Authors: Sherryl Woods
“No, we came on a commercial airliner,” Beth said, and earned a poke in the ribs from Kathleen for her candor.
Destiny smiled. “Paid a pretty penny, did you? Or have you had those tickets longer than a few days?”
Melanie gave her sister-in-law an aggrieved look. “We made the reservations a while back, but we weren’t entirely sure we’d be able to come until a few days ago. We had to make arrangements for the time off, and Beth wanted to be sure her new nanny could handle things for several days. As it is, she’ll be fussing and calling home every ten minutes.”
“Nice save,” Destiny complimented her. “So, are you here for shopping, the theater, sightseeing?”
“All of that,” Kathleen said, when neither Melanie nor Beth could find their tongue.
Destiny regarded them with a resigned look. So, this was Richard’s scheme. “And a little spying, I imagine.”
Only Beth and Kathleen blushed. Melanie regarded her with a brazen look and never even blinked.
“Richard’s worried,” Melanie admitted.
“Richard’s always worrying about one thing or another. What is it this time?” Destiny asked, even though she knew the answer.
“He thinks you’re getting too chummy with Wil
liam Harcourt,” Beth told her. “Mack’s concerned about the same thing.”
“As is Ben,” Kathleen added.
“None of them are buying that you’re seeing him entirely for the sake of the business,” Melanie added.
“So what? Are they afraid I’ll sell all our trade secrets?” Destiny asked. “Surely they know me better than that.”
“No,” Melanie insisted gently, coming over to give her a fierce hug. “They’re afraid you’ll get hurt.”
Destiny squeezed her hand. Melanie was a wonderfully sensitive woman, which was one reason Destiny had handpicked her for Richard. “You may be worried about that, but I guarantee you that Richard is not. I love him dearly, and I’ve had high hopes for him since he was wise enough to marry you, but he’s a single-focus, bottom-line kind of man.”
“Not where you’re concerned,” Melanie countered. “He knows that you and William have a history. He doesn’t know the details, but he suspects that William has already hurt you once.”
“History is exactly what William and I have,” Destiny claimed, determined not to suggest for a second that she’d been unsettled ever since she’d laid eyes on him again. “It’s old news.”
Beth gave her a penetrating look. She was a doctor and scientist. She had an uncanny knack for diagnosing what was at the heart of things. “Then what are all the cozy dinners about?”
“Good food, friendly conversation, spying,” Destiny said blithely.
They laughed. It was Beth who sobered first.
“You’re trying to steal
his
trade secrets?” Beth guessed.
“Why not?” Destiny replied without the slightest hint of guilt. “It seems only fair since he’s used things I told him in confidence years ago to try to steal business from us.” It was a believable spin, she thought.
“Learn anything valuable?” Melanie asked curiously.
“Not a blessed thing,” Destiny grumbled. “He seems to be on to me. Besides, we’ve called a truce and he’s sticking to it. I’m not sure I want to do anything that will spark another attack. We’re in the thick of the Fortnum Travel negotiations right now, and I know William intends to swoop in and save David Fortnum’s hide. I’m doing all I can to make it difficult for him. I know if we lose, Richard will be furious. He’s determined to have that company.”
“Just how does William intend to beat you?” Melanie asked.
“Out of loyalty to Fortnum, I suspect he’ll do whatever it takes to make an offer that’s more attractive to the shareholders than whatever we come up with,” Destiny explained. “I just wish I knew how far he’s willing to go.”
“Perhaps you’ve been skimping on the wine. Invite him over and let us go to work on him,” Beth suggested. “We’ll find out for you.”
“I’ll bet we can wrangle all sorts of juicy tidbits from him,” Kathleen added eagerly.
Destiny frowned at the idea. “You just want to get a good look at the two of us together so you can report back.”
“That, too,” they admitted candidly enough now
that the cat was out of the bag about the real reason for this supposedly impromptu visit.
Destiny shook her head. It was definitely a bad idea to put these three in the same room with William. “I don’t think so.”
“We’ll find him on our own, you know,” Melanie reminded her. “We can’t go back home laden down with nothing but shopping bags and theater stubs. We have to go back with some news that will reassure our worrywart husbands.”
Destiny smiled. That was true enough. And better to let them meet William and go home with some nice, dull report, than to have Richard charging over here. Compared to Richard when his ire was up, these three were capable of being friendly enough.
“Fine,” she relented. “We’ll all have tea. Someplace public, so William won’t fear a lynching.”
“Your place,” Melanie insisted with a grin. “Let him squirm a little. All things considered, that’s more than fair, don’t you agree?”
Destiny wasn’t entirely sure her worst enemy deserved to have these three turned loose on him, but she was sure William was up to the challenge. And maybe he did deserve to have to answer to someone other than her. She certainly didn’t seem to be intimidating him in the slightest these days, not even with her rather clever business tactics.
