‘That’s what I love about you, your positivity. Even after all these years and all we’ve been through.’ She caressed his stubbly cheek tenderly.
Niall kissed her and got out of bed. ‘I’ll go down and make us a mug of tea and some toast – we’re hardly getting back to sleep now.’ He yawned.
‘Breakfast in bed will be a treat.’ She snuggled down under the duvet. The heating hadn’t timed on yet and there was a seasonal nip in the air.
‘And we might even have conjugals after brekkie if we have time,’ he grinned.
‘God be with the days when we’d have conjugals first and then breakfast,’ she teased, laughing as he went out the door.
She was so lucky, she thought gratefully. She and Niall had weathered a few storms to be sure, especially when she had been up to her eyes in work and feeling fraught and pulled in every direction, but they still loved each other and looked out for each other. Although the mad passion of the early years had been replaced by loving familiarity, she would say they were still in love with each other. There were couples she knew that loved each other but weren’t ‘in love’. She had always felt that Des and Colette were in that category. But even that wasn’t certain after these revelations. Des appeared to have no feeling for his wife whatsoever. Trying to trick Colette into signing away the London flat was horrifying. He must have been extremely desperate because of the money he had lost. There couldn’t be any other reason, she thought with a pang of sympathy for her friend’s soon-to-be-ex-husband.
‘Brekkie for my lady, and I’ve just had a brainwave!’ Niall arrived with the breakfast tray, a broad smile creasing his stubbly face.
‘A brainwave! What’s rare is wonderful,’ Hilary teased, taking her mug of tea from the tray. ‘Tell me.’
‘Nope, I’ll bring someone else on a second honeymoon, for being so smart.’ Niall grinned.
‘What?’ She spluttered her tea.
‘Let’s use Colette’s dilemma to our advantage.’ He offered her a slice of buttered toast. ‘I’ve to go to Toronto in a couple of days. Why don’t you fly to New York, and then fly up to join me? It’s only a short hop, and we can stay a couple of nights and fly home together?’
‘You’re a genius, Niall!’ Hilary exclaimed excitedly. ‘It sounds fantastic! I’d never have thought of it. I always think Canada’s much further north.’ She made a face. ‘It will cost an arm and a leg though and it’s very close to Christmas.’
‘It won’t cost an arm and a leg. My flights are covered because it’s work, and so is my hotel room. So we only have to pay your flights and the difference in accommodation expenses. And we can do our Christmas shopping together and have it all done and gift-wrapped. Now that’s an offer you can’t refuse. Come on, we deserve it. It’s ages since we’ve been away together. Say yes before you come up with an excuse.’ He eyed her expectantly over his mug of tea, brown eyes gleaming with anticipation.
‘You’re on! New York and a second honeymoon in Toronto! And you’re right. We do deserve it. Christmas has come early! Lucky, lucky me.’ She felt like a kid in a candy store.
‘Every cloud has a silver lining. Let’s get some practice in,’ her husband murmured, placing his cup on his bedside table and leaning over to kiss her buttery mouth.
Unfamiliar sounds roused Des from his stupor and he lay for a few moments between waking and sleeping. He felt rough, groggy, and his mouth tasted like sandpaper. Where was he? He wasn’t in his own bed. The sheets were hard and the pillows were scratchy against his cheek. He opened his eyes and blinked when he saw the monitors and felt the cannula in his hand. ‘What the hell?’ He sneezed. It hurt. He didn’t know if he was hot or cold.
And then he remembered!
Had he dreamed that Colette had stood by his bedside? Had he dreamed that she had said his ‘lady friend’ had called her? He groaned. He remembered arguing with Kaylee, telling her he couldn’t afford to keep paying the rent on the neat studio he’d rented for them down on West Street. And why would she want to give it up with the views of the Harbor and Battery Park, the roof garden, and the fitness centre? He loved it himself. Skylar had dropped him without a backward glance to go off and marry an older, best-selling, much married author – who was far wealthier than Des – whom she’d met at a publishing party. He still smarted at how fast she’d dropped him to become a trophy wife to a man she didn’t love. He’d decided that if he ever had another extramarital relationship he’d make sure to rent a smaller, cheaper apartment nearer to work. When he’d met Kaylee Hamilton, an administrative compliance analyst at Citigroup, at a Christmas drinks party, she had been living with a boyfriend in Brooklyn Bridge Park.
‘I won’t be going to see you in Brooklyn,’ he’d flirted, half joking, even though he was very taken with her curvaceous, dark-haired, green-eyed, sultry looks. She’d left the boy friend at New Year, and he’d set her up in a studio on West Street in Battery Park City. She was sparky, intelligent, very knowledgeable about the financial world, and ambitious in her job, but not socially ambitious, which was very refreshing for Des. He’d grown tired of the rounds of parties and events he and Colette had to attend. Now he loved nothing better that pulling on a baseball cap and a pair of shades and strolling hand in hand with
