A Virgin for a Vow

‘Maybe in that two-hour window she talked to a friend,’ Abby said. ‘That’s usually what women do when they’re upset. They go to their girlfriends for support.’

‘If she’d told anyone then no one mentioned it at the funeral or since,’ Luke said. ‘That’s been one of the hardest things, apart from the guilt. Her family see me as the grief-stricken partner, unable to move on.’ He gave a quick twist of his mouth. ‘Thing is… It seems to help them to think that. They find it comforting that someone other than them is still devastated by her death.’

‘But you are still grieving,’ Abby pointed out. ‘It’s a process, not a timeline. You move through each of the stages when you’re ready. Some people take years, others a lifetime and some never get through it. There’s no right way of doing it.’

His smile was a wry slant. ‘I can see why you landed that job of yours. That’s a wise head on those very beautiful shoulders.’

Abby shrugged off his comment and eyed the last olive on the tasting plate. ‘Aren’t you going to eat that?’

He pushed the plate across the table. ‘It’s all yours.’

* * *

Luke went to his London office first thing on Monday morning and shuffled his diary around and in the process gave everyone on the staff a minor heart attack at his uncharacteristic spontaneity. It was weird, but no one at his office seemed all that surprised that he was ‘engaged’ to Abby Hart. They bought it just like everyone else who had access to a phone or computer screen or newspaper.

‘I always thought you were a dark horse, Luke,’ Kay, his middle-aged secretary, said with a teasing smile. ‘But I couldn’t be happier for you. I love Abby’s column. I read it every week. Her advice stopped me divorcing John last year.’

Luke frowned. ‘I didn’t know you guys were having trouble.’

Kay flickered her eyes upwards in a don’t-get-me-started manner. ‘I was going to leave him because he’d stopped helping me around the house and would just sit on the sofa in front of the TV while I buzzed around doing everything. But Abby pointed out in her column, most couples don’t get divorced over a basket of washing. There are usually bigger issues that are hiding under the dirty laundry. She was bang on the money. Poor John had some financial worries from his business that were making him depressed and moody and tired. He was too ashamed to tell me about them, and if it hadn’t been for Abby’s advice I still might not know. That girl is a genius.’

Luke couldn’t hold back a smile. ‘She is pretty special, isn’t she?’

Kay’s beaming smile rivalled a set of sun-soaked solar panels. ‘Well, look at you, smiling for the first time in I don’t know when.’ She leaned forwards and rested her forearms on her desk, her expression now sober. ‘I guess you kept your relationship with Abby a secret out of respect for Kimberley’s family. But they must be happy for you, surely? It’s been five years.’

Luke’s gut did its usual sharp claws clench when he thought of Kimberley’s family. He’d called them to explain his engagement to Abby wasn’t real, that it was just a favour he was doing for her. He hadn’t told Abby he’d told them that because she was so insistent no one knew her fiancé was a fake. But he couldn’t allow Kimberley’s parents to hear about his ‘engagement’ from another source, especially in the press. ‘Yes. I told them.’

‘Well, even if you hadn’t, you’d have to be a fossil hiding under a rock not to have heard about the outing of Abby Hart’s Mr Perfect,’ Kay said with another smile. ‘Thing is, how on earth did you two keep it a secret for so long? That’s taking dark horsemanship to a whole new level.’

Luke kept his expression safely in neutral. ‘Believe me, it wasn’t easy.’

* * *

Luke was on his way back to his house, where Abby was waiting for him before they headed to the airport, when he walked past a high-end jewellery store. He stopped outside and looked at the window display for a moment, realising it was totally out of character and that he was crossing a line he had never crossed before. But he couldn’t stop thinking about her showing that shop assistant her ring the other day and how it had seemed to embarrass her. Why shouldn’t he buy her something she wouldn’t be embarrassed wearing? It was a way to make sure she was treated the way she deserved to be treated. It would also make him less conflicted about putting such a short time frame on their fling. He pushed open the door and asked to see the diamond pendant in the window. And once he had purchased the pendant he continued on his way home.