‘Elizabeth’s the person to talk to,’ he said finally. ‘She knows more about business, Denver, investment banking than anyone.’
‘Call her,’ she ordered. ‘I don’t want my sister in any danger. For all we know, she could be on her way to see Greg Willets.’
‘Stop being so dramatic.’
‘I thought you cared about Rachel,’ she said sharply.
He looked embarrassed, and she knew she had him.
‘Don’t worry, Adam, I know something happened between the two of you.’
‘I didn’t mean it to,’ he said finally.
Confirmation of what she had suspected was like a punch in the stomach.
‘Of course not. Have one sister, have them both.’
‘Diana, please. I knew you were pissed off about New York. We should talk about it.’
‘What is there to talk about? That you just can’t keep your cock in your trousers? That you wanted to have something that Julian couldn’t have? Not now, not then. His wife. His sister-in-law who had the guts to turn him down.’
She saw the flash in his eyes. The look of being caught out.
‘That’s it, isn’t it? Thing is, you don’t even realise it yourself. You probably thought you were attracted to me, to Rachel. But really it was all about you and your ego.’
Adam was shaking his head slowly.
‘Don’t worry. It doesn’t matter. Save your explanation and just make the call to Elizabeth. At least this way you might be able to redeem yourself.’
He reluctantly picked up his phone and went to stand by the window. Whilst he was calling Elizabeth, Diana tried to ring Rachel again. She was still unable to get through, but she felt some relief that her sister had sent her a message to say that she was going to see Patty Reynolds. She texted her back asking her to contact her immediately.
62
Rachel had heard about microclimates, but this was ridiculous. London seemed to be in the grip of a summer storm, people holding newspapers as they sprinted for shelter, the rain sending spray into the air, the whole city brooding under dark clouds. But as she drove south-west along the A3, it was as if she were moving not just from the outer suburbs of London into Surrey and Hampshire, but from winter straight into summer. The sky ahead of her lightened, the clouds parted and bright blue sky poked through. She saw two rainbows in the space of half an hour and by the time she had arrived at the southern reaches of the New Forest, the sun was slanting through the trees, her car was dry and the Beaulieu river sparkled in the light.
There was no mistaking the Reynolds’s place. On the outskirts of Beaulieu, it was set back off the main road, and she could see the slate roof of the Queen Anne manse gleaming in the sunshine even from a distance. The iron gates were open, so she drove straight towards the house, which loomed like the sort of place you’d only usually see in TV period dramas, surrounded by ladies in crinoline dresses.
There were no cars on the drive, and the doors of the quadruple garage adjacent to the property where Patty could have parked her car were closed. It was an awfully long way to come if no one was home, thought Rachel, looking around for signs of life.
She rang the bell and was relieved when Patty finally came to the door. Her ash-blond hair had been swept back off her face into a ponytail. She was wearing a short white Lacoste tennis dress, trainers and some sort of expensive wraparound sunglasses dangling on a lanyard. Rachel looked her up and down. Patty must have been pushing fifty, but her figure was still pretty sensational, only her slightly veiny hands giving away her age.
‘Rachel Miller,’ she said, looking startled. ‘What on earth are you doing here?’
‘I did call,’ said Rachel, aware that she was intruding on the woman’s day.
Patty wiped a bead of sweat off her brow with the palm of her hand.
‘I haven’t picked up my messages. I’ve been playing tennis. Everything’s fine?’ she asked with alarm. ‘Diana is okay, I mean?’
Rachel nodded. ‘She’s fine. I just wanted to pick your brains about something. I spoke to Michael before he took off and he suggested I talk to you.’
‘He did, did he? Determined not to give me a weekend’s peace,’ she said with annoyance.
‘I’m sorry. If this is inconvenient, I can come back later.’
Patty hesitated, and then beckoned her inside.
‘Don’t be silly. You’ve come all this way.’