In Love Again (Unruly Royals) by Mulry Megan

Author:Mulry, Megan [Mulry, Megan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance
ISBN: 9780989997508
Publisher: Megan Mulry
Published: 2013-11-19T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

Claire was riding home on the Lexington Avenue bus a few weeks later when her phone rang. Normally she didn’t answer her phone in public, a silly etiquette rule that had never left her, but she looked at the number and was simultaneously excited and worried when she saw it was Lydia.

“Hi, Lyd,” she answered quietly.

“Hi, Mum. What are you up to?” It was loud and busy wherever she was calling from. Definitely not an African village, that was for sure, with the unmistakable street sounds of London punctuating her words.

“I’m riding on the Lexington Avenue bus, on my way home from work. Where are you?”

Lydia burst out laughing. A little too giggly. A little too loud. “You’re riding on a bus?…Yes, Daddy, she is actually riding on a city bus…” She laughed, and a male voice said something loud in the background.

“Is your father with you?”

“Yes, he’s been such a doll since I got back from that tedious trip to Africa.”

The way Lydia said Africa reminded Claire of the way Boppy said polyester: perish the thought.

Lydia continued, “He’s made tons of time in his schedule to go out and do fun things with me.”

Claire heard Freddy’s deeper voice in the background, but clenched her teeth together to prevent herself from saying something insulting about how fifty-year-old men shouldn’t be escorting their twenty-year-old daughters into Mayfair nightclubs. Instead, she glanced at her watch and saw it was nearing midnight in London. “So you’re back in London then? Where are you staying?”

“Yes, I’m back, but it’s ludicrously boring. I’m staying at Grandmother’s and I need a change.” Lydia’s voice was hitting that pitch that always made Claire worry, the voice that begged for someone else to just do something. Lydia carried on without any encouragement. “So…I was thinking New York City might be a fun change of pace. Daddy was just saying he thought that sounded like a lovely plan—” Lydia declined a cigarette from someone in the background. “Is there room in Bronte’s place for me?” She inhaled. “Or do you think James would let me use the Mowbray corporate apartment again?”

Claire took a deep breath. The combination of Freddy’s blasé encouragement and Lydia’s carelessness was simply too much. Having spent the entire week working ten-hour days, Claire felt simultaneously angry and deflated. “Can I call you in fifteen minutes when I’m home? I can’t really talk now.”

“What do you care what the people on the bus think of you?” Lydia laughed through the words, and Claire could have sworn she heard Freddy’s deep, malicious laugh chiming in.

Claire stayed silent. The line crackled a few long seconds, then Lydia exhaled on an impatient sigh. “Oh. All right. Fine then,” she huffed. “Call me back whenever you get around to it. I just thought it might spice things up a bit to come for a visit. If you don’t want me there, just say so.”

Claire closed her eyes. “Lydia, I didn’t say that at all. I would love to see you.

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