AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No, not really. He asked about my family in New Zealand. Said if I lived here, we could go fishing like this as often as we wanted.”
“Vicky said much the same thing after the yoga.”
“Do you think they’re working on us?” he asks.
“Oh yeah. But in a nice way. I don’t think there’s a nasty bone in either of their bodies. They genuinely want you to stay.”
He lifts some bubbles on his hand and studies them. I keep quiet. I don’t want him to feel as if he’s being badgered.
“She said it was difficult to get Alan to take time off,” I say eventually.
“Yeah, he said the same, and that it’s important to smell the roses. This break has been good for me. I honestly can’t remember when I last took time off. Well, Mack’s wedding, technically, but I slept through most of that so…”
I grin. “So what have we got planned for the rest of the day?”
“Carrie and John are coming around at two. I asked them to tell me their story.”
“Okay, I could chop up some of that fresh fruit in the fridge if you like. Do a platter to nibble, and we could sit out on the patio.”
“Sounds great. After that, maybe I’ll do a bit of work, then at six we’re back up to the house for the murder-mystery evening.”
“Did Alan give you your character card?”
“He did. I’m Lord Lawrence Edgmont.”
That makes me laugh out loud. “Brilliant.”
“I’m a debonair gambler who’s a big hit with the ladies, apparently. What about you?”
“I’m the Countess Heidi Carlton. A notorious socialite and good-time girl.”
“Countess?”
She grins. “I thought it was appropriate.”
He chuckles. “What are you going to wear?”
“I brought the dress that grandma mentioned. Vicky’s got a cigarette holder I can borrow, apparently. How about you?”
“Just a suit, and I’ll slick my hair back and draw on a mustache.”
“Shall we make a pact not to take any photos?”
“Definitely. By the way, you must remind me tonight, Saxon wants a Zoom call, anytime after about eight p.m., so when we get back from the party.”
“Okay. Is there a problem?”
“No, I don’t think so. Saxon has been running the first tests of the AI program predicting which embryos would lead to a live birth at Wellington Hospital. They’ve got an eighty-five percent accuracy so far.”
“That’s great.”
“It’s good, but I’m hoping we can do better than that. We’re just going to have a chat about it.”
“I’d like to meet him.”
“He’ll be at Huxley’s wedding.” His foot finds mine beneath the bubbles. “I wanted to talk to you about our journey back, by the way.”
“Oh?”
