She caught her breath and put a hand to her chest. The blood was pumping so hard, she could hear it echoing in her ears. She pushed open the door of Casey’s diner.
Blond-haired Casey was wiping down the surfaces and removing some doughnuts from display when Freya arrived at the counter.
‘Hey, Freya, no doctor’s outfit tonight?’ Casey asked, smiling.
‘No, and I can see you’re missing a gorilla suit. Can I have a large cup of tea and a blueberry muffin?’
‘Doughnuts are two for one. It’s that time of night,’ he offered, indicating the remaining doughnuts on display.
‘I’ll take four and some chocolate sauce.’
‘I’ll bring it over.’
She went across the room and sat down at her favourite table in the corner by the jukebox. Billy Ray Cyrus was playing. Inappropriate honky tonk that didn’t suit her mood.
The bell above the diner door rang and she raised her head. Nicholas entered and she hurriedly put her head back down and pretended to be engrossed in the menu.
‘Hey, Nick. How you doing?’ Casey asked as he appeared from the kitchen and came back to the counter.
‘I’m fine, Casey thanks. Could I get a coffee? Strong black?’
‘Sure, I’ll bring it over.’
He walked over to Freya’s table and stood in front of her. His presence made her look up.
‘Is this seat taken?’ he asked, indicating the chair opposite her.
‘Yes.’
‘Well, I don’t see anyone sitting there and I have Chinese food.’ He shook the bag at her.
‘I’m expecting someone. I’ve just called Jonny and told him to come right over and have his way with me on this very table.’
He sat down opposite her, reached out and took her hands in his.
‘I’m sorry.’ His tone was soft.
‘Sorry for what?’
‘For what I said and for being stupid. You were right. I was jealous.’
‘I’m sorry I hit you.’
‘I’m sorry I provoked you. I should know by now you have a mean right hook.’
‘I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Jonny the minute he walked into the office.’
‘I think I overreacted because of who it was. He was the only man you trusted to tell everything to before you met me. He was important to you; you loved him.’
‘I loved him when I was seventeen. I don’t love him now. Anyway, you have to trust me.’
She looked across at him. Her handsome fiancé, the man who graces magazine covers and wore swimwear on David Letterman.
‘How bizarre is this conversation? You’re the one idolised by millions of women, most of whom are a thousand times better looking than me. You snog a different actress every other month. If there’s anyone who should be having a fit of jealousy here, it’s me.’
‘One large tea, one coffee and four doughnuts with chocolate sauce.’ Casey put the order on the table.
‘You ordered doughnuts,’ Nicholas remarked.
‘I was depressed.’
‘Can I share?’
‘I suppose so. But no hogging the sauce.’ She picked up a doughnut, tore some off and dipped it in the sauce.
‘Listen, if Jonny’s genuine about donating all that money and time to your project, I do think it’s great,’ Nicholas told her.
‘Well, I was suspicious of his intentions at first, but the trade off was I have to take some photographs of some of his hotels.’
‘That doesn’t sound like too bad a deal.’
‘No, and besides that, I really think he feels bad about the way he treated me. Everyone has a moment in their life when they take stock, think back, regret things and want to try and put them right. Perhaps this is his.’
‘So, are we friends again?’
‘Well that depends on how many doughnuts you’re planning on eating.’
‘I thought I might order a chilli burger with everything on it actually.’
‘Make that two and we’re BFFs.’
After food at Casey’s, they got ice creams from the ice cream parlour and ate them on the walk back to their home. One of the joys of living in America was ice cream available all year round. Even though the night was almost as frosty as their dessert, it still tasted good.
‘He has a crap car,’ Freya said, her mouth full of ice cream.
‘Who? Jonny? I thought you said he was a millionaire.’
‘He is, but he obviously has bad taste in cars. And he had a driver.’ She laughed at the absurdity.
‘Then he obviously classed meeting you as an official function.’
‘Either that or he’s just plain lazy. Listen, I spoke to Emma today and told her we’d set a date for the wedding.’
‘And can she make it?’
‘Well, she actually came up with a different suggestion.’
‘Oh?’
‘She thought we might consider getting married in Corfu.’
‘And what did you think about that idea?’
‘What do you think?’
‘I asked first.’ He smiled.
‘I quite like the idea. It’s probably one of the only places in the world where we might actually get some privacy. We could stay with Emma and Yiannis at the villa and we could spend our honeymoon there, visiting all the places we didn’t get to see together last time.’
‘I think it sounds like a fantastic idea.’
‘So shall we do it? The beach might be out, it’s warmer than here but…’
‘How about up at the fort? At sunset.’
‘That sounds perfect.’
She touched his cheek with her hand and moved forward to kiss him.
‘I love you,’ she whispered.
‘I love you too.’
He kissed her cheek then entered the security code for the front gate into the pad.
‘Notice anything? No photographers,’ he stated, leading the way through the gate as it swung open.
‘We are going to be B-list celebrities before too much longer.’
‘Well that wouldn’t bother me. We would save a fortune on tea.’
As they approached the front porch, Freya saw Willis sat by the door clawing savagely at something lying on the deck.
‘Oh, Nick he’s got a bird or something. Urgh, go and stop him.’ She turned away and concentrated on finishing her ice cream.
‘It’s a crow. Hey, boy, get off it. Let me open the door and you can go inside,’ he said to the cat, kicking the dead bird out of his reach.
‘Is it dead?’ Freya called.
‘Yeah, it’s dead. Looks like it flew into the front door. The glass is smashed.’
Freya looked up at their front door and observed the jagged edges where the circular panel of glass had been.
‘Looks like I’ll have to call a glazier. I’m surprised it didn’t set the alarm off. It must have hit quite hard,’ Nicholas said, pushing open the door.
‘Um, I think I might have forgotten to set the alarm when we left,’ she admitted.
‘Freya! You must set the alarm! Remember you promised. You said you’d cope with an alarm as long as we didn’t have the electric fence or CCTV. You have to keep your end of the bargain.’
‘I know, I know and I usually do. I just forgot. Blame Bruce and the lure of the spring rolls. Urgh! God, Willis, don’t rub your face against me; it’s got feathers and guts all over it.’ She tried to evade the cat by hopping from one foot to the other.
‘I’ll call the window guys, see if they can come out tonight.’ He headed into the kitchen.
‘Ooh, move the dead bird first please. I’m sure I read somewhere that crows are unlucky.’
‘That one certainly was.’