Dreaming of Venice by T.A. Williams

Author:T.A. Williams
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Canelo Books
Published: 2017-04-27T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

The shopping expedition took place just before the Venice conference. It made a welcome break for Penny in what had turned out to be a dismal few days since bidding farewell to Owen. She had done a lot of thinking in the immediate aftermath of his announcement, as she tried to make sense of what had happened. The euphoria of the news from the Piccadilly gallery had evaporated in the wake of his revelation. She had felt herself strongly attracted to him and had really got the impression he felt the same way about her, yet he had dumped her and gone back to his old girlfriend. Was it her fault? Caroline had been very supportive, but it took an hour with Jimmy, drinking cocktails in a very gay bar, coincidentally less than a hundred yards from the pub where she and Owen had last met, to provide her with some closure. Jimmy, as ever, had been upbeat.

‘Well, it’s a bloody sight better to find out now, rather than later on, once you’ve surrendered your honour to him.’

His choice of language brought a reluctant smile to her lips. ‘You’ve been reading too many romance novels, Jimmy. Nobody surrenders their honour any more. Anyway, I’d rather not have found out at all. I mean, I’d rather it hadn’t happened.’

‘What hadn’t happened?’

‘Him getting back together with this bloody Sally woman, of course.’

‘But it wasn’t his fault, sweetheart. You can’t fight love, you know. Remember, love is a many splendored thing, after all.’

She was still thinking about Owen days later as she waited for the shopping trip to start. In fact, she had only been waiting near Marble Arch for a few minutes when a Bentley purred to a stop right in front of her. As Penny looked on, an elegant woman with a mass of stunning long blonde hair stepped out, her face hidden under heavy dark glasses. She walked up to a surprised Penny and gave her a conspiratorial grin. ‘Hi, Penny. Fancy a bit of shopping?’

‘Olivia?’ It was a great disguise and the hair looked totally convincing. She mentioned this to Olivia and got a grin in return.

‘I should think so, too. It’s real hair, just not mine.’

Penny was reminded of how close she had got to selling her own hair a few months earlier. She glanced over at the Bentley. ‘What about the car?’

‘I’ve told Arthur I’ll text him when we’ve finished. Now, where’s our first stop?’

They spent most of the morning working their way along Oxford Street, calling into shop after shop, some expensive, but most much closer to Penny’s more affordable end of the spectrum. By the time they stopped for a late morning cup of coffee, they had accumulated a hefty pile of bags. Olivia had insisted on paying for almost everything, and in most cases had bought two of each item, one for her and one for Penny. Finally they both slumped into comfortable seats in the café and relaxed after their efforts. They

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