Besides, Melanie, Beth and Kathleen were bright and intuitive. Perhaps they could decipher whether William’s claim that he still loved her was sincere or just some plot to trick her into trusting him for his own devious reasons.
“Okay, then,” she agreed eventually. “My place,
but we’ll wait until tomorrow. I need time to prepare.”
“What’s to prepare?” Melanie demanded. “I’m sure the three of us can rustle up an appropriate tea by late afternoon today. No point in dragging this out. Once we’ve done our duty, we can settle down and do some serious shopping.”
“I agree. If it seems as if we can’t pull it off, I’m very talented at finding excellent carryout,” Beth said.
“Forget that,” Kathleen said decisively. “Destiny, is your kitchen well stocked with the basics?”
Destiny’s head was spinning. On their own, she was a more-than-even match for her nephew’s wives. Now that they’d ganged up on her, the odds had definitely shifted in their favor. “Well, enough for my needs, but I doubt the pantry will have what you need if you intend to start baking.”
“I’m thinking scones and little tea sandwiches with some bits of cake and tarts,” Kathleen said. “That’s what my customers love when I have teas at the gallery.”
Melanie and Beth stared at her.
“How had I forgotten that one of us actually knows her way around a kitchen?” Melanie said. “Come on, Beth. Let’s get Kathleen to the nearest store so she can get to work.” She turned back to Destiny.
“Call William,” she said briskly. “And don’t take no for an answer.”
Destiny gave them a key to her apartment and the address, then watched the whirlwind leave her office with the same energy with which it had entered. She sank back in her chair, exhausted by it all. When she’d
caught her breath, she picked up the phone and dialed William.
“You’re never going to believe it,” she told him. “Guess who’s turned up in London.”
“Your nephews’ wives,” he said at once.
“How on earth did you know that?”
He laughed. “I’d like to tell you that I’m psychic or that it was totally predictable that they’d turn up sooner or later, but the truth is I called your office about an hour ago and Miriam told me.”
“Did she also tell you you’re invited to tea at my flat at five?”
“I don’t believe she mentioned that,” he said.
“Good. Then at least she isn’t listening at the keyhole,” Destiny said tartly. “Will you come?”
“Of course,” he said eagerly, then hesitated. “Unless you’d rather I came up with an excuse.”
She debated how to reply in a way that wouldn’t get his guard up. Better to let him think their curiosity was purely personal, an inspection tour so to speak, rather than any sort of attempt to dig into his business plans.
“Unfortunately, I don’t think there’s an excuse you could manufacture aside from being on your deathbed that would get you out of this,” she told him truthfully. “Even then, I’m not sure they wouldn’t insist on bringing tea to you. They’ve heard a lot about you and they intend to have their curiosity satisfied.”
He laughed at her obvious dismay. “Not to worry, darling. Charming suspicious women is something I do rather well.”
“Yes, well, it hasn’t worked on me yet, has it?” she retorted. “I’ll see you at five.”
She hung up and closed her eyes, trying to imagine how this encounter was likely to go. The only image that came to mind was of total disaster.
W
illiam had a few hours to kill before tea with Destiny’s family, so he went looking for Oliver Diggs. It was something he’d been debating for some time now. If Diggs was somehow involved with that photograph, there was no telling what he might do if William cornered him. If he was innocent, then being questioned might make him angry enough to get Chester all stirred up in a way that would become a problem for Destiny. After weighing all the risks, William finally concluded it was something that had to be done. Better to know if Diggs was the enemy than to be blindsided by another surprise attack.
He tracked Chester’s partner to an exclusive gym known to be favored by London’s elite gay men. Since William doubted he could disguise himself as any sort of member in the establishment, he opted for waiting across the street in a small coffee shop.
He was sipping his second cup of coffee when Diggs emerged, his complexion ruddy from his workout. A good decade younger than Sandhurst’s fifty, Diggs clearly prided himself on staying fit. His shoulders were broad, his hips lean and his step jaunty.
William crossed the street. “Oliver, fancy seeing you here,” he greeted the man, as if it were nothing more than a casual encounter.
Diggs’s gaze narrowed. “Harcourt, isn’t it?”
“Yes, William Harcourt. We’ve met at my men’s club. Believe you go as Ridgely’s guest,” he said, trying not to make an immediate connection to Chester. Better to reveal himself slowly.
“Brutal day, isn’t it?” William added. “Haven’t felt the wind like this in an age. I was thinking of a cup of coffee. Care to join me?”
The man immediately regarded him with suspicion. “This isn’t a chance meeting at all, is it?”
Caught, William didn’t waste time denying it. “No. Actually, I was hoping to have a word with you.”
“About?”
“Would you mind discussing it once we’re out of the cold air?”
