animals David might have chosen, that was the second-best. The perfect choice for her would have been a pony, but Caitlin couldn’t remember having ever talked about Dobbin to him. Therefore he wouldn’t, couldn’t, know any better.
Surprises were certainly coming thick and fast this morning! Caitlin’s head was spinning with them. It was the way David did things, turning situations around so quickly. He was leaving her breathless and utterly enthralled by what he could do when he set his mind to it.
She suddenly realised time was slipping by. She postponed the call to Paul Jordan and raced to the office kitchen. Coffee, tea, milk, cream, plain and fancy biscuits and mixed sandwiches from catering were mandatory. By five minutes to ten it was all in the boardroom, ready for her to serve when needed. She had barely returned to her office when Jenny called to announce the arrival of the German delegation. Caitlin buzzed David, then went to meet the visitors at reception and escort them to the boardroom.
She carried out her duties with the charm David expected of her. Once everyone was settled around the table, she was free to prime Paul Jordan with what was expected of him. She would drag the Sutherland contract out of the filing system. Paul might as well take that with him.
David smiled at her as she left the boardroom. She hugged the smile to her heart, drifting back to her office on a cloud of happiness.
She couldn’t resist dabbing some Beautiful on. It was wonderful perfume, well named. She hadn’t been in the mood to bother with perfume this morning. She was now. She hoped David would recognise and appreciate the scent when she sat near him to take notes of the meeting. This was turning out to be a lovely morning, a really beautiful morning.
The phone rang just as she reached for it. Caitlin lifted the receiver, intending to take a very quick message so she could call Paul Jordan straight afterwards.
‘Caitlin?’ Her mother’s voice.
‘Hi, Mum! Happy wedding anniversary! How’s everything going for the party? Anything you need?’
The sound of sobbing. ‘Mum, what’s wrong?’
More sobbing. ‘Mum, please, please, please tell me what’s happened.’
‘There isn’t going to be a party.’
Caitlin was staggered. Her heart sank to the pit of her stomach. ‘Why?’ she asked, then collected her wits sufficiently to enquire, ‘Why not?’
‘Your father...’ Her mother’s voice quavered. She burst into more tears.
Caitlin’s worst fears were aroused. Her father had a history of heart disease. ‘Tell me the worst,’ she said bravely.
‘He...he...he...’
‘Yes, yes, yes?’ Caitlin prompted.
‘He walked out on me!’
Caitlin’s head spun. This wasn’t making sense at all. ‘What do you mean—he walked out on you?’
‘I mean what I said!’ her mother replied, a touch of asperity in her voice. She didn’t like to be contradicted or have her communications misunderstood.
Caitlin used her most sympathetic voice. ‘He couldn’t do that to you.’
‘Thirty years of looking after him hand and foot,’ her mother wailed. ‘I’m disgusted at what he’s done. I’ll never forgive him. Never! Even if he is your father.’
‘There must be a reason,’ Caitlin soothed gently. ‘Perhaps if I talk to him.’
‘You can’t do that,’ her mother snapped peremptorily.
‘Why not?’
‘I don’t know where he’s gone to.’
‘He can’t go too far without money,’ Caitlin suggested.
‘Oh, he’s got money. Too much of it, if you ask me. He’s been secretly hoarding everything I gave him without telling me what he was doing.’
‘Mum, there has to be a way.’
‘Oh, there’s a way,’ her mother said grimly between sniffles. ‘He’s done this as a symbol. When I catch up with him, I’ll give him a symbol. I’ll kill him!’
‘Mum, let me think about this.’ Caitlin had the feeling that time was passing very rapidly. She still had to get in touch with Paul Jordan. ‘Can I get back to you?’
‘There’s no need, Caitlin. I’m on my own. After thirty years of suffering through your father’s moods, this is all the thanks I get. There isn’t going to be a wedding anniversary party tonight. There’s nothing for you to do. There’s nothing anyone can do.’
Caitlin had had no idea that her parents’ marriage had been cracking up. On her recent visits home, her father had occasionally been somewhat withdrawn about her mother’s current projects and plans, but there had been no indication of a serious falling out. After all the years they had spent together, surely there was some meeting ground left?
‘Mum...Mum...’ Caitlin tried to catch her mother’s attention.
‘Everything’s ruined. It’ll be the talk of the town!’ her mother cried.
And that, Caitlin thought, was probably the crux of the matter. Her mother had always worried too much about what others thought. ‘I’ll do my best to patch things up,’ Caitlin said on a rueful sigh.
‘My life is in tatters, Caitlin. Totally and irretrievably ruined.’
Caitlin tried to give a glow of hope. ‘Somehow it will turn out right.’
‘No, it won’t.’ Her mother gave another wail of absolute distress and despair, and hung up.
Caitlin ran through a mental list of places where her father might have stormed off to. Before she recollected the important business tactic she had to set in motion, the door to her office opened and in strode David Hartley, emitting enough sparks to start a conflagration.
Caitlin’s mind exploded in horror. Time had passed too quickly. It was now too late to call Paul Jordan!
David came to an abrupt halt. He glared at the splendid arrangement of red roses. He glared at the beribboned basket containing the puppy and the chocolates and the luxurious toiletries. His glare swung back to the roses, fastening even more fiercely on the elaborate Valentine Card. Finally, he fired bolts of blue fire straight at Caitlin.
‘What the hell is going on out here?’
Caitlin started guiltily from her chair. ‘Nothing.’
‘Well, something has been going on in there.’ David pointed to the boardroom. ‘The delegation is not only muttering about alleged design flaws, they’ve been talking to Crawley.’
Michael Crawley was David’s main rival. The mere mention of his name was enough to set David aflame. There was litigation pending between the two companies over patent infringements.
‘I’m sorry...’
‘I’ve been trying to contact you for the last twenty minutes,’ he grated. ‘Your line has been tied up. You’ve made me look like a first-class idiot.’
She flushed. ‘My mother called.’
He looked at her incredulously. ‘Where’s Jordan?’
Caitlin tried to think of an appropriate reply.
His gaze flashed savagely to the roses, then back to her fiery cheeks. ‘Did your mother send the roses?’
‘No. You did,’ she reminded him.
He looked at her as though she had gone stark raving mad. ‘I did no such thing. What do you mean...I gave them to you?’
A great bottomless pit formed in Caitlin’s stomach. She wanted the ground to open up and swallow her. She fought down the feeling of