The Christmas Party (19 page)

Kirsten threw herself into it, impatient to be loved again. She was determined that she wouldn’t pine for Simon. He didn’t deserve it. But she looked back now and was appalled at how needy she’d been. She hadn’t wanted to be left alone. She’d wanted to be with someone, anyone. There were times when she questioned whether she had ever really loved Tyler. She thought she had, but in truth she’d never felt the same about her husband as she had about Simon.

That didn’t stop her marrying him. Six months later she and Tyler had a hastily arranged but lavish wedding. Everyone assumed she was pregnant. The fact was, she was simply desperate to prove to Simon that someone else could love her as much as he had.

‘We could have had a great life in Australia,’ he said. ‘I was devastated when I got your email saying you’d decided not to come. I could hardly believe it. You don’t know what it did to me.’

Her head snapped up at that. ‘What?’

‘It was a cruel way to end it.’ He turned his face away from her. ‘It seemed so unlike you, but you obviously had your reasons. It was a great career move for me, but I’d done it for us. Both of us. I can’t blame you, I suppose,’ Simon continued with a shake of his head. ‘I handled it badly. I’d gone and Tyler was there to take my place. My heart just snapped in two.’

She frowned at him. ‘Simon, I didn’t end our relationship. What are you talking about?
You
were the one who sent an email ending it all.’

He gave a hollow laugh. ‘Of course I didn’t. I adored you.’ His eyes met hers. ‘I still do.’

She looked back, perplexed. ‘What exactly did this email say?’

‘You should know.’

‘That’s the very weird thing, Simon. I don’t.’

Now it was his turn to look confused, but he shrugged and said, ‘You told me that you’d fallen in love with Tyler. That he meant the world to you and you wouldn’t be coming to Australia.’

‘I hadn’t fallen in love with Tyler. That’s ridiculous. You were my life,’ she said. ‘I only started to see Tyler after we broke up. I needed him. He was the one who stepped into your shoes and helped to comfort me.’

Simon raised his eyebrows at that. ‘I called Tyler the minute I got your email. He said it was true. That you were both sorry, but you hadn’t been able to help your feelings. I was crushed. I thought we were soulmates.’

‘We were,’ she said. ‘I couldn’t believe you’d ended it so abruptly.’

‘So …’ he said, ‘if I didn’t send you an email and you didn’t send me one, who could it have been?’

‘Oh no!’ Kirsten gasped.

‘There could only be one person who did it.’

‘Tyler,’ they said together.

‘That scheming bastard!’ Kirsten raged. ‘Wait till I get my hands on him. He did this?’

Simon’s face was grey. ‘He must have set up a fake account in my name, and yours too.’

‘Why didn’t you ring me?’ she said.

‘For the same reasons you didn’t ring me, I expect. I was so stunned by the contents, it never occurred to me to check whether it really was from you. Who would dream of doing a thing like that?’

‘Tyler,’ they said again.

‘I did call
him
to have it out with him. He’d stolen you from beneath my nose. He told me in no uncertain terms to stay away, that you didn’t love me any more and didn’t want to talk to me.’

‘And you believed him?’

‘Yes. He was my best friend. Why would I doubt him?’

‘But you doubted me?’

‘Tyler was so plausible. He said he was racked with guilt at how things had turned out.’

Kirsten sighed. ‘I bet he did.’

‘I thought I should just step away from the situation and, if you loved him, you should be free to do so.’

‘Oh, God.’ Kirsten put her head in her hands. ‘He told me you didn’t want to speak to me, that you wanted to move on with your new life.’

‘Oh, Kirsten. You believed him?’

‘I did.’

‘So did I.’

‘How could we have been so trusting?’

‘He was our best friend,’ Simon said. ‘Or so I thought.’

‘And yet he manipulated the end of our relationship for his own selfish ends. How could he do such a cruel, life-changing thing?’

Simon shook his head ruefully. ‘The day you sent me an invitation to your wedding was the worst day of my life.’

‘I didn’t send you an invitation,’ Kirsten countered. ‘Of course I didn’t. You were the last person I would have wanted there. As far as I was concerned, you’d dumped me from a great height. That must have been Tyler too.’

‘It seems he’s engineered our unhappiness.’

‘I can hardly believe it. What a terrible thing to do to us both,’ Kirsten said. ‘I knew he was immoral, but I never knew he could stoop so low.’

Simon’s expression was bleak. ‘We should have had more faith in our relationship. How could we let him do that?’

