The minute Abby’s eyes hit Mrs. Truman she thought the only thing missing was a priceless tiara extracted for the festivities from the Tower of London and a dozen bodyguards.
A waiter passed and Jenny expertly nabbed another glass of champagne like she’d attended champagne-glass-bearing-waitered-trayed-gala-affairs every weekend since birth.
Abby looked at Mrs. Truman and caught the woman’s eye roll as Trevor, Alistair and Nicola’s practically silent servant got close and said something in Cash’s ear.
Trevor then melted away and Cash’s hand came to her waist as his mouth went to her ear.
“James is at the door. I have to speak with him,” he murmured.
Abby turned her face to his. “Why is James here?”
Cash touched his nose to hers and whispered, “I’ll explain later.”
He pulled away and looked at Kieran.
“If Nicola leaves this room, you get Abby to safety. Our room upstairs is closest,” Cash ordered, Kieran nodded and Cash looked back at Abby, his voice gentling when he finished. “I won’t be a moment, darling.”
Then Abby watched him saunter away, his long legs carrying him across the room swiftly, his gait powerful, his strides wide and everyone he passed glanced at him with unconcealed admiration.
Abby sighed.
“Girlfriend, we need to talk,” Jenny muttered in Abby’s ear and Abby looked down at her friend.
Jenny was staring at her, eyes serious, the set of her face determined.
“What? Why?” Abby asked as Jenny took her hand, made their excuses to Mrs. Truman and Kieran at which both of whom scowled but, Abby thought, both for different reasons. Kieran, Abby suspected, because he knew what Jenny was going to say. Mrs. Truman, Abby guessed, because she did not.
Then Jenny led Abby to a large window that faced the tor at the side of the castle. It was quiet, secluded and felt somehow removed from the busy hall.
Once there she turned Abby so that Abby faced her and Jenny’s back was to the room.
“It’s not a good time but it’ll never be a good time and it’s looking like the sooner the better,” Jenny started ominously and Abby blinked at her.
“What’s not a good time?” Abby enquired.
“I’ve been thinking about this since it happened, wondering if I should say something, thinking I shouldn’t but I can’t help but think I should,” Jenny stated and Abby looked down at her friend, confused at her words and the tone of her voice which shook with emotion.
“Since what happened?” Abby asked.
“Since Cash and I had our little chat,” Jenny answered.
Abby stared at her friend, stunned.
Her voice was breathy when she enquired, “Cash and you had a chat?”
Jenny nodded and went on. “That night all the girls came to dinner, he and I talked. It wasn’t pleasant,” Abby sucked in breath at this news as Jenny carried on, “I can see it…” she hesitated and switched from nodding to shaking her head, “you, I can see you… I can see it happening.”
Concerned, Abby moved closer to her friend, a woman who rarely couldn’t find the words to express herself.
“Jenny, you aren’t making any sense,” she said softly.
“You’ve fallen in love with him,” Jenny blurted and Abby felt her eyes round.
“With who?” she asked stupidly.
“With Cash!” Jenny replied on a muted shriek then looked over her shoulder to see if anyone had heard to find that only Mrs. Truman had her eagle-eyes on them. Jenny turned back. “You’ve fallen in love with Cash.”
Abby felt her heart start beating faster but she went into denial. “Jenny, I’ve known him three weeks.”
“The night Ben brought you home from your first date you phoned me, woke me up and told me you were going to marry him. A year and a half later I was your maid of honour,” Jenny reminded her.
This was true.
It was also true that the minute she laid eyes on Cash in that pub, she’d had a feeling that she’d only felt once in her life. It was the same feeling she had when Ben’s eyes caught hers when she was standing at a coffee bar ordering her latte and Ben was standing at the end of it waiting for his.
Except with Cash that feeling was infinitely stronger.
Abby felt like someone threw a bag of bricks at her and it landed heavily against her belly.
“Jenny –” she started.
“Get out,” Jenny talked over Abby, her eyes reading Abby’s thoughts, her voice now urgent. “Get out now.” She came closer and her fingers curled around Abby’s. “Abby, honey, it kills me to tell you this but he doesn’t feel the same way.”
Abby felt her body jerk as if she’d been struck at the same time the room started spinning. She heard Jenny’s voice come at her from far away asking if she was okay. Abby blinked several times and with a good deal of effort, she focused on Jenny.
“How do you know?” she whispered.
Jenny got even closer and whispered back, “He all but told me, Abby. He cares about you, that’s obvious. He wants you to be happy, he even told me that. But he isn’t in this for the long run, he told me that too.”
Abby felt that bloom in her heart start to wither. “He mentioned something but –”
Jenny gave her fingers a squeeze, cutting off her words. “Then you’ve got to get out now, before it’s too late.”
Even though the hope she’d been feeling started to fade away, Abby still whispered, “I can’t.”
“You have to Abby,” Jenny’s other hand grabbed Abby’s and she held their hands tightly together between them. “He’s a… I don’t know. He’s a force of nature,” she said. “You’re going to… hell, you’re already caught in his magnetic field. When he cuts you loose, you’re not going to want to be let go but you won’t have any choice. Abby,” she shook their hands between them, “it’ll destroy you. You know it’ll destroy you,” she paused and her voice went low before she finished, “again.”
Abby closed her eyes and looked away.
She could try to fool herself that his behaviour meant they were developing something deeper.
What she couldn’t do was ignore the fact that Cash told her best friend of all people that their relationship was finite.
He would never do that.
Unless it was.
Even though she knew she was living on borrowed time, she’d been unconsciously holding onto that hope in her heart, wanting more, wishing the magic was real.
Instead of yet another path that led to heart wrenching despair.
But Abby knew better than that. She’d been taught that lesson time and again.
And every time Jenny had picked up the pieces.
She squeezed her eyes tight and clenched her teeth tighter as the pain of the dying dream of years filled with anguish ending in a life filled with magic seared through her soul.
She opened her eyes and looked at her friend’s concerned face.
“He told me earlier tonight we had to talk about our future,” she confided, her voice aching, her throat burning. “He’s very astute. I’m guessing he’s cottoned on to how I feel and wants to remind me where we stand.”
“Abby –” Jenny started but Abby kept talking as she squeezed their hands.
“Don’t worry Jenny,” she whispered. “Please, don’t worry.” Then she said out loud what she knew she had to do to guard her heart before, as Jenny surmised correctly, it was too late. “After tonight, it’s over.”
The word “over” came out in a croak as tears clawed their way up her throat and Jenny let go of their hands and got even closer.
Her friend put her cheek to Abby’s and in her ear, she murmured, “I’m sorry, Abby, so sorry. I started this and now here you are. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault,” Abby replied, gulping back tears, succeeding, in an extreme effort of will, at fighting them back before a single one was shed.