Laura clutched the ticket tightly in her hands as she moved through the security scanners. There were only twenty minutes to go till departure, and she was beginning to worry she might have left it too late after all. She had actually arrived at Heathrow two hours earlier, allowing for delays on the motorways, but not wanting to spend any longer with this group of strangers than was necessary, she had spent ninety minutes of that time sitting in Dolly in the short-term car park. Now she realized she’d underestimated the queues at check-in, and getting through the security checks was taking an interminable time.
Picking up her leather satchel from the conveyor belt and slinging the strap across her body, she walked out into the departure hall. Her eyes scanned the jostling, noisy space, looking for the champagne bar Claudia had told her about. It was opposite Harrods and below Garfunkel’s, ‘probably next to a Lamborghini’.
Laura found it easily, even without the giveaway £100,000 car revolving next to it. The group of people standing around drinking champagne and chatting animatedly were catching everyone’s eyes. They were glossier and shinier, somehow, than the average travellers in elasticated waistbands and trainers.
Laura took a series of deep breaths and rolled her lips together anxiously as she drew nearer, annoyed with herself for feeling so nervous about meeting Cat at last. She felt it confirmed the aura of ‘specialness’ that Kitty and Orlando had conjured up about the woman – her great taste! Her staggering beauty! Her selfless kindness and off-the-scale emotional intelligence! When probably, in all reality, she told herself, they were embellishing the truth and flattering Cat artificially. After all, being asked to contribute memories and thoughts about someone for a gift automatically implied a rose-tinted perspective. Still, Laura was undeniably intrigued to at last meet the woman who had the mighty Rob Blake in her thrall. She’d give her that, at least.
‘Laura!’ Kitty cried, spotting her first and careering over.
‘Hi, Kitty.’ Laura smiled as Kitty enveloped her in a soft, talcumed hug.
‘We were just wondering where you were,’ she said, planting a champagne flute in Laura’s hand. ‘She’s here, everybody!’ Kitty cried, holding Laura’s arm up as if she was a lost toddler.
Everyone turned and Laura felt herself shrink an inch as four pairs of eyes swivelled over to her. She shifted her weight nervously, aware of her tummy growling at her. The drive down meant she had skipped breakfast.
Rob came over to her, still in his business suit, although his tie had been fractionally loosened. ‘Laura, you cut it fine. I was beginning to think you might miss the plane. We’re leaving for the gate in a moment.’
‘Traffic,’ Laura replied, trying to smile, aware of a hawk-eyed redhead watching her with keen interest. ‘I’ve had rather further to come than you.’
He nodded, but with an expression that almost made her feel he knew she’d been hiding away in the car park, delaying the start of this weekend for as long as possible.
‘Let me introduce you to the others.’ He swung an arm around to enclose the group. ‘This is Sam Radcliffe and her husband David.’
The redhead offered a slim, scarlet-manicured hand. She had a strong oval face with a small, thin-lipped mouth and hazel eyes. But it was her hair, a magnificent mane of titian brushed-through ringlets that did all the talking about her.
‘Hi, Laura,’ Sam said in a deep, almost mannish, voice. ‘Just been hearing all about you.’ The inflexions in her voice made it appear that the conversation had been interesting, which Laura found hard to believe.
‘Pleased to meet you, Laura,’ her husband David said, shaking her hand. He was tall and slightly balding, with dark hair just on the turn and an easy smile.
‘These guys have just come in from Frankfurt,’ Rob explained.
‘Well, I have,’ Sam corrected him coolly. ‘David’s been here since Wednesday. Playing.’
‘Shooting,’ David corrected her. ‘Corporate necessity.’
‘Oh,’ Laura said interestedly. ‘And what do you do in Frankfurt, Sam?’
‘I’m a lawyer at Deutsche Bank.’
‘Oh.’ That hair plus lawyer plus bank. It was hard to think of a more intimidating combination.
‘And I believe you’ve already met Orlando,’ Rob continued.
‘Briefly,’ Laura smiled, offering a polite hand, but Orlando, looking very European in a snug lilac cashmere V-neck and jet-black jeans, ignored her hand altogether and kissed her exuberantly four times on her cheeks.
‘Oh! My!’ she gasped as she was swung from side to side.
‘This woman,’ Orlando grinned, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. ‘She is so funny. And so wicked.’ He winked at her.
Laura blushed, wishing Orlando hadn’t just said that, aware that Rob and Sam were now staring at her intently as though waiting for the entertainment to begin. She looked around at the small group. Where was she?