‘Would you have still gone through with it? Would you have still married Tyler if I’d come back to fight for you?’

‘How can I answer that?’ Tears were behind her eyes. She was struggling to process this latest revelation about her husband’s deceitful nature. He had duped them both so easily and had changed the course of their lives in doing so. If she dwelt on that too much, she might just go insane. ‘What’s done is done.’

‘Right until the last minute, I was going to jump on a plane. I swear to you. I was going to come right back and try to persuade you to change your mind.’

‘But you didn’t.’

‘No.’ Simon shook his head. ‘I thought it was what you wanted. I didn’t want to stand in the way of your happiness. Then it was too late. That was when it really hit me. You were gone and you were marrying my best friend.’ He gave her a rueful smile. ‘Some best friend, eh?’

She shook her head, part of her still unable to comprehend it.

‘I got steaming drunk on the day of your wedding and picked up a nameless girl for the night. Afterwards, I thought I could find someone else. Surely the world was full of bright, beautiful women who could take your place? I thought I’d fall in love again easily when the time was right.’ He reached up and stroked his thumb over the curve of her cheekbone. ‘I was so terribly wrong.’

‘There’s no point to this, Simon.’

‘There is. I’ve never stopped loving you and I don’t think I ever will. I had to come back to see if you were deliriously happy with him.’ Simon gently squeezed her hand and she suddenly felt achingly sad deep down inside. ‘But you’re not.’

‘Tyler’s my husband. That’s all there is to it.’

‘He did a terrible thing to us. It’s even worse now I know that. He ruined our lives, Kirsten. Think of the future we could have had together. All I want to do is make that right.’

‘You speak as if time has stood still.’

‘Perhaps it has, for me.’

‘I’m married to Tyler. For better, for worse.’ A few short hours ago, she was vowing that next year everything would be different between her and Tyler. She’d been determined to work on their relationship. Even with this latest revelation to rock her world, could she turn her back on him? It was a dreadful situation. She’d thought Simon had left her and now it turned out that he’d never stopped loving her for one moment. It frightened her that she felt the same way. She looked at him, so handsome in the moonlight, and said bleakly, ‘What can I do?’

‘Leave him,’ he said starkly. ‘I still love you, Kirsten Benson. I always have. I want to hold you to me and cover your unhappy mouth with kisses. I want to bring the fire back to your sad, sad eyes. I want you more than I ever did. And I’m going to do everything possible in my power to take you away from him.’

Chapter Twenty-two

Melissa settled Lance in a quieter corner of the marquee, well away from the rest of the staff. She’d found a chair with arms so that he could stay upright in it rather than slide sideways on to the floor. He was talking loudly and incessantly about the success of his speech. Behind him, Tyler shook his head with disbelief.

She topped up her husband’s glass with bourbon and handed it to him. ‘Tyler and I have to sort out a little something, angel.’

‘I love you,’ Lance mumbled. ‘Was I good, honey?’

‘You were fabulous,’ she said as she kissed his cheek.

‘Was I good, Tyler?’

‘Exceptional. Inspirational.’ Tyler rolled his eyes.

She didn’t bother to tell him that Lance would be too drunk to catch the sarcasm in his voice.

‘Don’t move.’ She patted his shoulder. ‘We’ll be back shortly.’

As soon as she turned away, Tyler caught her by the elbow and hustled her along the corridor to the main house.

Melissa had a pang of anxiety. She was becoming more concerned about Lance as he got older. ‘Do you think he’ll be all right left alone?’

‘He’s fine,’ Tyler muttered. ‘One of the staff might club him to death while we’re gone, but it’s no more than he deserves.’

‘I had no idea that was what he was going to say,’ she promised Tyler. ‘No idea at all.’

He tutted at her and then opened a grand door, pulling her inside. It was the library; on the couch in front of the fire, a couple were entwined in a passionate embrace.

‘Out, out,’ Tyler barked. ‘I’m requisitioning this room for an important business meeting.’

The couple jumped up, startled.

‘Oh, hi, Tyler.’ Smirking, the girl straightened her clothes, patted her hair. ‘How are things with you? It’s been a long time.’

Tyler had the grace to look slightly discomfited. ‘Fine,’ he said. ‘Now skedaddle, the pair of you. Get a room.’

She giggled at him. ‘We should catch up sometime.’

‘Yeah,’ Tyler said. ‘I’ll text you.’

