Chapter Fifteen
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
G RACE WOKE TO the sound of Carter dressing, and the snap of the catch on his watch told her he was almost out through the door.
She rolled over in bed and watched as he pulled on his tie. He barely glanced over as he spoke.
‘The council in Janana has called us in.’
‘When will you be back?’
‘I’m not sure.’
‘I wish we hadn’t had sex last night,’ she told him.
‘Really?’
‘No...’ Grace admitted. ‘But I don’t think I want this marriage. I don’t think I can fake it for a year.’
‘Fake what?’ he asked, with all the confidence of someone who knew she wasn’t lying when she was in bed with him.
Then, to her quiet surprise, he came and sat on the bed, took her hand and looked at the ring.
‘Listen to me. On your phone you should have the new contract.’ He picked it up and handed it to her. ‘Check.’
She squinted. ‘Yes.’
‘Sign it,’ he said. ‘We’ll work out dates as soon as I’m back.’
‘I don’t know...’
‘Stay till I get back?’ He gave her thigh a squeeze through the sheet. ‘We could have a very nice year.’
He kissed her on the cheek, and then he looked right into her eyes. And she knew that fifty years from now, if she met that gaze, he would melt her again.
He kissed her both deeply and nicely, and she breathed him in as he held her. ‘If I do leave, I’m stealing your cologne.’
‘I’ve got to go.’
‘I hope the council approves.’
He smiled, and then he was gone, and she realised she could lie in bed for an eternity and still be no closer to working him out.
She should get up and shower and then go to a pharmacy...buy a pregnancy test and find out once and for all.
Unless it was too soon.
Or there was nothing to find out.
Grace bought her first pregnancy test kit and then came back to the hotel, but she had to wait for room service to finish before she dared used it.
She came out of the bathroom and willed herself to wait the requisite minutes.
Of course she paced.
And then she glanced at the open-plan shelving near the entrance.
Carter had forgotten his plans.
She took her phone out to text him, wondering if he’d boarded yet, or was about to dash back through the door, or send someone more likely.
But then she stood stock-still.
He surely wouldn’t forget the blueprints.
Even on the boat, deep in kisses, he’d made sure to drag them to and from the house. Even the first time they’d met he’d been holding them.
She called him and got sent straight to Ms Hill. ‘I’d like to speak with Carter.’
‘Mr Bennett’s unavailable. I can pass on a message.’
‘He’s left his blueprints.’
‘I’ll let him know.’
She sounded utterly unperturbed, and as Grace took a breath it dawned on her that possibly he hadn’t forgotten his plans...
For someone who’d been caught red-handed before, Grace didn’t hesitate to punch the numbers into the safe.
Yes, his passport was gone. But what made her swallow was the fact that the black pouch was missing too.
Her heart was fluttering in her throat, panic building, and she wasn’t quite sure why. It was just that it was the anniversary in two days, and she knew he wanted that teething ring back where he thought it belonged.
Carter had been lying to her.
He wasn’t heading to Janana. He was going into the jungle...
Her hands were shaking as she went through the folder, took out the card and called Arif. But his number kept ringing out.
In the end she called Felicity.
‘Arif’s at a conference,’ she said, all efficient and cheery. ‘He should be back at the weekend.’
‘You’re sure he’s at a conference?’
‘He’s the guest speaker.’ Felicity gave a jolly laugh. ‘So I really hope so.’
Grace shook her head. ‘I thought Carter was meeting with him?’
‘Not that I’ve heard.’
He was going alone.
Grace sat on the bed. Her head was all jumbled, and yet she was utterly certain that Carter was returning the teething ring.
Alone.
He would never go with Arif—she could see that now.
Nor would he go with her.
There were some pains so private you dealt with them alone.
She thought about how she’d shut Violet out rather than tell her what was going on at home. How there were some things you didn’t want others to see. And yet they wanted to be there...
She looked at her ring and was taken back to the fireflies and that wonderful night...and the tension in Carter, the flashlight skimming the water.
And, no, she couldn’t go with him—he wouldn’t want her to, that much was clear.
But she could be there waiting for him.
The biggest problem she’d thought she had had been relegated, but it was remembered now and, feeling oddly calm, she walked back into the gorgeous bathroom.
Yes, she was going to be a mum.
Only Carter didn’t want to be a dad.
But she’d tell him anyway.
To his face.
She’d never once regretted telling her mother she loved her.
It was time to tell Carter the same.
Even if he didn’t want her.
They deserved a proper goodbye.