Transplanting Holly Oakwood (28 page)

And now she had nothing and no one, was returning to a place which used to be home, going back to people who used to be friends. Now she’d be an outsider. With blinding clarity everything became as clear as the Santa Monica skies on a sunny day. LA was where she wanted to stay.

It was too late for that now, but she could do one last thing to salvage her dented self-esteem. First thing in the morning she’d confront Guy Bloody Cutler and tell him exactly what she thought of him. It was time he knew what his shortcomings were, and by God she wouldn’t candy-coat them.

FORTY-THREE

Holly

The next morning Holly dressed with care, selecting a pale blue suit, white tee, and killer heels to give her extra height and an emotional advantage otherwise lacking. She stared in the mirror, tracing her pale skin and dark rimmed eyes with cold fingers. A dash of lipstick and spritz of perfume offered little improvement.

She was the first to arrive at work, and went to the kitchen to brew a fresh pot of coffee. She read the headlines of the previous day’s paper while it brewed, then took the steaming mug back to her office and sat at her desk sipping it, keeping vigil for Guy to arrive.

“I’d like to have a word with you,” she said, poking her head into his office half an hour later.

“Holly, you startled me. Please sit down.”

He gestured to a chair but she remained standing, hands on her hips, feet square on the floor, to stop her body from shaking. She hoped her voice would sound strong and assertive, but when she spoke it came out in a squeak. “You’ve never told me why you think I lied about the car crash. At the very least, you owe me an explanation of why you think I’d do that.”

He drew a hand through his hair and for the first time she noticed how pallid he looked. “Calm down. Why don’t you have a seat?”

“Calm down?”

“Yes, you’re upset and angry, and there’s no need to be. I’m concerned about you. I don’t like to see you like this.”

“You’ve got no right to be concerned about me.” Her voice lost its squeak and the words sounded loud and strident in the quiet office. “You’re smug and arrogant and I don’t want you to be worried about me.” She took a deep breath, searching her memory for the opening lines of her prepared speech.

“First,” he said, “I think–”

“I don’t give a damn what you think. You’re a self-righteous, arrogant bastard who’s used to getting his own way.” They weren’t exactly the words she’d prepared, but they sounded good anyway.

“Holly, please. Let me say something.”

“And I don’t appreciate the way you’re smirking at me.”

“I’m not smirking,” he said. “I’m smiling because–”

“I don’t give a hoot why you’re smiling. You’re a pompous twat and you don’t have the intelligence to know when you should be giving someone a chance.”

He closed his eyes and massaged his forehead. When he opened them he wore a pained expression. “I’m a little more intelligent than you’re giving me credit for.”

“You should act like it then. You wouldn’t know the truth if you fell over it. You’re an idiot, you’re totally insufferable, and I can’t believe I cared for you.”

“Did you?” he asked in a tone of surprise, his face lighting up. Just as quickly his eyes clouded and his voice hardened. “Do you make a habit of caring for men when you’re engaged to be married? Like keeping your options open, do you?”

“How dare you, you stupid man? My personal life’s none of your business,” she snapped.

“No, it’s not,” said Guy, “but before you continue with your character assassination of me, perhaps you’d like to take a look at this.” He snapped opened his briefcase, pulled out a piece of paper and pushed it over the desk towards her.

She took the smooth sheet of paper and skim read it. She read it again, slowly this time, then looked at him for confirmation. His expression was inscrutable, so still not sure, she moved to the chair he’d offered earlier, sank into it and read the paper a third time.

“This clears me,” she said.

“Yes.”

“As a result of information
you
presented to the police.”

“That’s right,” he said.

“I don’t understand.”

“I’m not quite the villain you believe me to be,” he said, moving over to sit in the chair next to her. “Brittany mentioned a detail of the incident I hadn’t heard before, about police tracker dogs, and I decided to follow it up with a friend of mine who works in the LAPD.”

“LAPD?”

“Los Angeles Police Department. My friend investigated and as a result located the team who assisted you the day of the accident.”

All the tension flowed out of her body, and she sagged with relief. “They confirmed my story,” she said, her voice rising in pitch.

“Yes they did, which is why I planned to see you later this morning. I wanted to apologise, and give you this.” He handed her an envelope bearing the official Consular seal. “It’s a formal apology and a reinstatement of your job.”

She took the envelope with shaking hands and pulled out the sheet of thick bond paper inside it. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Tell me you accept my apology.”

“I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but it’s late coming. I’m leaving at the end of the week.”

“I’m sorry it’s so late, Holly, but at least you can come back to work on Monday.”

“Didn’t you hear me?” she asked. “I’m leaving at the end of the week. I’ll be back in London on Monday.”

“London?” he asked with a puzzled frown. “Are you having a short holiday before your wedding?”

“Oh, my wedding. No, I’m returning to England permanently.”

“Permanently? I don’t understand.”

“I’m not getting married.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” he said. “What happened?”

“Er, nothing happened. I wasn’t getting married in the first place. Charlie proposed, but I said no.”

“You said no?”

“I had to. Say no I mean,” she said, twisting her hands and looking into her lap. “The thing is, I don’t love him, except as a friend.”

“You love him as a friend,” he said. “Quite right then, you couldn’t possibly marry him. But you’re leaving LA?”

“Yes, I’m flying out on Sunday.”

“Won’t you reconsider? There’s no need for you to go now.”

“I appreciate that, but my ticket’s booked and paid.”

