Authors: Alicia Hope
The next time h
e caught sight of her
was at pre-dinner cocktails over an hour
later, but whenever
he tried to get close enough to talk to her, he found himself
,
or her
,
waylaid by someone else.
He swore under his breath.
E
very time I think
I have
her, she slips away
from me
.
Standing in a group
,
only half listening to their
chatter,
and holding a full glass that was fast becoming room temperature,
his admiring eyes followed Verity as she worked the room. H
er evening wear
made her look delicate and alluring
. The fine straps of her
scarlet c
ocktail dress whispered over
her lightly tanned shoulders
,
and crossed their
way
down her
bare,
smooth back to her waist, from where the skirt fell gently to the floor, finishing in a small
,
shining train. The lustrous sat
in hugged her upper body and skimmed
over her slim hips on its way to the floor.
Her hair was pinned loosely i
n a sparkling clasp, with soft
strands waving around her face and neck
whenever she moved
.
Royc
e
’s eyes
remained fixed on
her as she
made her way
through the crowd. I
t was an effort
to
look
away, and w
hen he did
,
he n
oticed others also watching her
.
Like moths to a flame.
...
With an irritated exhalation, he turned his attention to
the drinks waiter
, and
distractedly
replaced his luke-warm drink with a chilled
champagne cocktail
. This
was
a celebration, after all. But
he
held
the glass
without taking a sip
of its contents
,
until it
too
grew
warm in his hand.
Annoyed
by the way
h
is eyes
kept
searching the room for glimpses of
scarlet,
he went over to join the delegates circling
the buffet table
.
With less enthusiasm than the fine spread deserved, Royce looked over the
gleaming silver platters
of finger food
,
without really
focusing on the
delicious array.
‘Mmm,’ the woman beside him purred, reminding him of Kerry,
‘how does o
ne choose between
oysters in their shells with smoke
d salmon and chive garnish,
crud
ités with green mayonnaise, and
smoked trout pâté
on pumpernickel rou
nds?’
‘That’s easy,’ chortled the generous
ly proportioned man with her, ‘
O
ne
takes
a sample
of
each!
’
Royce rolled his eyes and
grabbed the nearest delicacy, an oyster
. As h
e
stood
absently
savouring its
delicious
smoky
flavour
,
a nearby
group of d
elegates waved him over. H
e
se
t down his plate
and
gratefully joined
their conversation.
During the
dinner that followed
, Verity felt Royce watching her more often than was comfortable. She fo
und his attention unnerving and
tried to
focus
on
the discussions going on around
her
.
At one p
oint, bored by the topics being talked about
, she resorted to sipping her wine and studying the room’s
décor
, keeping her eyes carefully averted from Royce
’s direction
.
Once again
,
starched white
linen
covered each table
, with shining s
i
l
ver cutlery
,
and
wine glasses
with swirls of gold thread
, glinting
at each setting
.
The crockery was laid for the first course—a choice of fresh watercress soup
,
or seafood tartlets with lemon saffron sauce—and a white or yellow rose bud sat in each bowl atop a matching plate. The candles adorning the table were lit,
and their flames released a delicate
, spicy fragrance.
Verity
relax
ed
as she inhaled the aroma,
feeling glad the formalities were over
,
and
grateful
th
e meeting had gone
so
well
.
She reminded herself to congratulate the
resort’s
function coordinator
, for meeting or exceeding expectations on almost every score
, and
then
recalled with a pang that
Kerry ha
d facilitated the arrangements.
Verity
glanced at
a pair of
empty seats whe
re the Stowes
might
have sat
,
if not for.... But they would be miles away by now, winging their
unhappy
way home. Verity
swallowed and
willed herself to let the
despondent
feeling pass
, as the waiters
began
servi
ng the main course.
She found it hard choosing between the brandied quail
dish
,
and the
citrus
pork with wild rice seasoning.
Peppered potatoes, carrots in sour cream, and snow peas and baby squash in garlic mint butter
,
accompanied both
.
