Authors: Lulu Taylor
‘It wouldn’t have happened without you.’ He reached down, took her hand and squeezed it. ‘You look fabulous, too. Positively edible, in fact.’
‘You don’t look so bad yourself. But I’d better watch my jewellery, hadn’t I?’ She grinned at him.
He laughed and wrapped her in a hug. ‘Am I really forgiven?’ he murmured in her ear.
‘Let’s just say, you’re on probation. But one more strike and you’re out.’ She kissed him, happy to the core to have him back.
At eight-thirty, there was a ripple of excitement in the room and a whisper of ‘Neave … Neave’s here’ seemed to pass from mouth to mouth. Outside the shop, a barrage of camera bulbs exploded like fireworks as Neave turned to face the press with professional ease, posing this way and that for the cameras. She was wearing a shiny silk Versace dress in the same colour as her eyes, its thigh-skimming sexiness offset by the demure high neck with a little pointed collar and the wide black belt cinching her in at the waist.
After the photo call, she came in accompanied by her agent and publicist. Tara, Jemima and Poppy were waiting for her with broad smiles, kisses and her favourite Dom Pérignon Rosé.
‘Thanks so much for coming, Neave,’ Tara said. ‘We really appreciate it. I know it clashed with your filming schedule.’
Neave smiled. ‘It was no problem. I just did my prima donna routine, y’know. Only kidding. Hey, girls, this looks great.’
They showed her round the shop while the other guests did their best to pretend that they hadn’t noticed the gorgeous supermodel in their midst.
‘Now it’s time,’ Jemima said. ‘Come on.’
The four of them went to the middle of the room and stood together in front of the
Tea Rose
display. The television screen darkened and a hush descended as all eyes turned to the women in the centre.
‘Thank you all so much for coming,’ Tara began. ‘Tonight is a very special evening for us and we’re so grateful that you’re here to share this pivotal moment in the history of Trevellyan and the story of
Tea Rose
. Tonight, a new scent is launched that we believe will bring this house into the twenty-first century and beyond. The name Trevellyan is reborn and revitalised. It’s going to be the house of choice for scent and cosmetics for the modern woman, and the new
Tea Rose
embodies everything we hold dear: style, beauty, sophistication and femininity. And, of course, it’s very sexy and very special. I want to thank the amazing, delectable Neave, who has all those things in spades, for bringing her extraordinary star power to this fragrance. Without her, our task would have been so much more difficult. She’s our fairy godmother. We love her and we thank her.’ Tara looked gratefully at Neave, who smiled modestly as the other two applauded her. The room joined in, whooping and cheering. When the roar subsided, Tara continued.
‘But of course, there are so many others we owe so much to. I want to thank Donna Asuquo, who whipped us into shape and brought all her valuable knowledge and experience to a project that was risky, to say the least. We couldn’t have done any of this without her.’
Donna nodded happily as the crowd applauded her.
‘And Claudine Deroulier, our amazing nose. She is a true alchemist, conjuring precious smells from her laboratory. We can’t begin to understand her gifts and abilities – we’re just glad she shared them with us.
Merci
, Claudine,
pour tout
.’
With typically French grace, Claudine, chic in a Balenciaga cocktail dress, bowed as they all clapped.
‘Thank you too, to Richard Ferrera. He’s not here tonight as he’s coordinating our US launch, but we owe him a great deal. And finally, above all else, I wanted to say thank you to my dear sisters.’ Tara looked at Jemima and Poppy, smiling and taking their hands. ‘At the beginning of this year, we had no idea what lay in store for us. Our lives were very distant. Now, we’ve been together more than we have since we were children. We’ve argued, laughed and cried. We’ve rediscovered each other, and we’ve been on an amazing adventure. We’ve also worked our asses off. I’m not sure yet what the outcome is, but I do know that it’s transformed our lives for the better. Jemima, Poppy – I can’t imagine this without you. I love you both so much. Thank you.’
The sisters hugged as the room exploded in wild applause and delight. Champagne corks popped and
Tea Rose
was toasted.
Jemima looked at the other two, her eyes shining. ‘This is what it was supposed to be,’ she said. ‘We did it.’
‘We did it,’ echoed Poppy. ‘I knew we would.’
‘I knew we
could
,’ said Tara. ‘And I’m so happy we did.’
Epilogue
THE SUN BLAZED
down on the golden sands, making the surface of the sea glitter silver and blue.
Tara lay on her towel with a book, looking up every now and then to see Edward and Imogen playing happily in the sand. Their sandcastle was taking shape, as they trotted back and forth filling buckets with sand and then tipping it on the growing mound.
Looking back up the beach, she could see Jemima and Harry in the shade of their villa. Now that Jemima was four months pregnant, she didn’t like to sit in the sun, saying she was afraid of cooking the baby. Instead, she reclined on a long wicker sofa, well padded with soft cushions, while Harry attended to her every need, bringing her lime juice and iced water to drink and plates of delicious Mexican food to tempt her appetite. Not that it needed tempting – Jemima was enjoying everything that pregnancy brought, in particular being able to eat whatever she wanted, except for seafood, which Harry forbade her to touch.
It was so wonderful to see their relationship blossoming once more. It had been transformed and they both looked blissful, like newlyweds, unable to keep their hands off each other, always touching and kissing and making sure the other was happy.
Jemima had bought herself a small London crash pad with some of the proceeds of the sale of Eaton Square, but she only stayed there a few nights a week, as she was overseeing the transformation of the old stable block at Herne into a luxurious beauty treatment centre and new Trevellyan shop. It would be up and running at about the same time as the baby arrived, but it didn’t look as though Jemima was going to let that stop her.
