Serina swallowed. ‘Having lunch with you know who.’
‘Who? Oh, you mean Nicolas Dupre. Really? I’m surprised. I got the impression you weren’t too pleased with Felicity for securing his services as judge for the talent quest.’
‘I wasn’t. And I didn’t want to have lunch with him, believe me,’ she said. ‘But he asked me in front of those silly girls in my office and they made it impossible for me to refuse.’
‘You’re right. They are silly, those two. But nice girls all the same. So what’s he like these days? Still handsome, I would expect.’
‘Mum, could this conversation wait till later? I’m running out of time and I can’t talk whilst I drive.’ It seemed wise to let her mother think she had her own wheels.
‘It will have to be much later. I haven’t left Newcastle yet.’
‘So how is Mrs Johnson?’
‘Healthy as a horse. The doc gave her some mild blood pressure pills and told her to lay off the sherry.’
‘Which she won’t.’
‘I doubt it. Anyway, dear, off you go and I’ll ring you when I get home.’
‘Please do.’ And she hung up.
‘Who were you talking to in here?’ Nicolas said as he flung open the door.
‘My mother,’ she replied brusquely, and dropped the phone back into her bag. ‘She rang to let me know how Mrs Johnson is.’
‘And?’
‘She’ll live till she’s a hundred. Now, if you don’t mind, I need to get back to Rocky Creek.’
‘You’re the one who’s been taking your time. Let’s go.’
The drive back to Rocky Creek was excruciating. Neither of them spoke, not a single word.
Serina stared through the passenger window and tried not think about what she’d just done. If her mother ever found out she’d jumped into bed with Nicolas within hours of his returning, she would not believe her. Of course, her mother never knew about the highly sexual nature of their teenage affair. She probably thought her dear darling daughter had gone to her wedding night a virgin.
Serina would have liked to confide in her mother. To confess everything. But she couldn’t. Her mother would not understand. She would be totally shocked, and bitterly ashamed.
I’ll have to do what I’ve always done, Serina thought wearily. Keep my mouth shut and all my dark dirty secrets to myself.
Just after they’d gone through Wauchope, Nicolas’s own brooding silence began to seriously bother her. If he considered their relationship dusted and dried, as he’d claimed, then why was he so angry with her?
And he was. She could feel his anger hitting her in waves.
They were just coming down the hill towards the bridge that crossed Rocky Creek when she decided to speak up.
‘There’s no need for this, Nicolas,’ she said with more calm than she was feeling. ‘It’s childish.’
‘What’s childish?’
‘Giving me the cold-shoulder treatment. Look, I’m sorry if things haven’t worked out the way you might have imagined. I’m sorry I’m not the girl you remember. Like I said, things change. So do people.’
His sidewards glance showed a reluctant flash of admiration. ‘You’ve certainly grown up a lot.’
‘Marriage and motherhood has a tendency to do that.’
‘Are you saying I haven’t grown up?’
‘Not at all. But parenthood has a way of forcing a person into early maturity, and into being less selfish.’
‘Ah, so you’re saying that I’m selfish.’
‘Don’t put words into my mouth, Nicolas. You would know better than me if you’re selfish or not.’
Nicolas nodded. ‘I suspect that I am. My mother always said I was.’
They both fell silent again as he drove into town. Despite knowing she would see Nicolas again the next day, Serina didn’t want this day to end badly.
‘Can’t we part friends, Nicolas?’ she asked, her voice cracking a little.
He did not reply at first. But then he nodded. ‘If that’s what you want.’
Oh, yes, of course it wasn’t what she wanted. But what she wanted—what she’d always wanted—just couldn’t be. She’d made her bed all those years ago. And now she had to lie in it, till the end of her days.
‘It’s what I want,’ she said.
He pulled into the car park of Brown’s Landscaping and Building Supplies, but didn’t bother to park, just drove straight up to the front door. The face he turned towards her was totally unreadable.
‘Friends, then,’ he said, and bent to give her a peck on the cheek. ‘See you tomorrow.’