Thirty-one
Closing her eyes, Fiona took a calming breath, telling herself that Ru would help.
He wouldn’t have agreed to meet if he didn’t intend to at least listen to her, but she couldn’t dislodge his judgemental rebuke five nights earlier, nor the distant look in his eyes she’d just seen.
Ru would help her because it was in his interest too.
With their names linked, if she fell from grace, he would surely follow.
The flat door was open. She climbed the stairs, counting each one as she plodded upwards.
Halfway up, she smelled cinnamon toast and her spirits rose.
She lifted her face. He was standing in the doorway, his arms open wide.
His eyes locked onto hers radiating the same longing she’d been suppressing for weeks.
Without a second thought, she ran to him, her heart pounding, drowning out the sound of her feet against the stairs.
The moment she reached him, he pulled her close as if he never wanted to let go.
She melted into him, her head resting against his chest, breathing him in, feeling the warmth and safety of his embrace.
Gently he lifted her chin, his eyes searching hers for permission before he leaned down and kissed her, softly and tenderly at first, then deeper, full of all the unspoken words and emotions they hadn’t shared for months.
Time seemed to stop, and in that moment, nothing else mattered but them.
He murmured into her hair, ‘What took you so long to get in touch?’
‘I ... I ... I thought you believed Rose,’ she sobbed into his shirt.
Gently, he pushed her head away from his shoulder, his dark eyes looking down into hers. ‘How could you possibly think I would believe you were a thief?’
‘That night,’ she paused, trying to shake away the image, ‘you looked daggers at me, and then you snapped “that is pure evil” at me. But I have no idea how that Champagne got into my coat pocket – I thought it was a present from you!’
He reached out a hand and caressed her cheek. ‘Fi, I wasn’t looking at you when I said that. I was looking at the person who framed you. Those words were aimed at Kim.’
Fiona’s head crashed against his shoulder.
Of course. She had heard those words with her eyes shut and, in her panic, had assumed they were aimed at her.
‘Kim? I guessed it was her who put the bottle in my pocket, but why? I don’t think she’s the thief – she doesn’t know the first thing about wine. ’
‘Let’s not play detective now. We can do all that later.’
Fiona leaned against Ru. He was right. The only thing that mattered just now was the two of them.
She tilted her face up towards him and he kissed her long and hard, moving his body against hers, sending shockwaves of desire through hers.
She sighed. ‘Ru, I’ve missed you so much.
I was so stupid to push you away. I’m so sorry. ’
He pulled away, and his voice was tender as he said, ‘Fi, you’re not just saying that are you?’ he whispered, ‘I don’t want you to do something you’ll regret later.’
How could she ever regret making love with the man she adored?
When she woke, the first thing Fiona saw was the face of the person she loved most, and his eyes were smiling down at her.
Her heart soared. She could never match Ru’s talent or his success, but that wasn’t what had driven them apart.
She saw now what she couldn’t before: his protection had started as something beautiful – shielding her from a world he knew would wound her fragile confidence.
But that protection had slowly morphed into something else – decisions made on her behalf, opportunities quietly redirected, her voice gradually muted.
What began as shelter became a cage, with Ru standing as both guardian and gatekeeper.
And to prevent herself either disappearing completely into his shadow or becoming an anchor weighing down his brilliance she had been forced to break free.
Their break-up enabled them both to change: for him to recognize that his way of loving her had kept her from discovering her own strength, and for her to discover that strength.
Ru stroked her face, tracing a line over her cheek. ‘You’ve been asleep for nearly an hour.’
Recalling how quickly she’d fallen asleep at Ivy’s the night before, she realized it was becoming remarkably easy to sleep. But then she did have quite a lot of sleep to catch up on.
‘Hungry?’ he asked.
‘You bet.’
‘Breakfast in bed?’
She grinned.
He unwound himself from her body and sat up.
She ran a finger down his spine. ‘You’d better stop that if you want breakfast any time soon,’ he warned, pushing himself off the bed.
‘I’m going to shower, then cook you the best breakfast you’ve ever eaten.
I suggest you do the same. You’ve got some detective work to do. ’
After showering, Fiona wrapped herself in Ru’s dressing gown, breathing in his scent, then tidied the bedclothes and sat cross-legged on top, sipping a mug of hot chocolate.