Then came
another difficult choice, between
tropical fruit salad served with Chantilly cream, or strawberry mousse hazelnut tort
e
.
Afterwards
, the delegates moved to the comfortable arm chairs in
the restaurant’s lounge area, where
they were served coffee and
chocolate orange truffles. As she settled herself into the velvety embrace of a deep arm ch
air, Verity found herself
glowing
from the unexpected prai
se she’d received at the meetin
g, and mellowed by
the wine she’d enjoyed over dinner
. She sat quietly, a soft smile playing on he
r lips, unaware of
what a pretty picture she made
. This was not lost on Guy
,
however.
He took a moment to admire
the lovely vision
,
before
going over to touch
her lightly on the arm.
She
smil
ed
conspiratorially
at him.
‘You knew, didn’t you?’
‘Now,
just what is it you’re referrin’ to?
’
he replied
,
with
an
impish grin.
She giggled charmingly. ‘
You know,
Guy,
the bombshell about Royce
,
and
all
the accolades I received
—
which
I
have a sneaking suspicion I have you to
thank for
.’
He chuckled
. ‘
Whad’ya mean?
Y’
only got what ya
deserved.’
With that, he surprised
Verity by
leaning down to give her a bear hug. When he straightened
again,
he
said more seriously,
‘But
I’m not th
e one
ya should be thanking
.’
‘I know, I owe a lo
t to Brenda for her support, and
some
others as well
.’
‘Inc
luding the new chairman of the b
oard?
Assumin’
he
accepts the position, which I’d say is pretty much a given
.
’
Verity
noticed the intense look in Guy’
s eyes as he waited for h
er response
.
‘Well, yes, I guess Royce
was helpful
... with preparations
for the meeting
...,’
but her
voice trailed off
.
‘Yes, and more than that too.
’ Guy
settled in
to
the chair beside her.
‘
Ya
do know who helped you
with the Reardo
n issue
?’
‘So, someone
did
intervene
! That explains it. But y
ou don’t mean
...
?’ Her startled eyes widened in disbelief.
‘
Ya
didn’t know? Well,
let me fill ya
in
.
He was with me in the States when he heard about the pickle you wer
e in
, and let me tell ya, nothin’—not hell nor high water—
was
going to keep Royce
James
from heading
home
to help y’
out.
Why, he didn’t even stay to finish our golf game! Just tore off to get on the next plane home.’
‘Oh
...,’
she mumbled, consternation
written all over her features
.
‘Yes ma-am.
Remember that letter from
Reardon? The one
let
ting
ya off the hook?’
‘Of course! I couldn’
t
believe my eyes when I read John’s
resignation
, especially considering the nastiness of my
previous
... ahem ...
encounter
s
with him
.’
‘Well, that
letter
would never have
been written if Royce hadn’t applied
some pressure in the right places.’
Guy gave a half smile
,
picturing Royce as a young boy in a scout uniform,
solemnly
swearing to always
‘be prepared
’
.
Guy knew Royce had
developed
tactics
well ahead of time to
de
al with Reardon, and despite not being appointed
CEO,
he’
d
put his
carefully constructed strategy
into play
on Verity’s behalf
.
Verity frowned
at Guy. ‘Are you saying Royce did this to help me? But why? And why did
n’t
he tell me
what he’d done
?’
‘And how would you
’
ve taken it
,
if he had
told ya
? Would it have felt like interference, maybe?’ Guy watched as a ran
ge of emotions crossed her face and her mouth opened and closed without issuing any words.
Verit
y knew he was right. She recall
ed her reaction when Royce
tried to offer assistance on his return from the US. She had virtually thrown him out of her office! Although still
convinced
he’d des
erved
the frosty reception
at the time, she cringed
at the thought
he’d gone ahead and helpe
d her
anyway
.
She looked down and saw that
she was rubbing
her right hand
, the one Royce had shaken earlier.