The Cinderella Reflex (35 page)

Tess stayed silent, thinking of the intimate connection she had witnessed between Paul and the woman that night in the restaurant.

“For a while there I thought we were over – I was even looking up new day care for the children. But,” Andrea shrugged awkwardly, “it’s a marriage, you know what I mean? And we’ve two small children to consider. So we’re trying to work it out.”

“I’m sorry we fell out over it,” Tess said quietly.

“And are you sorry for going to dinner with Jack without telling me first?” Andrea attempted to lighten the mood.

“Of course. And are you sorry for getting secret sessions with a stylist?” Tess countered.

“Desperately!”

Tess laughed. “So how have things been apart from all of that?”

“Good! There have been lots of changes …” Andrea broke off as the waitress arrived to take their order, “and … er … here’s one of them.”

“I’ll just have coffee,” Tess looked up and did a double take. “
Helene?
”

“Don’t look so surprised!” Helene smiled. “Or judgemental.”

“I’m not. I mean, of course I’m
surprised
.” Tess stared at her former boss.

Helene was wearing a loose-cut, floral dress with flat, open sandals and her glossy dark hair was pushed back into a ponytail.

“Well, you shouldn’t be. Being a waitress means you get to meet all sorts of interesting people.” Helene’s mouth curved in a secret smile.

Tess shook her head, trying to make the connection between this barefaced, smiling,
hippy
and the sharp-suited woman who had made her life a misery for months.

“Of course, I only actually waitress the odd time,” Helene continued. “When it’s very busy or staff haven’t turned in. I do it as a favour to Matt but I get ideas from the customers for my real job here – to put the Travel Café on the map. I’m doing the PR for him.”

“Er … sounds great.”

“So – what have you been doing with yourself?”

“I’ve been in London for the last few weeks.” Tess was about to explain about her potential new job on the magazine. But the germ of an idea which had been bubbling just under her consciousness for ages, rose spontaneously to the surface.
If Helene Harper can work as awaitress, why can’t I go to art college?
Tess blinked. Where the hell had that come from? It was a ridiculous idea anyway – she couldn’t start all over again. She wanted to move forward in her life, not go backwards.

“London must have been interesting,” Helene said. “I’m actually thinking of moving away myself. To New Zealand – after the baby is born.” She looked down at her as yet non-existent bump proudly.

“Congratulations!” Tess smiled.

“My foot she’s moving to New Zealand,” Andrea snorted as soon as Helene wafted out of earshot. “Remember that guy who rescued her fortieth birthday party and stopped it from turning into a complete disaster?”

“Yeah, Matt. The guy who owns this place.”

“Well, I think they’re an item now.” Andrea’s eyes were glinting with amusement.

“
Seriously?
What about Richard and the baby?” Tess stared after Helene.

“They’re finished. And you saw how Helene lights up when she mentions Matt. She’s different since she met him. Softer. And when you see them together – well …”

Tess shook her head in disbelief. “Typical of Helene to land on her feet no matter what happens. And if that sounds as if I’m jealous, it’s because I am.”

But then Tess thought maybe things had worked out for Helene because she was brave. Brave enough to leave a situation that was making her unhappy and to take a risk with someone new. Maybe, instead of begrudging her old boss her happiness, she needed to concentrate on developing her own courage muscles.

She pulled her attention back to Andrea. “So, how have things been at work for you?”

“Really good, actually. As soon as I realised Chris had won the contest, I knew I had to change tack immediately. And guess what – I pitched for Helene’s job and got it!” Andrea clapped her hands in anticipation of Tess’s reaction.

Tess’s eyes widened. “Wow! Congratulations! Is it … er … as stressful as Helene seemed to find it?”

“Not at all. You were right from the beginning. Helene and Ollie did make out that their jobs were a lot more difficult than they actually were.”

“Ollie’s was a lot harder as I remember.” Tess shuddered at the memory of her Agony Aunt of the Airways experience.

“I suppose it depends on whether the position suits you,” Andrea conceded. “But I love my new role, and so does Chris Conroy – for now at least. And Sara is having no trouble at all keeping him under control – she keeps telling him he’s cute, apparently!”