‘Uh . . . where’s Cat?’ she asked.
‘Duty-free,’ Rob replied. ‘She’ll be back any second. Now remember, she thinks you’re here as Orlando’s plus one, okay?’
Laura nodded as Orlando winked at her. ‘We make a beautiful couple.’
‘Oh look, here she comes now,’ Kitty smiled.
Laura followed her gaze and saw a woman walking towards them, her shoulder-length platinum-blonde hair curled under itself like a fox’s tail. She was tall – maybe five foot nine – and slim, small-breasted but with a hip-waist ratio that would have Jessica Rabbit reaching for a tracksuit. She was wearing mocha-coloured skinny jeans and a neatly fitted jumper with a deep rolled-over collar in some sort of honeycomb pattern that was repeated on the cuffs of her sleeves. Cream. Designer. Her plush, extravagant boots – a warm-honeyed fur that swayed with her steps – came to her knees and she was wearing a matching hat that from a distance obscured her eyes, emphasizing instead high, slanted cheekbones and a full mouth.
Laura realized she was holding her breath. Here was the woman who had raised over £20,000 for charity, who’d saved a lamb, harpooned a squirrel and had a bridge defaced in her name. The woman who was going to wear a £20,000 necklace round her neck – and it would be worth every penny, because a life like hers surely had to be recorded.
‘Oh good, there you are,’ Rob said, placing his hand lightly on the small of his wife’s back (which was very small indeed). ‘Cat, meet Laura Cunningham, Orlando’s guest.’
Laura held out a faintly trembling hand, knowing that in the gilded haze she looked like a shadow – her grey hair, grey skin, grey eyes and grey jeans were enlivened only by an ice-pink puffa, which now seemed slightly too shiny and slightly too puffy. ‘Hi.’
Cat shook it warmly. Her skin was smooth and soft – lavender-scented, no doubt – and up close, Laura could see her beautifully shaped green eyes beneath the fur hat. ‘Laura, I’m so glad you could join us this weekend.’ She dropped her voice and leaned in closer to Laura. ‘Although you must be mad. This lot are certified loonies.’ Her smile was wide and engaging, and Laura knew she was grinning back like a loony herself.
‘Well, we’d better make our way to the gate,’ Rob said briskly, putting his glass down and picking up the briefcase by his feet. ‘They started boarding ten minutes ago and we’re all here now.’
Everyone drained their glasses.
‘Drink up, Laura,’ Kitty encouraged her. ‘You need to play a bit of catch-up.’
Laura drank the champagne in one go, although she didn’t need it. She already felt a faint euphoria.
She fell into hurried step with Kitty at the back of the group, her eyes trained on the Blakes – Cat’s hand enclosed in Rob’s, their chins up, long legs striding out. It was fascinating just to watch them. Their combined effect was universally acknowledged – men, women and children of all ages and nationalities turned to stare as they passed – and Laura knew she would have run the marathon herself if she’d been put behind Cat in shorts. She quite literally couldn’t take her eyes off her.
‘This must be what it’s like travelling with the Beckhams,’ Laura murmured, making Kitty laugh.
‘So what do you think?’ Kitty asked her as they swerved round a cart with flashing lights that was transporting an elderly lady to her gate, a walking stick resting on her knees.
‘Stunning. It’s like being in the presence of . . . I don’t know – a model, a celebrity, a royal . . . all wrapped up in one.’
‘Grace Kelly.’
‘Yes,’ Laura grinned. ‘Exactly.’
Kitty nodded proudly and Laura suddenly understood why she couldn’t let go of the friendship they’d shared as children. Laura already knew she would dine out on this weekend for years to come . . . if she ever started to dine out, that was.
‘You look great, by the way,’ Kitty said, beginning to pant as they tried to keep up with the others. The Blakes were setting a brutal, Amazonian pace, marching ahead to ensure they kept the gate open. ‘You’ve had your hair done since I saw you last, haven’t you?’
‘Yes. Thanks for noticing,’ Laura smiled, running her hand self-consciously through her hair. ‘By the way, where’s Joe?’
‘Not coming. He can’t leave the farm, sadly; although, to be fair, he’s not a skier anyway. My mother’s come to look after the kids for me. Do you know this is my first holiday away from them all ever?’ She shook her head. ‘I hope I can cope.’
‘I’m sure you’ll be fine.’