“If you’re hoping to pump me for inside information about Carlton Industries, I’ll tell you right now, I don’t have any. Chester doesn’t bring his work home with him.”
“Why would I want to do such a thing?” William asked. “If I were after inside information, the last person I’d choose to ask would be someone whose first loyalty is to a member of the Carlton executive team.”
“Perhaps, but everyone in London knows there’s a feud in the wind between Carlton Industries and your firm. Chester natters on and on about it. Gets bloody tiresome to be perfectly honest.”
William grinned. “Yes, I imagine it would. Business is seldom all that interesting to people unless they’re involved in it. Now, about that coffee?”
Diggs finally relented. “I have a few minutes to spare, I suppose.”
“Excellent,” William said a little too heartily.
Thankfully the waiter in the coffee shop didn’t acknowledge by so much as a blink of an eye that William had left the very same table not five minutes before. He brought their coffees, then discreetly disappeared.
“You and Chester enjoy yourselves in Devon over the holidays?” William asked.
For the first time Diggs’s expression registered real surprise. “You knew about that?”
“Ran into someone who mentioned it at the club,” William said evasively. No point in stirring up speculation by mentioning that he’d been there with Destiny when she’d turned up and brought their vacation to a sudden end. “You have family there?” he asked instead.
“No, no family. The truth is, neither of our families approves of us, so we rarely see them, and never together.”
“Too bad.”
Diggs shrugged. “To be expected from conservative old sods, I suppose. Wouldn’t have expected it from Ms. Carlton, though. Thought all Americans were more liberal-thinking than that.”
“Oh? What makes you think she doesn’t approve?”
“It’s not me, so much as Chester. He didn’t want me anywhere about the place when she had her fancy holiday party.” He gave William a speculative look. “Heard you were there, though. How did that happen?”
“We’re old friends, as a matter of fact,” William said. “To tell you the truth, you should be grateful you weren’t forced to attend. It was more of that business talk. You’d have been bored.”
“Can’t imagine they were talking too much business with you underfoot.”
William laughed. “Yes, the key people did tend to clam up whenever I got near. Still, I can see your point about being excluded. Must have made you angry.”
Diggs shrugged as if it were no longer of any consequence. “Not angry. Just a bit disappointed. Blamed Chester mostly. He’s not the kind who likes to take chances. One of his flaws. He admits it himself. Says that’s why Carlton sent Destiny over here to take charge.”
“How do you feel about taking chances? Are you more of a risk-taker than Chester?”
“No. I just believe it’s pointless to try to hide the truth.” He shrugged. “Water under the bridge now.”
“Then you and Chester have made peace?”
“Of course.”
“So you wouldn’t have any reason to want to get even with Ms. Carlton?”
Diggs looked genuinely shocked by the suggestion. “Get even? And risk Chester’s job in the process? May be an enigma to me, but he loves that company and his work. Why the hell would I do something to put that in jeopardy?”
“Retaliation for a snub,” William suggested. “Or resentment over the way they treated Chester.”
“Wasn’t her snub, more than likely. It was probably Chester doing what he thought was best without giving a thought to my feelings. As for the other, if Chester can live with it, so can I.”
William nodded, certain that Oliver had it pegged exactly right. “Then as far as you’re concerned, deal
ing with Carlton Industries is Chester’s call? You wouldn’t go round him with your own agenda?”
“Absolutely not.” He regarded William curiously. “Why are you so interested in this?”
“Just making conversation,” William said.
“Thought maybe you were hoping to find a rift between me and Chester that you could exploit,” Diggs said, proving he had the kind of devious mind it would take to plot revenge, even though he’d claimed he had no reason to.
“Nope. Ms. Carlton and I have worked out a truce,” William said, preferring not to admit it was a rather tenuous one at this point.
“Wonder if Chester knows that? He still seems to think of you as the enemy.”
William laughed. “Some people require more convincing than others.”
“Chester’s a cynic, all right,” Diggs agreed. “But that’s because he’s loyal to Carlton Industries. He’ll always be alert to potential trouble. Finds it lurking in every shadow. Must get tiresome, if you ask me.”
William thought about it before nodding. “You have a point, Diggs. All that intrigue does get tiresome.”
In fact, if William could get rid of this one nagging concern that someone else wasn’t ready to let it go, he’d be happy to move on himself.
When Destiny got to her flat, she found it filled with the most amazing scents. Kathleen had obviously found everything she needed and was intent on putting on quite a show for William. Or maybe they were hoping to lull him with food, so he’d be more inclined
to give himself away if he still harbored any devious intentions.
Whatever they were scheming hardly mattered. It was the tantalizing aromas she was drawn to now, that and the laughter emanating from the kitchen. For once the dreary decor, which she still hadn’t remedied, didn’t seem quite so boring. All the flat needed was real life breathed into the place.
