Fire in the Blood

Larry shook his head, looking irritable. 'Naturally I thought of that! I rang her; she hadn't seen him or heard from him. I didn't really think he would go to her; it's over between them.'

'It didn't last long, did it?' Nadine bitterly said. 'He left me for her just eighteen months ago, and now it's all over.'

Larry looked taken aback. 'Left you for her? Sean didn't leave you for Fenella Nash. You left him for Jamie Colbert!'

Nadine was furious; she gave Larry a bitter, antagonistic stare. 'You know better than that, Larry! You've always known what Sean was doing! He doesn't keep secrets from you!'

He didn't deny it, but protested, 'He told me your marriage broke up over Jamie Colbert!'

'Well, he lied. It isn't true. Sean walked out on me! He was making that first film with Fenella. Dangerous Lady. I never saw him, he was away on location for months, and when he did come home he was different, distant, not interested in me, I barely got a word out of him for weeks on end. Then the gossip about him and Fenella started; there were a few odd hints in gossip columns at first and then open comments, and when I faced him with it, asked him outright if he was having an affair with her, he didn't deny it.'

Larry was frowning, his face uncertain. 'And you weren't having an affair with Jamie Colbert before that?'

'No, I wasn't! Jamie was just the excuse Sean thought up for his affair with Fenella!'

'But I could have sworn ' Larry broke off as

her doorbell rang loudly.

'My taxi.' Nadine bit her lip, her mind in chaos. 'I'm off to the West Indies today, on holiday,' she told him again.

The doorbell rang again and she groaned, hurrying to open the door. The driver gave her a grin. 'Sorry if I'm a bit late—traffic was terrible. You ready, miss?' He looked past her at the cases standing in the corridor. 'Can I take your luggage down for you?'

She nodded distractedly. 'Thanks. I... I won't be a minute...'

'Just want to check everything's turned off and nailed down?' he said cheerfully, picking up her cases. 'Don't take too long—will you?—or you'll miss your plane, and you don't want to do that.'

As he left, Nadine turned back to Larry, her face confused. 'Larry, have you tried his mother in the States?'

Larry grimaced. 'Well, I did, although I was sure Sean wouldn't have gone to her, as they've never been very close. She said she hadn't seen him for years.'

'No, we never saw much of her,' Nadine agreed, sighing. She had no family of her own, as both her parents were dead, and she had hoped to make friends with her mother-in-law, but Sean's mother lived in the States and was too busy to have time for her son. Sean's father had been dead for years and Sean had no other close family.

Nadine gave Larry an uncertain look. 'Sean isn't the type to lose his head. I expect he's gone off to see someone he hopes will lend him the money and was in such a hurry that he forgot to let anyone know where he was.' She looked round, picked up a glossy brochure from a table. 'Look, this is where I'll be. Ring me if you get any news.' She gave Larry a pleading look. 'You won't forget, will you?'

He shook his head. He looked so dispirited, so pale, that Nadine impulsively gave him a hug.

'Don't look so gloomy, Larry. Sean will think of something; he always does, doesn't he?'

His face lifted a little and he gave a faint smile. 'He always has, in the past,' he agreed.

'He will this time!' She heard the taxi hooting outside and sighed. 'I really must go, I'm sorry, Larry.' Quickly, she checked that she had everything she needed, and then Larry walked her out to the waiting taxi.

'Thought you'd changed your mind!' the driver grumbled, and, although it was a joke he was closer than he knew, because she was in two minds whether to go or not, but what could she do if she stayed? No doubt Sean would reappear some time today, but she wouldn't get her holiday, and she wouldn't get back the money she had already paid the travel agent.

'Sorry,' she said, then turned to hug Larry again. 'Have faith in Sean,' she whispered, and Larry kissed her.

'I will. You're right, I'm panicking too soon. Sean could be solving all our problems. Have a good holiday, Nadine.'

She waved as the taxi drove off, and thought he looked slightly less depressed than he had when he first arrived. She had cheered him up a little, but he had disturbed her. It had been easy to hate Sean when she'd thought he was making millions and riding the whirlwind of success. Now her emotions were in turmoil: she was anxious for him, concerned about the company, and guilty because her divorce settlement had put a strain on his finances. If she had known the true state of affairs she would never have let her lawyers ask for such a big settlement; she would have refused to sell her shares to Sean when he asked her. But he had never let a hint drop that he might be having money troubles; there had been no suspicion in her mind at all.

While she waited for her plane she swung in mood like a weather-vane: one minute deciding not to go, terrified that something might, after all, have happened to Sean, admitting that she wanted to be here, in case he needed her—and the next impatiently telling herself that nothing would have happened to him, Larry had been over-reacting, Sean was probably engrossed in fixing up a new deal to get himself through his current troubles, and if he had ever needed her he had a funny way of showing it.

Her flight was called and she sat there, staring at nothing, still undecided.

Oh, this was stupid! she thought, getting up, then stood there, dithering for a moment, before she finally made up her mind.

The journey was long and tiring, and before she finally reached her destination she had changed her mind back and forth a hundred times. By the time she was checking into her hotel she was in no state to think of anything other than that she was deeply relieved to have at last stopped travelling. She signed the register and stumbled along a corridor behind the porter carrying her bags. It was still daylight here; she had been reminded to turn back her watch just before her plane landed but in her head she was still in another time-zone. It felt like the middle of the night, but the sun still shone. Nadine was too disorientated to take in much about her surroundings, but she did realise that the single-storey hotel was larger than she had expected.