‘Mmmm . . .’ she said anxiously as they started speed-walking along the travelators. ‘So what are you wearing for Orlando’s dinner party tomorrow night? You know it’s a surprise, right?’
‘Yes, Rob told me. Um, I’ve just packed trousers and a top. Nothing special.’ She wished now that she’d done some shopping before coming away this weekend, but Jack had been so quiet all week with her that she had put it out of her mind as much as possible.
‘Oh. But you do know it’s black tie?’
‘No!’ she gasped. ‘Claudia didn’t mention it.’
‘Oh . . . Well, don’t worry. I’m sure we can sort something. I’ve packed a couple of extra things.’
Laura looked at her to see whether she was joking – there were at least three dress sizes between them – but apparently she wasn’t. ‘Thanks,’ she murmured uneasily.
They reached the gate where the others were waiting. They were clearly the last to embark and Laura could already imagine the glaring looks the other passengers would shoot at them as they did the walk of shame, searching for their seats.
‘Where are you sitting?’ Laura asked Kitty as the group formed a short queue.
Kitty checked her ticket. ‘Six D. How about you?’
‘Ten B.’
‘Oh, shame. It would have been fun if we could have sat together.’ Kitty leaned in to her conspiratorially. ‘I hope that doesn’t mean I’m sitting next to Sam,’ she whispered.
‘Why not?’
Kitty made a tipping motion with her hand to her mouth as they handed over their tickets to the gate official, who scanned them and pressed lots of buttons on her keyboard.
‘Oh.’
The woman handed back their tickets and they jogged down the tunnel together. ‘I bought a load of magazines in WH Smith earlier. Have you got anything?’
‘Afraid not. I wasn’t thinking ahead. It’s, uh . . . been a while since I’ve been on a plane.’
‘No worries. You can read some of mine.’
The plane was only three-quarters full. Kitty found, to her relief, that she was sitting next to Orlando, who was already poring over the duty-free aftershaves and turning down the corners of anything that featured Calvin Klein. Laura continued down the plane, determined not to catch anyone’s eye, and was relieved to find there was no one in the seat next to her.
She was no sooner sitting than the hostess went past doing a final numbers check and the doors closed. Laura looked ahead of her. She could see one of Cat’s gargantuan boots just straying into the aisle as she leaned across to talk to someone. A toss of red hair shot above the seat like a flare and she knew it was Sam.
‘Pssst!’ Kitty was twisted in her seat, holding out a couple of gossip magazines.
‘Thanks,’ Laura smiled, taking them gratefully from the man in front, who passed them over to her. The doors had been sealed now and the plane began to move away from the gate. She started flicking through the pages, wondering to herself who would really wear gold sequinned leggings and why pictures of celebrities with cellulite were considered of national interest. By the time she was reading her horoscope (having had to find her sign by checking the dates first), the seat belt signs were off and there was a buzz of conversation above the noise of the engines. At one point she saw Sam disappear off to the loos and half wondered whether any alarms would go off – she seemed the type to sneak off for a furtive cigarette in the toilet; later, she saw David and Cat swap seats with each other and Cat and Sam becoming engrossed in conversation, their silky heads together. Poor Kitty, she thought.
‘Hi.’
She looked up to find Rob staring down at her.
‘I just wanted to check you’re okay down here?’ he asked.
‘Oh, sure,’ she said, just as the hostesses appeared with the refreshments trolley and started moving down the aisle towards him.
‘Excuse me, sir,’ one of them said, a flirtatious smile on her lips as she anticipated squeezing past Rob.
He looked down at Laura. ‘May I?’
‘Oh yes,’ she replied, unbuckling her belt and hastily shifting into the next seat.
The hostess gave a disappointed smile as Rob escaped unmolested. ‘A drink, sir?’
Rob looked over at Laura. ‘Thirsty?’
She shrugged. ‘Yes, I suppose so. If you . . . I mean, only if you’re having one.’
‘Two champagnes, then,’ he said to the hostess, who would clearly start walking on the wings if he asked her to.
‘So,’ he said a little awkwardly as they watched her pull the foil off the mini bottles. ‘How’s the beach hut coming along?’
‘Getting there,’ Laura replied. ‘The plumber’s been and gone so there’s running water now, and the carpenter should be in and out this weekend, weather permitting. He’s a friend of Jack’s, helping me out so that I can get it done in time for Christmas. Hopefully all I’ll have to do when I get back is paint and furnish it.’
