among strangers with whom Jack wanted to do business. Even their meals at celebrated, beautiful restaurants had been networking events, not romantic trysts.
‘It sounds brilliant. Tell me about tonight and tomorrow. Who else is coming?’
‘Oh.’ Freya’s face fell and she grabbed Bess’s hand. ‘I hope I’ve done the right thing. I wasn’t sure, even though he’s been such a wonderful, supportive friend to Michael. I worried it would be difficult for you, but he assured us you were on polite terms. Besides, Michael said nothing would stop you coming to my wedding. I was going to tell you last week but I couldn’t reach you.’
Bess’s chest hollowed. Freya’s change from ecstatic happiness to guilt and anxiety didn’t inspire confidence.
She squeezed Freya’s hand. ‘It’s okay. After what I’ve faced, meeting whoever you’ve invited will be fine.’ Though her skin prickled in warning. ‘My phone died and telecommunications weren’t good anyway. I thought I’d wait until after this week to get a replacement.’ The idea of switching off totally had appealed. A way of avoiding press updates about her ex.
Freya leaned close. ‘Just as well I’ve got time to warn you—’
Voices interrupted her and Bess turned as a group approached. A couple of women she recognised followed by a cluster of men, one of them Michael. He was talking to someone bringing up the rear.
‘Bess,’ Freya whispered. ‘I need to tell you—’
Her voice was drowned by greetings as the others reached them.
Bess hardly heard them because her stunned gaze was locked on the tall, dark-haired man who stood back from the others. Hands nonchalantly in his trouser pockets, his wide-legged, broad-shouldered stance seemed casual yet was unmistakably provocative.
Cobalt blue eyes, narrowed under straight coal-dark eyebrows, met hers, and she was glad she was sitting as the earth rocked beneath her.
‘Hello, Elisabeth. Long time no see,’ said the one man she’d never expected to meet again.
