Claire spent half an hour in a florist shop a road away from her front door. There was a lingering scent of fresh flowers, and she bought an arrangement of red roses and carnations set off with white breath flowers. In her flat, Claire placed them carefully on the table in her kitchen dining area. It brightened up a dull room. It was a tiny step to making this small space feel like home.
Rick laughed as, half an hour later, he gave Claire a large spread of similar flowers and saw her own display. He leant to give her a light kiss on her cheek.
‘Of course, I should have known you would have flower arrangements. The bright colours in my apartment were always placed there by you.’
‘There’s not much to show you round here, but it’ll be good when I’ve finished shopping to put some more colour in the space,’ Claire said.
They sat at the small kitchen table. Rick gave Claire a box wrapped in silver paper with a red bow tied over it. He took Claire’s hand across the table and gently squeezed it.
‘I’ve brought you a little present from my stopover in Hong Kong. Don’t open it now but delve into it when I’ve left.’
Claire looked at Rick, unsure what to say. She did not really want a goodbye present.
‘Thank you for agreeing to meet so soon, Claire,’ Rick said. ‘I wanted you to know that before I left New Zealand, I had bought tickets for you to come back there with me. They’re first class all the way. Would you come?’
‘Rick, I think that’s going to be impossible.’
This was not what Claire had expected. And Rick saw Claire’s hesitation and the deep frown lines on her forehead.
‘You and I have never enjoyed a real holiday together. You would like New Zealand, laid-back, beautiful countryside. We could spend some time there and you could help me unravel the knot that is tying up the vineyard deal.’
‘Rick, I don’t think you understand how I’ve felt these past few months. You’ve not been here to talk to; even going out to dinner is a distant memory. So, what’s been going wrong?’
‘I have no excuses. Getting too busy can’t be good when it interferes with personal life. I’ve been under pressure to satisfy some outside investors, and I’ll never let that happen again. I stopped over in Hong Kong on the way to London just to step back from it all for a few hours and yes, I owe you a big apology. And, Claire, I do have an admission to make to you.’
Rick hesitated. Claire looked back at Rick and quickly looked away.
‘In New Zealand, I did meet somebody three or four times. It was quite by chance, somebody I had known before in London – she happened to be in the same hotel in Auckland. It held me up by two days from returning home, but there’s nothing there now, so please forgive me.’
Claire had already seen too much pain in Harry Stone’s face in the last few days and she wanted this to stop; she wanted to move forward, away from confrontations. Claire stood to put Rick’s flowers in some water in the kitchen sink. She would arrange them later. She turned to face Rick.
‘When are you going back?’
‘Wednesday, middle of next week with a stopover in Singapore.’
Rick again took Claire’s hand as if it would help what he was now going to say.
‘We agreed not to talk about Arrow Hall, but I think you should know I’ve got a buyer, a developer I’ve known for a long time. He will take the building from where it is now, and I know he will be sympathetic to how it should look when its’s all finished. Will you help him with the finishing details when the time comes? Only you really know how it was before the devastating fire.’
‘You are asking for the impossible, Rick. I’ve walked away from the site with some bitter memories, so I’m not going back.’
‘Please think about it. I feel guilty already; I don’t want to stir up your feelings, but the offer will be there for you.’
‘This isn’t turning out how we had planned it a few months back. Remember, it was to be our country home, so my answer will still be no. I want to leave it for now.’
‘I will have to go back next week but, Claire, will you please follow me when you have a chance to come? They’re first-class tickets, so they can be changed. Let’s not make this a final farewell, Claire. I want to repay you for the hurt I’ve caused you; I want you to come and enjoy the laid-back lifestyle for a couple of months. And then, when we come back, you can decide how closely we want to live together. Be independent, but let’s not say goodbye.’
Claire stared at Rick. Yes, this was amicable, and it was how she wanted the parting to be. And an hour later, as Rick prepared to leave, Claire did not know how to hold back an emotion that was telling her this might be the last time she saw Rick.
Alone in her quiet apartment, she opened Rick’s present. She dabbed the perfume from each of the elegant bottles on her hands and the scent stayed with her as she tidied and arranged Rick’s flowers. The frown slowly relaxed from her face.
But going to New Zealand? The offer was unexpected; it was too soon after shutting out Arrow Hall. At that moment, Claire had no reason to think she was ever going to travel there.