Dominic raised his hand to her cheek. Her skin absorbed his warmth and instinctively she placed her own palm over his.
‘I love you,’ he said simply.
Behind her she could hear the click of the camera.
She turned and saw Willem taking a photograph of them. She knew that it was one of the reasons he was here, but still, she felt angry at his intrusion.
She turned back and looked at Dominic.
‘I’ll be waiting for you,’ she said softly.
He nodded, his nostrils flaring with stoic emotion. He put his arms around her, and held her as if he never wanted to let her go.
‘It’s time,’ he whispered into the top of her hair.
She pressed her cheek into his shoulder, the thick fabric absorbing her tears.
‘I love you, Dominic Blake,’ she whispered, and he turned and headed off into the jungle.
Chapter Twenty-Six
London, present day
Chelsea Physic Garden smelt amazing. It was
pretty too, of course: a maze of criss-crossing gravel paths leading you through an array of flowers, plants and trees, each one of them begging you to bend down and examine its leaves, shoots or blooms. But it was the smell, especially on a bright summer morning like this, that overwhelmed you. Abby could barely believe she had lived in London for so long and never stepped through the gate, because inside the high stone walls it was like being in a cocoon of calm. If you cared to look, you could see the tall Georgian residences outside the walls, but once inside the garden, it was as if London had momentarily slipped away.
She looked at her watch: she was early, but that was good. She wasn’t exactly looking forward to this meeting, and it gave her time to relax and soak up the atmosphere. She sat down on a bench and pulled out her phone.
The little screen was crowded with messages from the men in her life: Elliot, Nick and Stephen. She ignored them for the moment and opened one from Suze.
Second date with Will last night – amazing, must talk. Call me! Sx
There was another, sent two minutes after the first.
Didn’t shag him! First time THAT’s ever happened! Sx
Abby smiled. At least someone’s love life was going well. Sighing, she clicked on Stephen’s message – the lesser of three evils.
Hi, Abigail, congrats on piece in Chronicle, Christine very impressed. Could you give me a ring? Have an idea. Stephen
She could just imagine what the idea was: more free publicity for some other exhibition he could take all the credit for masterminding. She took a deep breath and clicked on Elliot’s message.
Are we still on for dinner tonight? I know you’re pissed off, but we can fix this.
She frowned to herself, wondering if she should cancel, and indeed whether she wanted to. Elliot had called her the day the Chronicle story had run – mid-afternoon, but 7 a.m. West Coast time – and had spent over half an hour explaining himself. How he’d mentioned the story and their St Petersburg findings to his editor, how his editor had wanted to run with it immediately, while The Last Goodbye was still hot, how Elliot had spent twenty-four hours solid writing the piece, not sleeping, only drinking and smoking. And not telling Abby that he had filed the story because he feared her reaction, knowing that the editor would want to run with it whatever her objections. ‘I didn’t want to deceive you, Abs. So I just didn’t tell you,’ he had said over their long-distance phone call.
Abby wasn’t sure if the two things were mutually exclusive.
Finally she opened Nick’s message.
Are you going to Dr Naylor’s? I am. Let me know. I love you. Nx
Another one who wants to talk, she thought dismissively, noticing the ‘x’ at the end and thinking that wasn’t like Nick at all. He was always critical of people who signed off with a kiss; it wasn’t real, he used to say, then would grumble about how social media were destroying people’s ability to actually connect with each other. All this upheaval must have brought out his feminine side. About time, thought Abby with a grim smile.
‘Something funny?’
She looked up to see Rosamund standing there; she had been so wrapped up in what she was doing, she hadn’t heard her approach.