‘That’s all, huh?’ She didn’t need to look at him to know he was amused. ‘Well, I’d love to see it when it’s done.’
‘You can, next time you’re visiting your client in nearby Glasgow.’
‘Norwich.’
‘If you say so,’ she quipped, and she heard him chuckle, a surprisingly buoyant sound from a man who was usually so brusque.
‘Does your boyfriend know about it?’
‘Heavens, no. It’s got to be a surprise.’
‘What does he do, your boyfriend?’ Rob asked after a moment.
‘He has his own business,’ she said grandly, instantly regretting it.
‘Oh? What’s his field?’
‘Upholstery.’
He nodded, just as the hostess handed him the two glasses of champagne. ‘There you are.’
‘Thanks.’
‘So what do you think of everyone so far?’
‘They seem very . . .’ Terrifying? Intimidating? ‘. . . friendly. Aren’t we missing a few people, though?’
‘Alex and Isabella are meeting up with us at the chalet. It’s easier that they travel direct from Milan.’
‘And who is Alex again?’
‘Cat’s first love,’ Rob said tightly.
‘Oh. And you’re all . . . ?’
‘Friends? Yes. I suppose so. How modern of me, right?’ His eyes twinkled.
‘Cat’s, uh . . . very beautiful. I mean, she’s really . . . wow.’
He smiled and shook his head. ‘I know. She has such an incredible impact on people. We’ve been together five years and yet whenever she walks in the room I still feel the same as I did the first time I set eyes on her.’
‘You’re really lucky,’ Laura said quietly, watching him as he gazed at his wife’s long leg, which was slung casually across the aisle. They were a perfectly matched couple: successful, charming, she as beautiful as he was handsome, both kind and generous. Laura already knew about Cat’s charity work, and Kitty had told her that Rob had paid for her flight here too, not just Laura’s. They tallied up completely.
‘Tell me how you met,’ she said. Rob looked over at her warily and she smiled. ‘You have to tell me sooner or later, and it really would help to have some background knowledge going into this weekend. I don’t doubt I’m going to hear lots of wonderful and interesting stories about your wife, but no one knows her like you do.’
He paused for a moment. ‘It’s strange really to think that by the end of this month – this weekend even – you’re quite possibly going to know more about my wife than I do.’
‘That’s not possible,’ Laura argued.
‘No? By the time you’ve interviewed everyone, you’ll know her life story from three hundred and sixty degrees.’
‘No one can know another person more intimately than their spouse.’
‘Well, it would be wonderful to think that could be true,’ Rob said, looking out of the window, and Laura thought she caught a glint of sadness in his tone, like sunlight on a wave.
Laura looked sidelong at him. His profile was angled down, his skin washed gold in the setting sun like a honey glaze. She watched his Adam’s apple bob firmly down in his throat, noticed the first flecks of late-in-the-day stubble and saw that his full mouth was set in a firm, stressed line.
‘I saved her life,’ Rob said after a moment. ‘I very nearly lost her the moment I met her.’
‘What happened?’ Laura asked, taken aback.
‘It was July. I was having lunch with my girlfriend. We were sitting outside in this pedestrianized square, and there was some banal sponsorship event going on, with traders wrestling in sumo suits. I noticed this girl sitting on the steps on the other side. She was on her own. It was a really hot day and she was wearing this silky polka-dot dress that kept catching the breeze. I couldn’t take my eyes off her.’ He gave a small grin. ‘I kept hoping the wind would blow her skirt up so I could see her legs.’ He shrugged as Laura’s eyes widened at his candidness. ‘What can I say? She was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. I was completely transfixed. I didn’t hear a word my girlfriend said to me.’
‘Had you been with her long? Your girlfriend, I mean.’
‘Eight years. We’d been at uni together.’
‘Ouch. Where were you at university?’
‘Trinity College, Cambridge, reading classics.’
‘Oh.’ She’d been expecting something like economics or maths.
He smiled at her expression and she knew he was probably used to it. ‘Anyway, when Cat stood up to go, I got us to stand up too, pretending I wanted to go for a walk before returning to the office. I know it sounds terrible to Lisa – my ex – and it was, but I couldn’t let Cat just disappear into the crowd and risk never seeing her again. I had to find out where she worked. So I followed her.’
‘Like a stalker,’ Laura deadpanned.
‘Exactly,’ he said, giving it back.
‘Did either of the girls notice what you were doing?’
