Page 69 of From Notting Hill with Love…Actually
I looked up in despair to find Sean standing next to me. He was grinning as usual.
“Sorry, that’s not Disney, is it—it’s Looney Tunes.”
“What are you doing out here, Sean?”
“Mobile rang.” Sean held up his phone. “Had to answer it, could have been important.”
“Which business are you shafting at the moment, then?” I asked, and instantly regretted it.
“The call was aboutyou, actually.”
“Me?”
Sean sat down on the bench beside me. “Yup, I said I might have some news for you later, and that was it.”
I’d almost forgotten about that, what with the Danielle drama and everything else going on. “What sort of news?”
“Well, my dear Scarlett. It seems if your mother is going to be anywhere, it’s not New York after all—it’s Paris.”
“Paris? But how?”
“Well, I’ve done some digging with the help of a friend of mine, and she says someone with the same name as your mother moved on to work in Paris after taking her job in New York—with the same company, apparently, just in a differentcountry. It was Louis Vuitton Bill was thinking of; that’s where she went to work after Fenwick’s.”
“Oh, of course, the man’s name,” I said, thinking fondly of Bill and Betty again. “But how has your friend found all this out?” I asked, looking at Sean in amazement. “I mean, we didn’t even know who she was employed with!”
“Jennifer works for one of New York’s top fashion magazines—she has contacts with all the major designers. So I told her what we knew, roughly when your mother went over to New York to work, and she rang a few people, got them to check their records, and bingo, came up with your mum’s name. But then she found out she’d been transferred to Paris about a year after she went over to New York.”
“And is she still here?”
“That, I’m afraid, is where the trail ends. Jen’s contacts are all based in New York. Once she tried to continue digging in French soil, the ground—so to speak—became awfully hard.”
I thought about this for a few seconds.
“So shecouldactually still be in Paris?”
Sean nodded. “Yes, possibly. So what do you reckon, Scarlett? Shall we take a shopping trip into Paris tomorrow?”
I looked at Sean in astonishment. “I can’t believe you’ve done all this for me. I saw you on your BlackBerry today—several times—and I just thought you were wheeling and dealing.”
“Nope, I’ve been speaking to Jen on and off for most of the day. I didn’t know if she’d be able to help at all because our information was so vague, but she’s been extremely helpful.”
“Thank you,” I said, looking up at him. “Thank you so much.”
“We don’t know for sure she still works at one of the stores yet.”
“No, I don’t mean for that—well, yes I do—but as well as that, just thank you for…for caring enough to help me.”
Sean smiled. “Don’t be daft, we’re friends, aren’t we? Well, I hope we are after everything you’ve put me through over the last couple of weeks.” Then he grinned, and one of the athletes—the gymnast, now recovered from her earlier injury—did a backflip in my stomach.
I reached over to hug Sean, and as I put my arms around him, in reply I felt his own strong arms slowly wrap themselves around me. He felt warm and solid—just what I needed right now. I closed my eyes and rested my head on his shoulder. We held on to each other for longer than we should have, both of us easing each other’s body just that little bit closer every second…
“Oi!”
My eyes snapped open, and I saw David hurrying across the courtyard toward us. Instantly we pulled away from each other as he approached, and Sean stood up.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing with your hands all over my fiancée?”
“David, calm down, it’s not like that,” I protested.
