Aunt Bessie's Holiday by Diana Xarissa Read Free Book Online Page B

a bit too loudly.
    “Look, we can’t really talk here,” he said,
almost whispering now.   He glanced
around and then back at Doona.   “I was set up,” he hissed at her.    “Herbert Howe set me up so that he
could sue for divorce and get away from Jessica without paying out a fortune.   I was as much a victim as you were.”
    “Really?” Doona asked.   “You poor thing.   No wonder you’ve come rushing back to me
only a few years after I dumped you.”
    “This isn’t the place for this
conversation,” Charles said now.
    Bessie looked around and realised the room
was slowly filling with people.   She’d been so intent on the conversation between Doona and Charles that
she hadn’t noticed earlier.
    “After the reception is dinner and then I’ll
be here all night talking to guests.   Have breakfast with me in the morning,” he suggested to Doona.   “I’ll be in my office any time after
six.   Come and find me and I’ll
explain everything.”
    “I don’t think so,” Doona said.
    “You won’t be sorry,” Charles promised.   He took Doona’s hands in his again.   “Please, breakfast.”
    He turned and headed off towards the back of
the restaurant before Doona could reply.   When he walked through the door marked “kitchen” Doona blew out a long
breath.
    “Are you okay?” Bessie asked her friend.
    “Not so much,” Doona replied, her voice
shaking.
    “We should go back to the cabin,” Bessie
said, taking Doona’s arm.
    “And miss out on the champagne reception and
VIP dinner?   I don’t think so,”
Doona said firmly.   “I just need a
minute to pull myself together.”
    “And some champagne,” Bessie said, taking
two glasses of the bubbly drink from a passing waiter.   She handed one to Doona, who took a
large sip.
    “Ah, that’s better,” she said, giving Bessie
a smile that looked almost genuine.  
    “So that was Charles,” Bessie said in a
conversational tone.
    Doona laughed.   “It was indeed,” she agreed.   “I’m sorry I didn’t introduce you.   Next time.”
    “Is there going to be a next time?”
    “Not if I can help it,” Doona said.   “If I’d known he was here, I wouldn’t
have come.   But I don’t have to tell
you that.”
    Bessie nodded.   She’d been Doona’s shoulder to cry on
during the difficult divorce.   She
knew how badly Charles had hurt her.  
    “Do you suppose Charles is paying for our
stay out of his own pocket?” Doona asked.
    “I don’t know,” Bessie replied.   “I don’t know how such things work.”
    “Well, I intend to find out,” Doona
said.  
    “Does it really matter?” Bessie asked.
    “Yes, or maybe no,” Doona said with a deep
sigh.   “I don’t want to feel like I
owe him anything.   And I will, if
he’s paying for this, even though I didn’t know he was here when we came.”
    “Well, I can certainly pay for my half of
the holiday if we have to,” Bessie told her.   “Why do you think he brought you here?”
    “I have no idea,” Doona told her.   “But I know one thing.   It isn’t because he suddenly realised
how much he loves and misses me.”
    “You never did tell me the whole story about
how you found out he was cheating,” Bessie said.   “Was it an anonymous letter?”
    “We’ll talk later,” Doona assured her.   “For now, I intend to have fun.”
    She drained her glass of champagne and then
looked around for the waiter.   Several were now circulating with drinks as well as trays full of
starters.   Bessie and Doona both helped
themselves to several of the choices.  
    “The food is delicious,” Bessie said after
she’d finished her own glass of champagne.
    “I can’t wait to see what’s for dinner,”
Doona told her.
    “It’s a tasting menu,” a voice from behind
them said.
    The pair turned around and smiled at
Mai.   They’d seen her circulating
around the room, but hadn’t noticed her joining them.
    “That sounds interesting,” Bessie