Destiny pushed open the door and smiled at the sight that greeted her. Though she was loathe to admit it, she’d missed this kind of family commotion since coming to London. A part of her was almost grateful to Richard and his ridiculous suspicions for getting Melanie and the others over here.
She surveyed the spread Kathleen had assembled, as if the task of afternoon tea were second nature to her. Plates were laden down with little sandwiches, tarts and cakes, far more than the five of them would require. It appeared she was mixing the batter for the scones now.
“Haven’t you gotten a bit carried away, darlings?” Destiny asked, her voice filled with amusement.
They turned to her, still laughing.
“That’s what I said,” Melanie replied. “But Kathleen is used to preparing food for a hundred. She didn’t know quite how to quit once she got started. Besides, we’re all famished. Will William be here soon?”
“A half hour,” Destiny promised.
“No problems getting him to agree?” Beth asked.
“Actually, I think he’s looking forward to it,” Destiny admitted. “William has always loved being sur
rounded by women. He considers it his natural element.”
“Quite a ladies’ man, then?” Melanie asked casually.
Destiny gave her a sharp look. “Never that. Not when he was with me, at any rate.”
“And since then?”
“He assures me he’s never found anyone else as special to him as I was.” She managed to say it in an offhand tone, as if it weren’t something she was beginning to believe, much less count on.
Melanie’s eyebrows rose. “Really?”
“Sounds romantic.” Beth’s comment drew a scowl from the others. “What did I say? It does. Here he is a duke, isn’t that right?”
Destiny nodded.
“That must make him quite a catch, yet all these years he’s been pining for Destiny,” Beth continued.
“So he says.” Melanie sounded as unrelentingly skeptical as Richard would under the same circumstances.
Destiny gave her a hug. “Darling, you’re beginning to sound far too much like your husband.”
“Uh-oh,” Kathleen said, grinning. “I think Destiny’s gotten to you just in time, Melanie. One Richard in the family is enough.”
Melanie frowned, then laughed. “Okay, okay. You’re right. Enough of the doubts. I’ll reserve judgment. Besides, we’re supposed to concentrate on prying business secrets out of the man, not passing judgment on his suitability for Destiny.”
“A refreshing change,” Destiny told her. “Now,
unless you need me to do something, I’ll go and freshen up a bit.”
Beth winked at her. “Go along. Wouldn’t want you to have to face William at anything less than your absolute best, though it was clear in that newspaper photo that he wasn’t put off by your old robe and slippers. Not that any of that matters to you, of course.”
Destiny frowned at her. “Barely here and you’re already starting to get on my nerves,” she said lightly.
Kathleen stared at her. “I almost think she means that.”
Destiny nodded in satisfaction. “Good. I wanted to give you something to think about. When William arrives, I expect all three of you to mind your manners.”
Melanie gave her a fierce hug. “Best behavior, we promise.”
“That will do, then.”
But just in case they forgot their promise, when the doorbell rang at precisely five, Destiny intended to be there first.
Even had he not been forewarned, William would have known he was under a microscope the instant he set foot inside Destiny’s flat. All three nieces by marriage regarded him with caution. Their greetings were polite, but distinctly cool. They were definitely withholding judgment, but one misstep on his part could easily swing the pendulum against him.
There were a few pleasantries exchanged before they ushered him to the living room, where tea with a formal silver service had been set up on an antique tea cart. Once he’d accepted a cup of tea from Destiny,
he gazed at each woman in turn. Even without introductions, he would have recognized each of them from what Destiny had told him about them and their husbands.
He turned first to Melanie. As Richard’s wife, she was most likely the one who’d require the most convincing that his intentions toward Destiny were honorable. “I understand you’re quite a talented public relations expert,” he said.
She seemed vaguely startled that he knew that. “My business has done nicely,” she agreed, “though I have less time for it now that Richard and I have a little one at home. I still consult for Carlton Industries.”
“Have anything to do with the Jameson’s campaign over here before Christmas?” he asked with a pointed look toward Destiny. “It was rather clever.”
Destiny chuckled. “That was my doing, William. Don’t blame Melanie for cutting into your business and causing your holiday profits to fall below expectations.”
He grinned at her. “Actually, we had our best season ever, thanks to you. Curiosity drove a lot more people into the store.”
Melanie gave them each a piercing look. “What’s he talking about, Destiny?”
Destiny waved her off before William could respond. “Let’s not get bogged down in business talk.”
William laughed. “Probably a good idea. Sorry I brought it up.” He turned to Beth, who had the quiet demeanor he would have expected from a dedicated physician and scientist. “How is your pediatric-cancer research progressing?”
Beth gave him a startled look. “You know about that?”
“I made it my business to learn everything I could about the people who are important to Destiny,” he said.