Page 38 of All I Want for Christmas

‘Well, it definitely revealed he’s rich. Likely born rich. He’s been there for ten years, he said.’

‘And he’s with a supermodel!’

‘Well, she’s just a model – but she was pretty super,’ Darcy conceded. ‘They definitely looked right together.’

‘Yeah,’ Freja agreed, even though she hadn’t laid eyes on either one of them.

‘Is that a thing, then?’ Tristan asked. ‘Looking right together?’

‘You don’t agree that some people just look like they belong together?’

He looked across at Freja and gave a shrug. ‘Not really, no. I’m not sure you and I are a visual match. And yet...’

‘You’re so sweet,’ Freja murmured, looking into his eyes, her features softening as his gaze held hers.

Darcy cleared her throat to remind them she was still there, still third-wheeling. ‘Well, anyway, it’s none of my business. I was there to work and that’s what I did.’

Freja drew herself back into the moment. ‘But weren’t youdistracted? Didn’t you spend the whole time thinking he’d be back any minute?’

Darcy didn’t want to admit it. ‘...Yes. It sort of defeated the point of working the weekend.’ She had somehow made her way through both boxes, leaving a piece of paper on top with a note.‘All done. Thanks, D.’

Strictly speaking, she could have done with looking back over some diary entries for June 1920 one more time, but the spectre of his – his and Angelina’s – imminent return had her nervous to the point of feeling sick, and she had bolted as early as she could. Shereallyhadn’t wanted to still be there when they got back.

Freja’s eyes narrowed again. ‘Would it have been better or worse if he’d been there?’

‘Oh, worse. Infinitely. I couldn’t have concentrated with him in the vicinity.’ She gave a shudder.

‘Bet you wish you’d gone home and had that shower now, huh?’

‘Yep,’ Darcy agreed. ‘But at least it’s over and done with now. And I won’t have to see him again. He doesn’t work in the same building, so this was a one-off.’

‘Yeah, right.’ Freja’s eyes slid over to Tristan’s and he gave a shrug.

‘What?’ Darcy asked.

‘Nothing,’ Freja shrugged back.

‘No, what?’

Tristan caught the eye of the waitress, and she came towards the table to take their orders. ‘I just feel sorry for the vet.’

‘Interesting case today. I had a hamster brought in that had swallowed a marble. Never seen that before.’

Darcy lay in the dark, staring at her screen. It was well aftermidnight, and she was home alone; Freja had gone back to Tristan’s after dinner. Why wouldn’t she? He had a penthouse apartment in Islands Brygge.‘Were you able to get it out?’

‘Yes, eventually. Costly though.’

‘How much?’

‘13,000 kr.’

‘OMG. For a hamster?’

‘People do crazy things for their “fur babies”.’

She smiled, turning onto her side and pulling the covers up over her shoulders. It was a cold night, frost forming on the outside of the window.‘What’s the strangest medical emergency you’ve ever had?’

‘There’s been a few: had a rabbit that accidentally got stoned a few weeks back, eating a joint.’

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