Shopaholic to the Rescue (14 page)

“But I’m not your wife,” I say, feeling stupid.

“You’re my friend. Aren’t you?”

“Of course. Tarkie…” I rub my head, trying to collect my thoughts. “What’s happened to you?”

“Nothing’s
happened
to me.”

“But you’ve really changed. You sound fine. In L.A., we all thought—” I stop before I can say,
we all thought you were losing it.

And I know that sounds extreme—but, honestly, Tarkie was in a mess. All he wanted to do was spend time with Bryce. All he could talk about was how Suze was sabotaging him. It was miserable.

“I was in a bad way in L.A.,” says Tarkie after a long pause. “It was…claustrophobic. That can make any relationship go in a strange direction.”

He must be talking about himself and Bryce.

“But surely things are even more claustrophobic now?” I say, puzzled. “I mean, now you’re with Bryce all the time, things won’t get any better—”

“I don’t mean Bryce! Why would I mean Bryce? I mean Suze!”

“Suze?”

I blink at the phone. Does he mean— He doesn’t mean—

“Tarkie?” I begin in slight dread. “What do you—”

“You must have seen us, Becky,” says Tarkie, his voice gruff. “You must have realized things weren’t good between Suze and me. Well, they hit a real low in L.A.”

“It was a stressy time for everyone,” I put in quickly.

“No, it was
really
bad for us.”

I feel a kind of knotting in my stomach. I’ve never had a conversation like this with Tarkie before. Suze and Tarkie have never gone wrong before. They
can’t
go wrong. I feel like the world isn’t right if Suze and Tarkie aren’t happy.

“You must have realized,” Tarkie repeats.

“I…well…” I stammer. “I knew you were spending a lot of time with Bryce, but—”

“Yes, and why do you think that was?” Tarkie sounds so forceful, I jump. “I’m sorry,” he backtracks immediately. “I didn’t mean to lose my cool like that.”

Tarkie is such a gentleman. I’ve barely ever heard him even snap before. My head is spinning with worry and distress, and all I can think is:
Suze
.

“Tarkie, you have to talk to Suze,” I say. “Please. She’s so worried about you, she’s in a total state—”

“I can’t talk to her,” Tarkie interrupts me. “Not right now. Becky, I can’t cope with her. She’s so irrational. She makes accusations, she jumps down my throat….I needed to get away. Your father is wonderful. He’s so balanced.”

“But Suze needs you!”

“I’ll be back. We’ll only be a few days.”

“She needs you now!”

“Well, maybe our marriage needs some time apart!” he practically shouts.

There’s nothing I can say to that. I just stand there, quivering in shock, trying to think of how to turn this conversation around to a better place.

“So…why did you phone?” I say finally.

“I think you should warn Alicia about Bryce. I’ve found out what he’s up to.”

“Oh wow.” My heart starts to beat faster. We’ve all known Bryce was up to no good—but what is it? A cult? A secret organization? Oh God, he’s not a terrorist, is he?

“Bryce has been trying to get money out of me for a while. He talked of his ‘cause,’ but he was secretive as to what exactly this ‘cause’ was.”

My heart lurches. A “cause.” Oh my God, it’s true. I stare at the phone in dread, imagining Bryce yelling instructions at a secret army of followers at a training camp in South America. Or hacking into Google, maybe.

“Now he’s finally revealed the truth,” Tarkie continues. “And his plan is…”

“Yes?” I prompt breathlessly.

“To set up a rival center to Golden Peace.”

“Oh,” I say, after a short silence. “Oh, right.”

I have to confess: I feel just a tad let down. I mean, obviously I’m
glad
Bryce isn’t a terrorist or cult leader…but still. A new business venture. Bor-ing.

“He’s been collecting a database of former clients of Golden Peace, many of whom were unhappy with their experience,” Tarquin is telling me. “He’s been working on it secretly. Alicia and her husband should watch out. Bryce is going to be extremely aggressive. I’m not the only person he’s targeting for money, so I’m sure he’ll succeed.”

“Oh,” I say again. “Well, I’ll tell Alicia.”

All my adrenaline has faded away. So Bryce is going into competition with Alicia. So what? I’m far more concerned with Tarkie and what he’s up to with my dad. And what’s going on with Tarkie and Suze. And what on
earth
I do now.

