Chapter Forty-One
‘I won, I won!’ Bella said as she ran into the apartment clutching a trophy. Emme had to steady herself so the child wouldn’t send her flying.
‘Well done sweetie, let me see it!’
Bella had already thrust the award into her face, so close that Emme could see her reflection in the metal.
Lexy and Harry closed the door behind them. Bill had gone straight back to Zurich from Thun, while the rest of the family changed onto the Bloch train, and then headed back up the mountain to Kristalldorf.
Emme leaned back and examined the trophy.
‘I didn’t realise it was a dance competition!’
‘It wasn’t but I got a special award for doing my best,’ Bella lisped proudly. Harry scowled a little as he skulked to his bedroom.
‘Well that’s wonderful,’ Emme said, giving Bella a hug. ‘Well done you.’
Lexy hung their coats in the cupboard and let out an exhausted breath.
‘Has the KristallKit arrived?’ she asked hopefully. ‘The kids are pretty hungry …’
‘Yes, I put it in the fridge but I didn’t check if it’s one that needs cooking or re—’ Emme stopped short when she realised Lexy was staring at her curiously. ‘Either way, I’ll put the oven on …’ Emme said, self-consciously.
‘Everything OK here?’ Lexy asked, a cocktail of suspicion and intrigue in her arched auburn eyebrow.
Emme was fresh out of the shower and wearing lounging trousers and a jersey top, her damp hair combed back and her face make-up free, but had Lexy recognised that telltale glow?
Emme touched her cheek self-consciously.
‘Yes, yes fine, I just went skiing … beautiful conditions up there,’ she said, flushing pink. ‘It was so cold I needed a really hot shower when I got back.’
It had been a long and luxuriant shower, washing Tristan away. As she’d lathered suds into her breasts, her taut tummy, her crotch, she’d replayed every thrill of it over and over.
‘I bet,’ Lexy said, as her sage eye lingered over Emme. ‘Did you go with friends?’ She was onto something. She could smell it.
‘I went on my own,’ Emme replied, proudly. ‘Cat and Tiago were busy.’
‘He’s a pretty boy isn’t he, Tiago?’ Lexy was following a dead lead.
Emme hadn’t really noticed, but he had clearly caught Lexy’s eye whenever she was in the Steinherrhof.
Lexy opened the fridge and took the KristallKit out of it with the simple instructions.
‘Gosh, I am sooo shattered,’ Lexy said. ‘What have we got? Please let it be quick …’
‘I can do it …’ Emme offered.
‘Oh good, thanks,’ Lexy said, sliding the boxes along the worktop to where Emme was leaning. ‘It’s been a long day.’
Emme looked at the instructions. Chicken tagine, jewelled couscous and flatbreads. All pre-cooked, it just needed warming.
‘It won’t take long.’
Emme busied herself reading the heating instructions on the KristallKit’s boxes as Lexy picked up Vanity Fair and went to the lounge area with the large, inviting sofas. She yawned.
‘Oh, before I forget: Bella needs to rest after today, so I think I’ll cancel Cedric’s lesson tomorrow and tag it onto another day.
Maybe the Saturday of the Kivvi Christingle – I’ll be having my hair and nails – ooh.
’ Lexy stopped when she spied a white Louis Vuitton ski helmet on the sofa, in just the spot she was about to slump into.
‘Whose is that?’ she said excitedly. She dropped the magazine and picked up the helmet, inspecting its smooth surface; her eyes lit up with avarice as she thumbed the LV logo.
‘Oh, it’s mine,’ Emme said, a little embarrassed.
‘Goodness!’ Lexy smiled, icily. ‘Didn’t they pay you well in the City!’