Flora's Defiance

’Peter? ‘ Angelo repeated in a startled undertone that made her glance up at him and notice the tautness of his strong jaw line. ‘Peter Davies? Your ex-fiancé? He was in Rotterdam this week?’

Flora smiled. ‘Yes, he’s an accountant with a shipping company that has its head office based there. Isn’t that an amazing coincidence?’

‘It is. I wasn’t aware that you were still in contact with him.’

‘I wasn’t. Once I left London we lost touch with each other. He texted me right out of the blue after running into a mutual friend who told him about Julie’s death,’ Flora told him with a grimace.

Angelo was standing very still by the limousine. ‘Of course, he would have known your sister.’

‘Yes, but to be truthful they never got on that well,’ Flora recalled wryly; Peter had resented the time and attention she gave her sister.

Angelo watched her climb into the car and smooth her trousers over her knees. ‘I’ll come with you.’

Flora gave him a startled look. ‘Why would you do that?’

Angelo compressed his handsome mouth into a line, a tiny muscle tugging at the corner of his perfectly moulded masculine lips. ‘I don’t like you going anywhere alone at present. I would be happier if I went with you.’

‘That’s ridiculous. All I’ll be doing is walking into a coffee shop to sit down and then coming back out again when I’m finished,’ Flora pointed out drily.

‘I’d still prefer to accompany you,’ Angelo told her stubbornly, evidently impervious to gentle courteous hints.

‘Well, you can’t come! You won’t be welcome,’ Flora told him bluntly. ‘Peter and I couldn’t discuss anything personal if we wanted to with you present.’

Clearly far from reassured by that statement, Angelo stared broodingly down into her resolute face. ‘You really do want to meet up with him, don’t you? ‘

Flora nodded unembarrassed affirmation. Curiosity motivated her more than any other reason, but she didn’t see why she should share that fact with Angelo. After all, what was it to him if she met up with her ex-fiancé for a friendly coffee and a chat? Hadn’t he enjoyed complete freedom to see other women for months on end? And difficult and painful though it had been to remain silent and not interfere in his life, Flora had not once weakened in her stance, or asked him a single nosy question.

The conversation over, she emerged from the limo outside the designated coffee shop and, uneasily aware of Angelo’s annoyance at the novel sensation of having his wishes utterly ignored, Flora gave him a warm reassuring smile. But his brilliant eyes remained grim and his handsome mouth and strong jaw line stayed rigid. Feeling like a ship in full sail in the blue maternity top she wore, Flora headed into the café.

Peter was already there waiting for her. Although she immediately recognised him, she also noticed that his hairline had begun to recede and he had put on weight. The instant he saw her he leapt to his feet and began telling her how sorry he had been to hear about what had happened to her sister.

‘I knew you would be very upset. You and Julie were so close,’ Peter declared. ‘And when I heard about it and found out you were living in Amsterdam, I just had to see you! The way we parted is still on my conscience.’

‘It’s a long time ago now,’ Flora commented mildly, relieved to discover that even the sight of a wedding ring on Peter’s rather podgy hand didn’t move her to regret the past in the slightest.

As Flora turned to choose her seat Peter’s attention dropped to her bump and he looked at her in flagrant surprise. ‘You’re pregnant? ‘

Flora could not help laughing at his expression. ‘Why not?’

‘You’re not married.’ Peter dropped his voice to make that comment as if afraid others might be embarrassed by that statement of fact.

‘And you are. We’ve both changed and moved on,’ Flora declared comfortably, pausing to order her coffee. ‘When did you get married?’

Peter turned brick-red. ‘A few months after we split up,’ he admitted. ‘Her name’s Sandy; we worked together.’

Flora smiled. ‘And yet you never mentioned her to me.’

‘I know. I felt very guilty about keeping quiet but what would have been the point of telling you?’

‘If I’d known there was someone else, I wouldn’t have felt our broken engagement was my fault,’ Flora responded with wry assurance. ‘I felt guilty about all the bad publicity my tribunal case had attracted and the effect it had on you and your family.’

Peter winced. ‘I was the one in the wrong, Flora. I’m sorry. I didn’t have the courage to tell you how I really felt and I used that tribunal fiasco as an excuse to break off the engagement. I’ll always be ashamed of that.’

‘Never mind,’ Flora said generously and she sipped tranquilly at her coffee.

‘I let you down and I’ll always regret that but we weren’t right together. I felt more like your brother than your boyfriend,’ Peter confided with a look of discomfiture. ‘Somewhere along the line we lost that essential spark and I handled it very clumsily.’

It was as though a little cloud had cleared away from Flora’s view of the past. She saw the truth of what he had just said. Their relationship had been based more on friendship than passion and, as time had gone on, the attraction between them had waned rather than deepened. Peter had first recognised the problem because he was attracted to Sandy, whom she also noted he had wasted little time in marrying. She wished he had been more honest because she did not think she would have felt quite as rejected had Peter simply admitted that he had fallen for another woman.