The Disengagement Ring

Author:Clodagh Murphy [Murphy, Clodagh]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-01-22T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

The next morning the weekend house guests packed up to leave, amid a great deal of chaos and faffing. Tessa was in a complete panic about what to wear, constantly ripping open her bags to change her outfit and forcing Kim and Bonnie to restyle her hair and retouch her make-up. She was terrified of being caught off guard by paparazzi as she got off the plane and ending up in one of those smug montages of celebs looking like shit.

Fawn, by contrast, was the soul of calm, complacent in the belief that organising her departure was someone else’s job. She lounged by the pool, issuing demands and giving orders, even commandeering Tessa’s assistants to do her nails while she relaxed in the sun.

Summer had been packed and ready to go since early morning and took the opportunity to escape the mayhem for a quiet cup of coffee in the kitchen with Kate.

‘It’ll be good for Georgie to have another girl around,’ she said.

‘She spends too much time surrounded by boys. Sometimes I think they’re a bit over-protective, and it’s not good for her.’

Raised voices drew their attention to the terrace. Outside, Tessa was now engaged in a heated bilingual shouting match with Maria, each woman babbling away in her own language with no idea of what the other was saying. Not that it mattered: their body language said it all. ‘Will!’ Tessa shrieked, calling him in to referee.

‘God, if he’s any sense he’ll hide until she’s gone,’ Kate said. Over the weekend, she had seen how everyone leaned on Will. She was appalled at the way Fawn and Tessa in particular would turn to him with their trivial problems rather than trying to do anything for themselves. She wondered how they tied their own shoelaces when he wasn’t on hand.

‘I’m glad you’re here for Will’s sake too,’ Summer said thoughtfully. ‘I think it’s really good for him to have you here.’

‘Me?’ Kate was taken aback.

‘Yes, you,’ Summer stated. ‘I’ve known Will for quite a long time, but I’ve never seen him as happy and relaxed as he’s been the past couple of days. I can’t help feeling that you’re what makes the difference.’ She stirred her coffee absently. ‘Will has such sad eyes, don’t you think? He’s a beautiful man, but he has the loneliest eyes.’ She looked out of the window to where he was on the terrace, trying to calm Tessa. It turned out that she had mislaid her airline ticket and was taking it out on Maria. ‘He’s a terrific guy. He’s so good at what he does, but sometimes, he seems a bit . . . lost. He doesn’t seem that way when you’re around.’

Kate followed her gaze. Will had instigated a search party for Tessa’s ticket and was smoothing Maria’s ruffled feathers, speaking to her in fluent Italian.

‘Maybe you make him feel . . . safe,’ Summer continued.

Kate wrinkled her nose. ‘Safe? Not exactly sexy, is it?’

‘Don’t knock it. After all, most men marry their mothers.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.