Tess smiled. “He’d like that. So what happened to Ollie?”

“Ollie,” Andrea smothered a laugh, “has gone to New Zealand! Helene has no idea about it yet but, when she finds out, I bet she’ll use it as an excuse to stay put.”

“Tea, wasn’t it?” Helene arrived back at their table and plonked Tess’s mug down so hard that the hot liquid slopped all over the table.

“It was coffee, actually,” Tess said apologetically.

“Damn!” Helene looked irritable.

Tess took up a napkin and started mopping up the mess. No matter how lyrical Helene was waxing now about working as a waitress, Tess somehow didn’t see this phase of her life lasting too long. Helene Harper would be bossing someone around somewhere, before too much longer. Probably Matt, if Andrea was right.

“Thanks. I’ll get you coffee so,” Helene said half-heartedly. “Unless you don’t mind drinking tea?”

“Tea is fine.” Tess hid a smile.

Helene gave her a speculative look. “Hey, have you heard about Jack and Paulina yet?”

“No?” Tess stiffened.

“Paulina’s hoping he’s going to put a ring on it soon.”

“Good for her.”

“And apparently Richard and Louisa have finally split up,” Andrea whispered as Helene moved away. “The story is that as soon as she heard Helene was pregnant, that was it – it was curtains for Richard.”

Tess was only half listening. She was already mentally making arrangements for her return to London. The very last thing she wanted was to be in Killty if Jack and Paulina were planning their nuptials.

Andrea reached for her briefcase. “Listen, I need to go over some urgent work stuff with Jack because he’s got a plane to catch first thing in the morning. But we can meet again tomorrow and have a proper catch-up if you’re free?”

The door to the café swung open and Andrea stood up.

“Here he is now, actually. Jack? Jack, we’re over here.”

Tess followed her gaze and found herself looking up into the solemn brown eyes of Jack McCabe.

Chapter Twenty-Five

She couldn’t stop staring. Seeing Jack so unexpectedly like this had thrown her completely. He was wearing a light summer suit and plain white shirt and he looked indecently sexy.

Tess’s eyes darted suspiciously to Andrea – was it really a coincidence that Jack should pitch up at the Travel Café just when she was here? But Andrea was studiously leafing through a sheaf of documents.

“Tess.” He seemed to be as surprised as she was that they should meet like this. “You’re back.”

“I was just going, actually. I’ll let you get on with your meeting.” She stood up abruptly.

Jack put his hand on her shoulder. “Please. We need to talk – or at least I do. I don’t want us to part on bad terms.”

“We’re not on bad terms.” She forced a smile. “But I really do have to be going. I’ll call you tomorrow, Andrea.” She made a beeline for the door and stepped gratefully out into the cool air of the early evening. She couldn’t understand how flustered she got every time she met him.

“What’s the hurry?”

She looked back to see that Jack had followed her out. “Honestly, I do have a lot on – I’m moving to London.”

“Oh! When?” He looked disappointed.

“Soon. And Andrea says you need to go over some urgent work stuff with her.”

“She does?” He looked towards the café where Andrea was now in a window seat, peering out at them. He smiled. “I wondered why she was so insistent about meeting here. Obviously she’s figured out how much I wanted to see you again.”

The sun slipped out from behind a cloud and Jack squinted in the unexpected light. “Look,” he pressed on, “I’m flying to New York tomorrow for a business trip. But I’m staying at a hotel just outside here tonight. Would you come and have a drink with me? I’d really like to clear the air.”

Tess hesitated. What was the point? Clearing the air sounded a lot like getting closure, didn’t it? That was what she had told herself when she was going to meet up with Chris again. And look how that had turned out. On the other hand if she was going to live in London, she’d never meet Jack McCabe again after tonight. And she could still feel the full force of that charisma thing he had going on. It was as if the world was a more colourful, fun place to be when she was with him.

“Just the one then.”

“Brilliant,” Jack beamed.

He ushered her towards his car and Tess slipped into the passenger seat. Jack switched on a classical station and Tess sank into the soft, leather upholstery and allowed the music to waft away any misgivings she might be having. As the car rounded a bend, she took a surreptitious look at him from beneath her lashes. He was staring straight ahead, his brow furrowed as if he was trying to work out a puzzle. She was conscious of how close they were – that if she reached out her hand she’d be touching him and how the thought of that was making all her senses sing in a way they never had before. Not with Chris, not even the first time around. Not with anyone.

