wonderful before I went. Now I’m pleased to get back to my desk. And talking about desks, why
Keira glanced at her watch, surprised to see it was almost six o’clock. No wonder everyone had gone home. ‘I was just about to head home,’ she fibbed as she stood up.
‘And I’ve been dying to know, how did you like your flowers?’ Roxie motioned for Keira to precede her through the open door.
‘What flowers?’ she asked absently, and glanced around at the other girl’s exclamation of disbelief. ‘I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about, Rox.’
‘I’m talking about the biggest bunch of red roses I’ve ever seen in my life that was sitting out in Reception.’
‘I didn’t see any flowers. They must have been delivered to the wrong floor or something.’
Roxie shook her head. ‘Card had your name on it.’
Keira frowned. ‘When was this, Roxie? You must have been mistaken.’
‘Me, mistaken? I’m deeply wounded. I saw them out at Reception bright and early on Monday morning, before I left on the assignment. The flowers were definitely for you, Keira. I can assure you I’ve got twenty-twenty vision. The card said “Keira Strong”.’ She raised her eyebrows expressively. ‘In very distinctive script, too, I might add.’
‘Distinctive…?’ Keira’s heartbeats did a skip and then settled. ‘I didn’t receive any flowers,’ she said firmly.
Now Roxie was frowning. ‘There’s something amiss here.’ She checked the time and hurried across to the nearest phone. ‘Meg was on the desk when I came past. We might catch her before she leaves.’ Roxie punched in the extension, questioned the receptionist and hung up the receiver and beamed. ‘She said Denver took charge of them. He said they gave him hay fever so he was putting them in the staff-room. Didn’t you see them there?’
Keira shrugged. ‘I’ve been having my lunch at my desk all week.’ Because she’d felt so down about Eden’s continued silence. But what if…?
‘Come on.’ Roxie grabbed her arm and led her down the passage.
On the corner counter in the lunch-room sat a huge vase of flowers, their blossoms already fading.
‘I rest my case.’ Roxie probed carefully into the greenery and held up a small white envelope. She handed it to Keira with a flourish. ‘I won’t say I told you so. But I will say Denver could have mentioned he’d put them in here. You know I wouldn’t put it past him to do this on purpose, just to be miserable, and he’s always been as thick as thieves with Dingbat Di.’
Keira only half listened to Roxie. Her fingers fumbled as she slid the card from its envelope and read the short message.
A close friend and business associate in the States has been taken seriously ill and I have to fly over there. I’m not sure when I’ll be back or if I’ll be able to get in touch. But I’ll be thinking of you. And Sunday. Eden.
‘Well, what’s it say?’ Roxie probed dauntlessly.
‘What?’ she replied, more than a little disconcerted, and Roxie clucked her tongue in exasperation.
‘The note. Eden Cassidy.’
For a moment Keira considered refuting Roxie’s conclusion but she just shook her head in dejection. A soft groan escaped her and Roxie concernedly touched her arm.
‘Keira? What’s the matter.’
‘He says a friend in the States is ill,’ she said inconsequentially and the other girl nodded.
‘That would be Kyle Ferguson,’ Roxie told her. ‘I heard Kyle and Megan had only just announced their engagement and Kyle came down with something the doctors were having trouble diagnosing. Rotten luck, wasn’t it?’
Keira stared at her friend, valiantly trying to absorb the significance of Roxie’s confidences. ‘Megan Donnelly and…?’
‘Yes. Kyle’s one of Eden’s top men over in the States. The three of them, Eden, Kyle and Megan, have been friends for years, so I heard, and Kyle’s been trying to tie Megan down for about as long.’
‘Where do you hear these things, Roxie?’
‘This particular thing I got from Meg who’s a friend of Julie, Eden’s receptionist.’
Keira raised her eyebrows.
‘Can I help it if people tell me things? Well, most people. You’re my only failure. I have to drag information from you. It’s like pulling teeth.’ She looked meaningfully at the note Keira still clutched in her hand.
Keira reread the message, her stomach contracting in despair. What had she done? If Eden thought she’d received his note then her behaviour in his office would make him think…
‘I think I’ve made a terrible mistake, Rox,’ Keira said softly.
‘If it’s as important as your expression tells me it is, then go and tell him so,’ Roxie suggested with her usual bluntness, and Keira glanced at her quickly.
‘I’m not sure it’s retrievable,’ she said almost to herself.
‘But it’s worth a try, don’t you think?’ Roxie smiled encouragingly and inclined her head in the direction of the penthouse office. ‘Come on, I’ll walk you to the lifts for moral support.’
They retraced their steps and Roxie pushed the up button, giving Keira a gentle shove forward when the doors opened. ‘Good luck. And, Keira?’ She turned back to face the other girl. ‘I’ll expect to be godmother to the first.’
The lift doors slid closed, concealing Keira’s flushed face.
In no time she was standing in the same reception area but this time the desk was unattended. Her heartbeats hammered in her chest.
Perhaps Eden had already left? She clutched the note in her damp palm and almost walked back into the elevator. But she lifted the card and read the distinctive script again. Roxie was right. She had at least to try to make amends. And Eden did deserve an apology.
Slowly she crossed to the desk and stood indecisively. Should she simply go up to his office and knock? Her legs refused to move and she drew a steadying breath. Before she could change her mind she reached over the desk and turned the phone to face her, punching in Eden’s extension.
‘Eden Cassidy.’
The sound of his voice almost caused the receiver to slip through Keira’s fingers, and when she opened her mouth no words came. She fought the urge just to put the phone down.
‘Yes?’ Eden barked into the earpiece, and Keira swallowed quickly.
‘Eden,’ she got out. ‘It’s… it’s Keira.’
CHAPTER TWELVE
AN oppressive silence seemed to echo along the line.
‘Yes?’ he repeated, a little less aggressively this time.
Taking a deep breath, Keira launched into a disjointed explanation. ‘I’m sorry. About the flowers. I didn’t know, I mean, I didn’t receive them. I’ve only just found them. And read your card. I thought…’ Her voice wavered and finally died and the silence returned.
‘I arranged for them to be delivered on Monday morning,’ he said carefully.
‘I know. That is, I know now. They…’ Keira paused, unsure whether she should implicate Denver Clarkson. ‘The flowers were put in the staff-room and, you see, I didn’t go in there until this evening.’
‘And you thought I hadn’t been in contact since Sunday?’ he asked quietly.
‘Yes. I’m sorry, I should also apologise for-’ Keira swallowed again ‘-I’m afraid I may have over-reacted before, when I, when we were discussing the article.’
‘You did that,’ he acknowledged, his voice low, the tone sending shivers down her backbone, rendering Keira speechless again. ‘But in the circumstances I can appreciate how you felt.’
‘Thank you. For understanding. And belatedly for the flowers,’ Keira added quickly, shifting the receiver from one hand to the other. ‘The roses were beautiful.’
The heavy silence hung between them again and for the life of her Keira couldn’t think of another thing to say.
