Holiday In the Hamptons (From Manhattan with Love 5)

It would mean leaving New York.

They were the best words she’d heard in a while.

Fliss tightened her grip on the phone. “Leave New York?” Her mind raced ahead. “You want me to spend the summer with you?”

“A few weeks should be enough. I’ll need help with the shopping and cooking, and simple things around the house. Just until I’m back on my feet and mobile. And then there’s Charlie, of course. I don’t know how I’m going to walk him, and he does need exercise.”

Fliss winced. Charlie was her grandmother’s beagle. He was stubborn and single-minded. He also bayed a lot, which meant Fliss invariably resorted to headache tablets whenever she visited.

Biting back her natural response, she reminded herself that she was pretending to be Harriet.

“How is darling Charlie?” She almost choked on the words. How did her sister manage it? How was she so unfailingly kind and generous?

“Too energetic for me to handle for a while, and you’re so lovely with him. I shouldn’t have got another dog at my age, but he brings me so much joy. Sadly I can’t cope with him if I’m resting.”

“Of course you can’t.” Fliss glanced up as Harriet emerged from the bathroom wrapped in a towel. “I’ll come.”

“You will? Oh, you’re such a good girl. You always were.”

No, she wasn’t. She’d never been a good girl. That was the problem. And even now she was doing the right thing for the wrong reasons. But she was doing it, so that was what counted, wasn’t it? Did it really matter if she had her own reasons for wanting to escape the city?

“When are you able to come home, Grams?”

“The day after tomorrow if you’re able to pick me up from the hospital. You’ll need to rent a car—”

“No problem. I’ll handle that.” She felt a rush of relief. The cloud that had dampened her mood for the past few weeks lifted. Here was the perfect solution to her problem, right under her nose. She didn’t have to fly to Hawaii. She didn’t even have to leave the state of New York. “Take care, Grams. I’ll give your love to Fliss.” She ended the call, and Harriet raised her eyebrows.

“Why are you giving love to yourself?”

“She thought I was you.”

“And saying, ‘I’m Fliss, not Harry,’ didn’t enter your head?”

“I was about to say that, but then my genius plan came into my head instead.”

“Suddenly I’m nervous.”

“You know I mentioned going to Hawaii? Turns out I don’t need to. I’m going to spend the summer in the Hamptons.”

“Summer in the Hamptons?”

Fliss grinned. “Yeah, you remember the place. Beaches, villages, sand and surf, ice cream dripping on your fing

ers, traffic and tourists—”

“I know all about the Hamptons. I also know you usually avoid it.”

“I avoid it because I’m afraid I might bump into Seth, but Seth is in Manhattan. If I go to the Hamptons I can walk instead of skulking. And Grams needs me.”

“I thought it was me she needed.”

“We’re interchangeable.”

“Why does she need you? Has something happened?”

“She had a fall. She’s in the hospital but they’re letting her go home as long as someone is there for her.”

“Oh no! Poor Grams.” Harriet looked horrified. “Why didn’t you tell her it was you on the phone?”