“Why not take a short holiday back to London then? The job will keep for a week or two.”

“Thanks,” she said. “I’ll think about it and come back to you with a decision by tomorrow. Either way, now I can go home with my head held high.”

FORTY-FOUR

Guy

The muscles in the back of Guy’s neck were as hard as brass knuckles, and a white hot heat radiated from his chest. He took a deep breath to steady his voice before answering Ann. “I wonder how long this has been going on.”

“It’s hard to say, but from the number of phone calls I’ve had recently I’d say things have been slipping for some time.” She pulled at her upper lip, and he knew she was uncomfortable sharing this news with him, but professionalism dictated she couldn’t cover for Brittany and keep him in the dark.

“Never would’ve dreamed she’d let us down like this, but to be honest I had a strange comment from a client several weeks back. I didn’t think too much about it at the time.”

“Maybe something’s been going on in her personal life,” said Ann.

He wouldn’t be the one to tell Ann, or anyone else for that matter, that Brittany was having an affair with a married man, and his own brother-in-law to boot. It would be disloyal to Olivia and he wouldn’t add to her embarrassment by sharing the sordid story. “Don’t know, Ann, but one thing’s for sure. Not only has her work been slipping, but it looks like she’s deliberately tried to damage Holly’s credibility. We can’t tolerate this sort of behaviour.”

“No, we can’t,” said Ann, a frown creasing the normally smooth skin on her forehead. “You’ll have a word with her?”

“Yes, I’ve got an appointment to see her shortly.” He leaned back in his chair, smoothed his hair back and sighed loudly. “I need to get to the bottom of this and find out whether she withheld information about the car accident deliberately.”

“Do you suspect it was deliberate?”

“You tell me. I like to think not, but after the things you’ve told me, I’d say we’re seeing a pattern of behaviour directed at Holly.”

“I agree,” said Ann. “It’s obvious she’s been trying to undermine her. Jealousy’s a horrible thing.”

“Jealousy?” asked Guy.

“Don’t be obtuse. You must know Brittany’s interested in you.”

“I’ve never done anything to encourage her.”

“I know you haven’t, but Brittany’s not that easily deterred. To be honest, we’ve all been sorry for you. She’s unscrupulous when it comes to getting what she wants, and you’ve been the last person to see it.”

“Leave this with me,” he said, looking embarrassed. “One more thing before you go; I’ve asked Holly to stay on.”

“I’m pleased to hear it,” replied Ann. “We’ve all been hard on her, and it would be nice to show her we’re sorry.”

“She’ll let us know what she’s decided tomorrow, but I think she’ll stay.” A broad grin broke out on his face but he didn’t care less if Ann knew how much Holly meant to him.

“Sit down, Brittany.” He gestured to the sofas in the corner of the office, then sat opposite her.

Her agitation was clear, and as he tried to continue, she cut him short. “Guy, I want to explain. I didn’t know Warren was married, I swear I didn’t.” Her voice was high-pitched and whiny, her features pinched. Dark circles shadowed her puffy eyes, and she gnawed her mouth, scraping off her lipstick with her teeth. Her legs were crossed and her foot jiggled in his field of vision.

He regarded her coldly, amazed she’d try to lie. He should have the dignity to let it pass, but devotion to Olivia prompted his challenge. “How could you not have known he was married?” he asked, firing the question at her in a clipped tone. “Olivia told me about the incident in the mall some months back.”

Her gaze drifted from his. “Oh, you know about that.”

“Anyway, that’s not what I wanted to speak to you about. As reprehensible as I find this situation, your personal life’s none of my concern. I want to talk to you about Holly.”

“I’ve got that under control,” she said, slumping into her seat and flashing lipstick smeared teeth at him. “She’s leaving this weekend, and I’ve started recruiting for her replacement. I’m interviewing four candidates next week.”

“Cancel the appointments.”

“You want me to defer them?”

“I said cancel them,” he said.

“Why? Is there a freeze on recruitment?”

“No,” he said, “I’ve seen Holly this morning, and I’ve asked her to stay on.”

“What?” She shifted in her seat and the foot jiggling began with renewed vigour, as if her feet had a life of their own. “Why on earth would you ask her to stay after all the trouble she’s caused?”

“You mean the car accident?” he asked. “As you probably already know, or at least suspect, Holly wasn’t in the wrong.”

“Wasn’t in the wrong?”

He repeated the words, then added, “But we would never have known that without a critical piece of information, and you know what that information is, don’t you?”

“I’m not sure what you mean,” she said, avoiding his gaze.

“Don’t lie to me. I’m talking about the tracker dogs. You never mentioned them to the police, did you? Or to Ann?”

Brittany pulled her shoulders up and drew her elbows into her body, compacting herself into a size 0, as if she hoped the action would render her invisible. She looked down at her lap and remained silent.

“Brittany, answer my question. Did you tell Ann or the police about the tracker dogs?”

“No,” she whispered, the word dissipating in the heavy air of the quiet, spacious office.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear that.”

“N-no,” she stammered, “I didn’t tell them. You have to understand that I–”

“I don’t have to understand anything, and I don’t want to hear your excuses. We could have lost a court case, and had significant damages awarded against us. The Consulate’s reputation would have been ruined.” He glared at her, wondering dispassionately why he had ever considered her attractive. The woman looking back at him was selfish and deceitful, qualities which marred her physical beauty. “I haven’t mentioned,” he continued, “what you’ve done to Holly. Do you have any idea what she’s been going through?”