‘No, thank God. We were just a few steps behind her when her phone went in her bag.’ He shook his head, his voice slowing down. ‘She reached into her bag to answer it, just as she stepped off the kerb. And it was like I knew what was going to happen before I even saw the lorry. Everything just happened in slow motion. A cement truck was heading straight for her but she wasn’t even looking. I grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back into me, really hard. I mean, her feet left the ground; it must have hurt her. But the truck missed her by a hair’s breadth.’
Laura turned in her seat so that she was facing him. ‘She would have been killed outright.’
He nodded. ‘Even now I dream about it sometimes – how close I came to losing her.’
‘She must have been completely shaken up.’
‘More so by the fact that I then proceeded to kiss her, I think.’
Laura’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. ‘Right in front of your girlfriend?’
‘Right in front of the world – I didn’t care. Whether it was shock or . . . or, I don’t know, realizing that I’d met the girl I wanted to marry. I just kissed her until she kissed me back.’ He grinned at the memory. ‘I didn’t know her name, didn’t know if she spoke English. But that was our hello.’
Laura straightened up and stared at the headrest in front. ‘I am so depressed now,’ she muttered.
‘Why?’
‘Because that’s only, like, the ultimate love story. It makes everybody else’s suck next to yours.’
‘Tell me yours. How did you meet your boyfriend?’
‘No, I don’t think so.’ She shook her head. ‘Trust me, it’s a very dull story by comparison.’
‘I told you.’
‘Yes, because you’re paying me to get this information from you.’
‘Hmm, cute,’ he replied, sitting back in his seat and clearing his throat. The gesture alone told her they were back to business. ‘So, by the end of this weekend, then, you should know what you’re doing for the charms for me, Kitty, Orlando, Sam and Alex?’
Laura nodded. ‘I don’t see any problems with that.’
‘So who does that leave? Olive, Min—’
‘Ah, about Olive. You have a problem there. She doesn’t want to do it. She didn’t return any of our phone calls, though Fee must have tried four or five times, and when I stopped by the house to try to arrange an appointment with her directly, she threw me out.’
‘She did what?’ His voice was hollow with shock.
‘I’m afraid it looks like she doesn’t want anything to do with this commission, and I don’t see how I can do anything more without harassing her. If you’d like to think of someone else to replace her . . . ?’
Laura bit her lip, hoping he wouldn’t just drop the charm altogether. As Fee had so shrewdly pointed out, it was worth nearly two and a half thousand pounds.
‘And when you say she threw you out, you mean . . .’
‘She properly threw me out, yes.’ Laura nodded.
‘I’ll speak to her and get her to apologize as soon as we get back, Laura.’
‘No, please. I’d rather you didn’t. It really makes no difference to me.’
‘Well, it makes a difference to me. You can’t work together until this is resolved.’
Laura’s heart sank. ‘You still want her on the necklace, then?’
‘It’s imperative that she’s on it. How can I possibly give Cat her life story and not include her sister? I know it’ll be a tough interview for you. Olive’s not easy. She and Cat have always had a very tense relationship. More has gone unsaid than said between them, that’s the trouble, But I was rather hoping this might go some way towards reversing that.’
‘Well, if you can get her to meet me, I’ll do my best,’ Laura shrugged.
‘Great.’ He pulled himself up to standing. ‘And listen – don’t try to sweeten the relationship into something it’s not. Every charm has got to be true.’
Laura squinted at him. ‘Are you sure?’
Rob nodded his head. ‘Don’t edit to be kind to me or anyone else. I want you to discover all Cat’s sides and flaws and strengths, and then choose the stories that, in the balance, show who she really is. That’s how you’ll capture her, by showing the warts and all.’
Laura stared despondently at the headrest in front of her. ‘If there is one thing I can be absolutely certain of already, it’s that your wife is not warty.’
Laura watched as he returned to his seat, chuckling, slowly becoming aware of a familiar telltale ache in the pit of her stomach. She had missed breakfast and absent-mindedly dismissed it as hunger pangs, but this . . . this wasn’t hunger. She clasped her hands over her tummy and felt the warmth there and faint swelling that came every month. Had it been a false alarm, after all? The sleepless nights had been for nothing? Relief flooded her and she began rifling in her handbag for her emergency supplies. Wait till she told Fee. Now she could stop with the worried, haunted looks she kept throwing when she thought Laura wasn’t looking.
Laura took a celebratory sip of her champagne before getting out of her seat and heading off to the loos. Just like that, her life was back on track.