I’m in an impossible situation, I suddenly realize. If I warn Alicia about Bryce’s business venture, she’ll say,
How did you find out?
and I’ll have to admit I’ve spoken to Tarkie, and Suze will go mad.

“Tarkie,
can’t
you tell me what you’re up to with my dad?” The words tumble out. “Please?”

“Becky…” Tarkie hesitates. “Your father is a good man. And he’s very protective. He doesn’t want you to know what he’s doing. Personally, I can’t see why, but perhaps you should respect that.” I can hear a noise down the line, which sounds like a car engine starting. “I’m sorry, I have to go. But please don’t worry.”

“Tarkie, wait!” I cry, but the phone goes dead, and I stand stock still, digesting what I’ve just heard.

“Becky?” I look up to see Luke in front of me. “Who on earth was that? You look deathly.”

“It was Tarquin,” I say miserably. “Oh, Luke, I don’t think he’s having a nervous breakdown at all. He’s having a
marital
breakdown. He says he needs to spend some time away from Suze…things aren’t going well between them….” I gulp. “What do I say to Suze?”

“Nothing,” says Luke at once. “Do
not
get involved in their relationship. She’ll just transfer all her anger onto you.”

“He said she was…” I swallow. “Irrational.”

“Well,” says Luke drily. “I think Suze is going through a pretty odd phase. But if you tell her she’s irrational, your friendship will
definitely
be at an end.”

We’re silent for a moment. My stomach is churning, over and over. I hate this situation. I want someone to blame, but I’m not sure I can blame even Alicia for this.

“It’s all so horrible,” I say miserably.

“This is big stuff. It’s hard.” Luke wraps his arms around me tight and kisses my forehead. I sink into his embrace and breathe in his familiar scent: part aftershave, part laundered shirt, part Luke.

“Oh, and by the way, Bryce isn’t running a cult after all,” I tell him gloomily. “He’s trying to rip off Alicia. Tarkie wants me to warn her. But how can I? I can’t say,
Guess what? Tarkie just rang me!
”

“It’s awkward,” Luke agrees.

The idea suddenly hits me. “Luke,
you
tell Alicia. Say you heard it on the grapevine. Keep me out of it.”

“Oh no, no.” Luke shakes his head with a short laugh. “I’m not getting into this.”

“Please,” I wheedle. “
Please,
Luke.”

What’s the point of having a husband if he won’t cover your back once in a while? I mean, it’s practically in the vows.

There’s silence as Luke pours himself a grapefruit juice. Then he looks up with a sigh.

“OK, I’ll do it. But, Becky, you’re going to have to tell Suze
sometime
that you spoke to Tarquin. These things have a habit of coming out.”

“I know.” I nod fervently. “I will. But I can’t right now. She’ll murder me.”

“What else did he say?”

“Not a lot. My father’s a good man, apparently.”

“Well, we knew that.” Luke laughs at my expression. “Becky, cheer up. It’s good news, remember? A day ago we thought Tarquin had been kidnapped and left for dead.”

“Yes, but it’s all so
complicated
.” Dolefully, I select a pain au chocolat, an almond croissant, and a Danish whirl. I’ll put one in my bag for later, in case Minnie needs a snack. “And what do we do now? You know what I think? If Tarkie’s fine and Dad doesn’t want us to find him, I think we should just go home.”

“Right.” Luke nods thoughtfully. “Good point. Do you want to say that to your mother or shall I?”

—

OK, so that was a nonstarter. I should have realized Mum was never going to agree to go home in a million years. By the end of what you could call an “animated discussion” (the waitstaff had to ask us to keep it down), we’ve reached a compromise. We’ll go to see Dad’s other old friend, the one in Tucson. Raymond Earle. And if we can’t find anything out from him, we’ll go back to L.A. and wait for Dad to return.

Whereupon, no doubt, Dad will refuse to say what he was up to. And it will be one of the great unsolved puzzles of our time. And Mum will nearly expire in rage. But, as Luke keeps telling me, that’s not my problem.

We’re all up at the buffet again now, having a last go-round. I can’t believe I’m putting yet more food on my plate, but there’s just
so much
. Every time you think
I’ve had everything,
you turn a corner and see some huge pile of fresh waffles, or chicken skewers, or chocolate-covered strawberries, and a bit of your brain shouts,
I’ve paid for this! I need to eat it!
even while the other bit is moaning,
I’m full! Take it awaaaay!

