Page 83 of The Importance of Being Emma
He smirked. ‘I wish I could say it was something exciting, but I just went to my room and fell asleep. Anyway, we were talking about you, not me. What happened next?’
What happened next was that I crossed a boundary that should have been sacrosanct, had the best sex ever — and couldn’t forgive myself for it.
Aloud I said, ‘That’s none of your business.’ I softened my words with a smile and added, ‘You’ve done me good, Flynn, and I’m grateful to you, but I think I’ll go home now.’
‘Well, you know where I am if you ever want to talk.’ He got to his feet, came over to me and planted a kiss on my forehead. ‘Just remember, you can’t help your natural instincts. Don’t fight them, go with the flow. These are enlightened times, even in a place like Highbury.’ And he sauntered out, as if he hadn’t a care in the world.
I took a deep breath. Time to move on.
* * *
~~MARK~~
As I walked through the car park, I looked for Emma’s car. It was still there, which meant that I could call at Hartfield on my way home without any further confrontations.
Anxious not to disturb Henry, I left the car on the road and walked as quietly as I could up the drive. I was just about to slip an envelope through the letter box, when the door opened and there he stood in his dressing gown, beaming at me.
‘Lovely morning, isn’t it?’ he said.
I glanced up at the overcast sky. ‘If you say so.’
‘Oh, I know the weather’s nothing special, but I’ve had my best sleep in years. And it was all thanks to this.’ He produced a little bottle and waved it in my face. ‘I’m sure there’s a business opportunity here, must look into it. Mary says her mother swears by this stuff for all sorts of things.’
‘It’s basically gin, Henry. It makes you forget all your inhibitions — or, in your case, your ailments. If you drink enough of it, you’ll forget them permanently. But I wouldn’t advise it. Drink never solved anyone’s problems, did it?’
He looked horrified. ‘You mean I’ve been in a — a drunken stupor all night? That’s with Emma being at Forbury Manor, you know. If she’d been here, this would never have happened.’
‘And neither would certain other things,’ I muttered under my breath. In a louder voice, I said, ‘Would you mind giving this to her?’
He gave me a quizzical look as I handed him the envelope.
‘It’s just some pointers from our mentoring discussions, as a sort of wrap-up now that I’ve switched to Jane,’ I went on, knowing that he wouldn’t open it and discover I was lying.
‘Oh yes,’ he said vaguely. ‘Do you know, I don’t think I’ve told Emma about that yet. I meant to, but I must have forgotten. I’ll do it as soon as she gets here. She shouldn’t be long, she’s just rung to say she’s on her way. Come in and I’ll make you a coffee, then we can both tell her about the mentoring. Might be better that way, mightn’t it?’
I shook my head. ‘Sorry, Henry, must dash. And thank you for last night, it was a really good do.’ I felt a right heel; it was like thanking him for the opportunity to sleep with his daughter. ‘I’ll be able to reciprocate in a week’s time,’ I added, ‘when you come to the Donwell Organics party.’
He smiled. ‘It’ll be a nice little family outing with Isabella and Emma there too.’
I managed to smile back, although I doubted that Emma would want to come; not now. ‘That reminds me, I’d better book a babysitter. John and Izzy and the kids are all staying at Donwell Abbey that weekend.’
And with that I said goodbye and hurried off. There was no way I was going to risk bumping into Emma while my feelingswere still so raw. I’d need all the time I could get to prepare for our next meeting.
* * *
~~EMMA~~
Dad dropped two bombshells almost as soon as I walked through the door.
‘Lovely to see you back safely, darling. You’ve just missed Mark.’
Bombshell number one. I put down my overnight bag and said, as calmly as I could, ‘What did he want?’
‘To leave this for you.’ He held out a crisp white envelope with the Forbury Manor logo in the top left-hand corner and my name scrawled across the middle. My fingers trembled as I took it.
‘It’s about the mentoring,’ said Dad.
‘Mentoring?’