‘I’ll just wear the little poppet in a sling,’ she said brightly, ‘and it can go everywhere I go. Easy.’
Tara, who already knew what babies were like, suspected that Jemima hadn’t grasped quite how much a baby would transform her life – but what did that matter? That great adventure was waiting for her, as it did every woman who became a mother. The wonderful thing was that she had Harry’s love and support, and the baby had an amazing place to live and grow up in. Herne was a happier home now, especially after Harry had sacked two of his employees, people who had sold their stories to the
Chronicle
. It was a sign of his total loyalty and commitment to Jemima.
She heard voices behind her and then saw Poppy running past her down to the sea, wearing her white bikini bottoms and a T-shirt. This fierce sunshine was
hard
on Poppy’s fair skin and she had to slather on her sun lotion practically every half-hour, but the lure of the delicious warm waters of the Pacific was hard to resist. After her, Gideon was pounding down the sand, running to catch up with her.
Tara watched them run into the ocean, laughing and splashing each other before diving into the water and swimming.
She wasn’t sure about that relationship. It seemed a little unequal to her, with Gideon adoring Poppy like an eager puppy. And the whole thing had been based on a strange deception – could a partnership like that succeed? Gideon obviously believed he had redeemed his earlier sin by stealing Jecca’s locket for Poppy. The full story had never been cleared up entirely to Tara’s satisfaction. How involved with Jecca had Gideon been? He claimed never to have met her, and that everything was done through his agent, but Tara was suspicious. She had the distinct impression that Gideon had met Jecca, but she couldn’t say why.
Did Poppy think the same?
she wondered.
Perhaps she didn’t mind. It had got them the result they needed after all
.
Besides, if anyone had to grapple with the reality of sharing a lover with Jecca, it was her.
A shadow fell across the towel. She looked up and saw Richard standing above her, shirtless, wearing baggy old linen shorts and deck shoes.
‘Hello, my darling,’ he said, and bent down to kiss her. She sat up and made room for him on the towel. He knelt next to her and put his arms round her, hugging her.
‘How are the children?’
‘Having a marvellous time. This is the most perfect holiday. Thank you.’
Richard smiled. ‘It’s my pleasure, you know that.’
‘Yes.’ She nuzzled into his warm neck, savouring the smell of his flesh.
‘I want you to be here many more times. Maybe not with your entire family every time – but you and the children, always.’ He kissed her face lightly. ‘Mmm, you taste of coconut.’
‘It’s a new Trevellyan face product for the beach. It’s doing amazingly well.’
‘Ah yes, Trevellyan.’ Richard gazed out to sea.
‘I’m sorry, darling, I promised I wouldn’t talk about business.’
‘No, no … actually I came to talk business with you.’
‘Really?’ She was apprehensive. ‘What is it?’
‘Do you remember what the date is today?’
She thought hard. ‘Time just melts away here, it’s so magical. Is it the twelfth?’
‘It’s one calendar year since you inherited Trevellyan and took over the board.’ He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and unfolded it. ‘This just arrived on the company fax.’ He handed it to her.
Tara took it swiftly and scanned it. Then she looked up at Richard, her face beaming with delight. ‘Oh my God!’
‘What was it you had to do? Increase sales by a factor of three?’
‘Yes, yes.’ She looked at the paper again, as if unable to believe what she saw.
‘If I’m right, that means you’ve done it.’
‘We haven’t just done it – we’ve gone way beyond. Sales are up four times what they were one calendar year ago.’ She sighed happily and laughed. ‘I knew we’d made it, but I wasn’t sure by how much. This is amazing. The company is safe. It’s a success. It’s better than it ever was.’ She threw her arms around him and laughed. ‘Bloody hell, Richard, the company is safe.’
‘Is life good?’ he asked, looking at her proudly, brushing a wisp of her hair away from her cheek.
‘Oh, yes, so good. My divorce is due through in a few weeks. My new house is wonderful and I love the neighbourhood. The company is doing well. And …’ her voice dropped down to a husky whisper ‘… I have you.’
They kissed slowly and sweetly. Then Tara pulled back and jumped up. ‘I can’t wait,’ she said, ‘I’ve got to tell the others the good news.’ She brushed her hair out of her eyes and ran towards the sea, waving the paper above her head triumphantly. ‘We did it! We did it!’ she yelled. The children turned to watch her run past and laughed as she whooped and danced on the wet sand. Poppy and Gideon emerged dripping from the sea. Jemima and Harry wandered on to the beach to see what all the fuss was about.
Richard watched as the sisters were united in the sunshine, hugging and laughing.
The heiresses had fought for their inheritance, and won. The power of three.
He got up and went to join them.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to everyone who helped me write this book, including the wonderful team at Arrow – the brilliant Emma, Kate and Nikola in editorial; Claire and Louisa in marketing; Emma for the fantastic cover; Laura in publicity; and Rob, Oli and the rest of the sales team. Thanks so much, it’s been a real blast.
Immense gratitude to my splendid agent, Lizzy Kremer at David Higham and all the people there who’ve been so supportive.
Thanks to Chandler Burr, the man who knows most about perfume and the business of perfume. His writing was informative and inspiring.
Grateful thanks to Lydia West for checking my French and, of course, to my friends and family, who make all of this possible.
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Copyright © Lulu Taylor 2009
Lulu Taylor has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
This book is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
First published in Great Britain in 2009 by
Arrow Books
Random House, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road,
London SW1V 2SA
Addresses for companies within The Random House Group Limited can be found at:
www.randomhouse.co.uk/offices.htm
The Random House Group Limited Reg. No. 954009
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 9780099524939