They ate breakfast from trays, a light and frothy soufflé omelette, which Ru served with smoked salmon from a local smokehouse, along with Fiona’s favourite cinnamon toast.
Fiona took a bite of omelette. It was so light it seemed to melt on her tongue. It might even be the best omelette she’d ever eaten ... but then everything seemed better now. She was back with Ru, where she was meant to be. ‘Can I ask you something?’
He laughed softly. ‘Go on.’
‘Did Ivy find you this flat to rent?’
He chuckled and the mirth rippled through her.
She loved that sound. She’d missed it. ‘What you’re really asking is, did your aunt help me?
And the answer is yes. She told me about the job, and she found me somewhere to rent.
I wasn’t sure it would work, but you’d blocked my number.
I had to explain why I did what I did with the investors and show you how much I loved you.
It wasn’t easy though, especially when you kept disappearing for lessons with Josh. ’
Fiona smiled; grateful that Ivy had intervened. Ivy had been at the heart of everything. She had orchestrated the reunion with Fiona’s parents too.
‘Tell me, why do you think Kim tried to frame me?’
He spoke gently. ‘I think that was my fault.’
She frowned. ‘How so?’
‘Kim kept pestering me to take her out for a drink. I told her I was in love with someone else. I think she guessed it was you, and then set you up, because after you left, she cornered me and asked me to give her a chance. That’s when I confessed that you and I had been a couple and that I was still in love with you. ’
Fiona felt a rush of love for Ru, tinged with sympathy for her rival.
Ru’s admission that he was still in love with her must have been what she’d witnessed on the stairs the last time she’d been at the pub, after Fiona’s unsuccessful attempt to make Rose listen to her side of the story.
What must it have been like for Kim to hear those words from Ru?
No wonder she’d lashed out. But that didn’t explain why Kim had been so nasty to her for weeks. ‘She’s never liked me.’
‘That’s not true.’
Fiona thought back to all the incidents that Kim had orchestrated to catch Fiona out. ‘Hmm.’
‘She’s afraid of you . . .’
Fiona’s eyes popped wide. ‘Why?’
‘Josh told me about some pairing notes she dropped in the staffroom. I suspected she didn’t know anything about wine when I asked her advice about what to add to enhance a new dish.
When I challenged her, Kim told me why she keeps those notes.
She’s got. She’s got no sense of smell or taste – tricky if you want to work in a fine dining restaurant. ’
‘And she wanted her parents to be proud of her, to prove to them that despite her anosmia, she could work in fine dining, which of course they’ve invested in?’
‘Exactly. And you, my dear, as the sommelier, Rose’s go-to, right-hand special agent, represented all she could never be. When Rose interviewed her about the missing wine, Kim thought the boss was going to discover her secret and fire her.’
‘Wow. That explains a lot.’ Like why Kim had been so defensive and prickly; she couldn’t smell or taste the wines or dishes she was supposed to be recommending to customers.
No wonder she carried those detailed, stilted notes everywhere and panicked when they were almost discovered.
If Rose found out about her anosmia, Kim’s career in fine dining would be over in a heartbeat.
‘Kim expected suspicion to fall on her, so she set you up with the Krug.’
‘But Kim knows nothing about wine; she’s not the thief, and she couldn’t have pulled that stunt with the courier. That must be someone else, but who?’ She dropped her fork, sighing, ‘I don’t know what to do!’
Picking up her fork, he fed her a mouthful of soufflé. ‘Fortunately, I think I do. When you’ve finished, I think we should have a family confab.’
The autumnal sun streamed through the windows of Ivy’s cottage, highlighting dust motes in the air.
To Fiona the room felt smaller than usual, crammed not only with people but with tension.
She was sitting in a worn, floral armchair, her chest tight with a mix of gratitude, anxiety and frustration.
Ru sat beside her, his hand resting over hers.
Her parents normally concealed their emotions behind calm exteriors, but Fiona could see the strain on her mother’s face.
Her aunt, sitting near the fireplace, had been unusually quiet.
Fiona studied Ivy’s face, noting the averted gaze.
She was glad she wouldn’t have to press Ivy to break her confidence.
Kim had been downright nasty, and there was no excuse for her trying to frame Fiona with the Krug, but she wasn’t the key to proving Fiona’s innocence.