Secrets From the Past by Barbara Taylor Bradford

Author:Barbara Taylor Bradford [Bradford, Barbara Taylor]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Tags: Romance, Fiction, Contemporary, General
ISBN: 9781611737240
Google: z4W9LgEACAAJ
Amazon: 0312631669
Barnesnoble: 0312631669
Goodreads: 15793111
Publisher: Center Point Pub
Published: 2011-12-31T18:30:00+00:00

THIRTY

The moment I viewed the car up close, I knew exactly who the visitor must be. Allen Lambert. Jessica had mentioned that he had a passion for vintage cars, and now I was staring at an old but highly polished light blue Jaguar parked in our driveway. It had to be his.

A moment later a man alighted, lifted his hand in greeting. I waved back and walked towards him. He reached into the car, took out a bouquet of flowers and headed down the garden path.

There was a genial smile on his face; he was fair of colouring, rather nice looking, and casually dressed in an open-necked blue-checked shirt, beige slacks and a navy blazer.

As we both drew to a standstill, he thrust out his hand. ‘I’m Allen, and you must be Serena.’

‘I am, and it’s lovely to meet you finally. I’m sorry I’ve not been around. When you came to see Jessica last week I was in Nice.’

He smiled again, his blue eyes sparkling. ‘How is Jessica? I just got back from London at lunchtime, and I thought I’d pop up for a little visit.’

‘She’s fine, but I’m afraid she’s not here at the moment. She went to the auction house for a while.’

‘Oh dear, how silly of me not to think of phoning her there. Quite frankly, it never occurred to me she’d be at work.’

I noticed the flash of disappointment in his eyes, the way his expression changed, and I said, ‘Come on, let’s go to the terrace and wait for her. She won’t be long.’

‘Well, all right, if you’re sure she won’t mind …’ His voice trailed off, and he now seemed somewhat hesitant about hanging around.

‘Of course she won’t. Anyway, she’s probably on her way back already. Adeline was going to pick her up, once she’d finished shopping. I’ll give Jess a call on her cell phone, find out when she’ll be back.’

‘Good idea,’ he said, his face instantly brightening.

We went up the steps to the terrace. I said, ‘Sit down, Allen, make yourself at home. I’ll go and grab my phone.’

He nodded, offered me a warm smile. I already had the feeling that Allen Lambert liked my sister a lot, and that there was much more to this relationship than I’d realized. I was pleased as I hurried off. Once I was in the dining room I searched for my phone, and soon found it under a pile of photographs. I dialled Jessica’s number and she answered immediately.

‘Hi, it’s me,’ I said. ‘Where are you, Jess?’

‘Almost home. Why?’

‘Allen Lambert arrived here a few minutes ago. Apparently he just got back from London, and he decided to pop up and see you. At least that was the way he put it.’

‘Oh God,’ she muttered, and I heard her long sigh echoing down the phone.

‘What’s the matter? Don’t you want to see him?’

‘I do and I don’t.’

‘Now you’re the ditherer, like I was about Zac.’

‘I know.’

‘I like him, Jess. I’ve only spent a few minutes with him, but he’s so nice, very genial, and he’s got an open, honest face.

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