I pour a glass of milk for Minnie and glance over at Suze, who’s getting some juice on the other side of the counter. My whole body is tense with guilt. I’ve never had secrets from Suze before.

Well, except the odd tiny one, like that time I borrowed her Monsoon top and it wasn’t even hers and she only found out years later. But apart from
that
.

Alicia is taking some slivers of pineapple from a fruit display, and as I watch, Luke approaches her, his phone in his hand.

“Oh, Alicia,” he says, sounding casual. “Just heard a bit of gossip on the grapevine. Chap didn’t want me to let on who he was, but he has it on good authority that Bryce Perry is intending to set up a rival establishment to Golden Peace.”

“What?”
Alicia’s cry of shock pierces the sound of buffet chatter.

“That’s what I heard. You might want to check it out.”

He sounds totally laid-back and hasn’t even glanced at me. God, I love Luke.

“So
that’s
what he’s up to?” Alicia’s eyes glitter. “That’s why he’s targeted Tarquin? For backing?”

“Could be.”

Alicia’s new-agey, Zen-like manner seems to be fading away, fast. She looks absolutely livid.

“Anyway.” Luke shrugs. “As I say, just a rumor, but you might want to investigate.”

“Yes. Yes. Thank you for the tip, Luke.” Already she’s heading over to Suze. “You’ll never
guess
what Luke just told me,” she begins, before lowering her voice discreetly.

“Really?” I can hear Suze saying in shock. “Oh my God.”

“I know. I know!” Alicia’s voice rises again in fury. “All this time, he’s been Wilton’s trusted right-hand man, and now he’s betraying us!”

“So
that’s
—” Suze stops herself dead and there’s a weird pause. Her eyes are distant, and I can’t work out what she’s thinking at all.

Alicia has pulled out her phone to start texting. “I don’t know what Wilton will say,” she mutters. “It’s taken years for him to build up such an amazing, blue-chip client list, and Bryce wants to
steal
it?”

I feel such a jolt of shock that I goggle at her. Hello? You want to talk about pinching clients?

Alicia, do you remember when you tried to steal all Luke’s clients?
I want to call out.
Do you remember when you tried to wreck everything he’d worked so hard for?

But there’s no point. I think she’s airbrushed that whole incident out of her memory.

As she’s texting away, Danny comes over to her and Suze, his plate piled high with bacon. I can see an evil gleam in his eye, and he shoots me a tiny wink before speaking.

“So I hear Bryce is going into competition with you!” he begins with great interest. “That’s a piece of news. Tell me, Alicia, is he going to charge any less than you? Because I have to tell you, Golden Peace is
waaaay
expensive.”

“I have no idea,” says Alicia stonily.

“I mean, I love a good mindfulness class as much as the next guy,” Danny continues airily. “But if Bryce opens a more reasonable alternative, then it’ll be a no-brainer. I mean, who doesn’t need to be price-conscious, right? Even movie stars. I’d think you would lose a lot of clients.”

“Danny!” says Suze sharply.

“Just being honest,” says Danny innocently. “So, Alicia, if Bryce opens up a rival center, will your empire collapse, do you think?” He blinks at her. “Will you have to get a job?”

“Danny, shut up!” says Suze furiously.

“Wilton and I will not let some
employee
undermine us,” snaps Alicia. “Who does this Bryce Perry think he is?”

He
is
very good-looking,
I want to point out.
And everyone does worship him.
But I don’t say this, because I think she’d probably attack me with a fork.

“Come on, Alicia.” Suze glares at Danny again. “Let’s sit down.”

As I’m wondering whether to follow them or just hide out by the muffins, I see Elinor approaching. She seems a
lot
better, which is either down to the fruit salad she’s been nibbling or because of her impending custom-made Danny Kovitz Classic wardrobe (I still can’t wait to see her in that coat).

“Would you like a muffin?” I venture politely, and she shoots a disdainful look at them.

“I hardly think so.” She glances over at Suze and Alicia. “What was Luke saying about Wilton Merrelle?”

“One of his employees is planning to open a rival center and steal all his customers. Why? Do you know him?”

“He’s an atrocious man,” says Elinor crisply, and I try not to beam in delight. A bit of bitching about Wilton Merrelle is just what I’m in the mood for.

“Why?” I repeat encouragingly. “You can tell me. I’m really discreet.”

“He practically forced a friend of mine out of her Park Avenue condominium.”

“How did he do that?” I ask, agog.