How was that for lousy timing? Finding out how much Jack meant to her just when she was about to say goodbye to him for good? By the time they pulled into the hotel’s grand, cobblestoned driveway, all of Tess’s doubts had resurfaced and she had convinced herself she’d made a monumental mistake in coming.

As they entered the reception, Tess gravitated towards the fire burning in an ornate fireplace while Jack checked himself in. What good was having one drink with him going to do, she thought as she stared into the flames. It was like torturing herself.

“I have a suite because I need to get some work done.” Jack returned with his key card. “So I’ve ordered drinks for the room – if that’s okay?”

“Sure.” Tess couldn’t help wondering how Paulina would react if she knew Jack was inviting her up to his hotel suite. It was clear now why she had been so hostile towards her. Paulina’s intuition had told her there was
something
between her and Jack – the same something Tess herself had felt that night when they had gone for dinner.

The only one who hadn’t felt it, unfortunately, was Jack. He was marching across towards the lift now, oblivious of any tension between them at all. As they travelled up to the penthouse, Tess wondered if he was remembering the last time they’d been in a lift together and her ridiculous elevator speech.

They came to a stop and the doors slid open silently, leading them directly into the suite. Tess blinked at the opulence of the surroundings. The sitting room was furnished with an enormous yellow sofa, stuffed with matching cushions. There was an expensive, red-leather writing desk slotted into an alcove. A small dining table was dressed with an enormous bouquet of roses arranged in a cut-glass vase and a bottle of champagne was chilling in a silver bucket.

Jack threw his jacket across the back of the sofa and reached for the champagne. Tess walked over to the window and stared at the storybook scene outside – a patchwork of green fields and an actual babbling brook flowing alongside the walls of the hotel, the water glistening hypnotically as it skimmed over the smooth pebbles of the riverbed.

“Cheers!” Jack came up behind her and handed her a glass of champagne.

“Cheers!” She hoped she wasn’t about to find out that Helene was right, and that Jack had plans to propose to Paulina. She wanted to enjoy this last, fantasy evening with him first.

“So where did you go that awful day after the launch party?” he asked. “I tried to find you but there appeared to be an
omertà
about it at Atlantic 1FM.”

“That’s because nobody there knew. Not even Andrea. I met Chris. Then I switched off my mobile. And then I went to London, to visit my sister. I needed to get away from everything and everyone.”

“I’m not surprised. It all went a bit pear-shaped,” he said ruefully. “Look, I want to apologise for my behaviour. I’m afraid I overreacted on several fronts.”

Tess shrugged. “It’s in the past.”

“But I blamed you for that debacle with Ollie – without even checking if I had read the situation correctly. And I blurted out that Chris had a fiancée – it was cruel.”

“Yeah. That was a shock. I pretended I knew already but you probably guessed that was just to save face. Nobody likes to be taken for a fool.”

Jack’s face darkened. “I know what you mean. One of the reasons I was so angry with you was because you told me you didn’t know who Richard was having the affair with. And all the while it was common knowledge.”

Tess bit her lip. “Jack, I was never one-hundred-per-cent sure about Helene and Richard. There was talk but I wasn’t going to help ruin a marriage without having first-hand evidence.”

He stood beside her, staring out at the countryside, twirling the stem of his glass around. “There was a silver lining, I suppose, because when Louisa found out that Helene was pregnant, she finally threw Richard out. She’s broken-hearted now but, with Tricky Dickey out of the picture, I’m hoping she’ll have a chance to recover.”

Tess raised her glass again. “To new futures, so! For everyone. I have a new job in London.” She swallowed. “And Paulina and you have plans for the future too.”

There. That had sounded friendly and mature, just as she had wanted it to.

He frowned. “You mean for the station?”

“No.” She mustn’t back down now. “I’m talking about your – your personal lives.”

“What do you mean?”

“Something Helene Harper said,” she murmured, blushing. “I met her earlier at the Travel Café. Did you know she’s waitressing there now?”