Merger By Matrimony

To a certain degree, it worked.

It was easier not to think of him when she was busy grappling with the complexities of profit and loss accounts and budgets which, even to her unskilled eyes, appeared horrendously optimistic. But the minute her mind wasn’t occupied it slipped back to their lovemaking and, to the even more disastrous Sunday, when they had toured the grounds, keeping a measured distance between them and acting as though nothing had happened. He’d appeared to find that very easy to do. As he’d appeared to be relaxed around Stephanie. In fact, they had seemed more relaxed than when they’d been engaged. Maybe he had been trying to prove a point. The only point he’d ended up proving, through his silence, was that what had happened between them had been a regrettable inconvenience but not much more.

He’d only called her once since then, to find out whether she’d made any decisions about his offer, to which she’d responded with her rehearsed speech about needing a bit more time, needing to consult Derek and informing him that either she or her lawyer would be in touch as soon as possible. It had been a brilliant five-minute exercise in concealment but she’d been shaking after the telephone call.

So, right now, she was banking on Henri to restore her perspective.

When it came to Callum Ross, she seemed to spend half her time banking on someone or something to restore her perspective. She was, she’d thought ruefully, fast becoming a cast member in one of life’s soap operas.

Henri emerged into the open walkway along with the rest of the passengers from his flight, trailing his suitcase on a trolley and peering anxiously around to see if he could spot her.

Destiny felt a swell of fondness, waved and gesticulated and, when she had finally made her way over to him, gathered him in a hug.

‘You look different, Dessie,’ he said, pushing her back to give her the once-over. ‘Very smart. Where’s my little girl with the bright clothes and the scrubbed face?’ He smiled warmly at her.

‘She’s temporarily on leave,’ Destiny said, speaking in Spanish because she was beginning to feel that her bright, shiny, complicated new life was making her lose touch with the things she had always taken for granted. ‘Tell me everything that’s been happening on the compound. How’s Dad? Has he sorted out his filing system as yet? And how’s Martha and John?’ She linked her arm fondly through his as they walked to the terminal exit.

She might have changed but dear Henri was still the same. Smaller and thinner than she remembered, but just as appealing, with his small round glasses and his engaging smile.

‘I’m really glad you made it over, Henri,’ she told him, one hour later when they were standing in the hall of her townhouse. ‘Really glad that you decided to use some of your leave here instead of Paris.’

‘The temptation to see little Destiny in surroundings other than a jungle was irresistible,’ he said, looking around him with interest and then finally turning his attention to her. He was standing less than two feet away from her; their eyes were meeting, but she felt nothing but sisterly affection for the man whose flirting had once aroused the occasional romantic notion in her. It was nothing like what she felt when she was around Callum, the giddiness, the excitement, the feeling of being alive.

‘And, besides, your father was worried about you,’ he confessed.

‘Why?’ she cried, alarmed. ‘Worried for what reason? Everything’s going smoothly over here.’

‘But you still felt desperate enough to ask me to come over.’

‘I wasn’t desperate. I wanted to see you. I’m not going to be here for ever and I thought it would be fun for us to see London together. That’s all.’

‘Sure that’s all there is to it?’

‘Pretty much,’ Destiny mumbled, turning away towards the kitchen while he followed in her wake. ‘Do you fancy something to eat? A drink? How was the flight? Are you tired? I can show you up to your bedroom if you like.’

‘To answer your questions, no, yes, fine, yes and in a minute.’

But he was still curious about what was really going on with her. He allowed his curiosity to be reined in while they continued to chat about everything under the sun but the expression in his eyes when they rested on her was one of concern.

‘I’ve arranged for you to see the medical facilities of the company,’ she told him, as they headed up to the spare room that would be his. ‘I thought you might find it interesting.’

‘Not, I gather, that it’ll be of much use if you go ahead and sell the company.’

‘I might not.’ She drew his curtains, flicked her hand over the bedspread and averted her eyes. ‘I’ve had an offer, actually. By the same man who wanted to buy the company. Callum Ross. Have I mentioned him?’