She grinned at him in a knowing way as she scuttled out with her partner.

‘Who was that?’ Melissa asked as the door closed behind them.

‘Can’t remember her name,’ Tyler said. ‘Works in Promotions. Very capable.’

Sure she is, Melissa thought.

When they’d gone, Tyler locked the door. ‘At least we won’t be disturbed now.’

She wondered if Tyler would want to make love. It was dangerous, but she was sure that was part of the thrill for him. Men like Tyler were always attracted by the forbidden, the risky. Strangely, for once it was the very last thing on her mind.

Melissa sat down on the sofa, smoothing her emerald-green sheath over her knees. The room was warm and it made her realise how very weary she was. All this subterfuge was exhausting. Tyler didn’t sit next to her. Instead he stood by the fire, hand on the marble mantel like the lord of the manor.

‘Come and sit with me, Tyler,’ she said, patting the cushion next to her.

He shook his head and began pacing back and forth across the Chinese rug. ‘Would you mind telling me what that was all about?’

‘The first I heard about it was in the car on the way here,’ Melissa told him in measured tones.

‘Lance hadn’t given me one inkling that this was coming,’ Tyler fumed. ‘I’m supposed to be his right-hand man.’

‘He hadn’t mentioned anything to me either, before tonight.’

‘Lance talks to you about everything.’

‘Not this. Bud Harman had only spoken to him today. This morning, I think. You know what it’s like at Fossil. These harebrained projects are plucked out of thin air and vanish again just as quickly. If I’d had any information, of course I would have told you instantly.’

Tyler tutted his displeasure again. She was normally so eager to please him. The thread that bound them together was as insubstantial as gossamer, she knew that, and she never wanted to do anything to risk severing their tenuous connection. Tonight, she couldn’t care less. She’d done her very best for Tyler and it was never enough. She just felt old and drained.

‘I’ll have this out with him,’ Tyler said. ‘In the morning. When he’s sober. I’ve seen him bad before, but I’ve never seen him so far gone.’

‘Me neither.’ She was worn out by Lance’s drinking too. All the signs were that it was simply getting worse and worse as the years went by. Where would it all end?

‘So, what was it that you
did
want to tell me?’

Melissa took a deep, shuddering breath. ‘We’re going back to the States,’ she said. It was only voicing it out loud that actually made it seem real. ‘To Washington DC. On Christmas Day.’

‘Christ,’ Tyler spat. ‘Why don’t I know about this either?’

‘Lance is going to be heading up the SACKED project from there. It doesn’t just affect the UK; Lance is going to be in charge of the global roll-out.’

‘God help us.’

‘What can I do?’ Melissa asked. ‘I’m leaving, Tyler. This … us … it will all be over.’

‘What’s my role in the project going to be?’ He paced some more. It was clear that he hadn’t fully understood what she’d said. ‘Who’s going to be running Fossil in Lance’s absence? Will it be me? It better bloody had be. Has he said anything about that?’

‘No. He hasn’t. But I can tell you that’s there’s going to be a new international director.’

Tyler’s head snapped up. ‘Where does he fit in? I’m assuming he’ll be working for me, so why haven’t I been consulted on this?’

‘I don’t know.’ She fiddled with one of her manicured nails. ‘But I do know he’s supposed to be here tonight.’

‘Here?’ Tyler looked perplexed. ‘So why haven’t I met him?’

‘Perhaps the snow has delayed him.’

‘Bloody hell.’ Tyler snatched up the poker and stabbed angrily at the coals in the fireplace. Sparks flew up the chimney. One spat on to the Chinese rug and smouldered. Neither of them moved, and eventually it burned itself out. ‘This is all I need. I’m being kept out of the loop on everything. Why? Lance normally leans on me.’

‘He must have his reasons.’

‘Well I wish I knew what they were.’

He was in danger of wearing a track in the rug.

‘I’m leaving, Tyler,’ Melissa stressed. ‘I’m going back to America the day after tomorrow. Can we talk about this? What am I to do?’

He switched his attention back to her. Then he shrugged. ‘What
can
we do? This has been great, Melissa. While it lasted. But we both knew it had to end sometime.’

The words almost wouldn’t come, but she knew she had to say this. ‘I don’t have to go.’ Melissa searched her lover’s face. ‘I could stay here.’

‘And do what?’ He jammed his hands in the pockets of his dinner jacket, his handsome face dark in the firelight. ‘You need Lance. He needs you.’