Appointment At The Altar. Jessica Hart

to feel guilty as well.’

      ‘But I do,’ Lucy blurted out. ‘It feels as if it’s all my fault that Richard is in such a bad way.’

      Guy didn’t quite roll his eyes, but there was an exaggerated patience in the way he folded his paper. ‘What, you drove the car that put Richard in a coma?’

      ‘No, of course not,’ she said, glad to feel a spurt of irritation with him. That was much more like it! ‘But I know Meredith thinks that he had the accident because he wasn’t concentrating, and he wasn’t concentrating because he was upset about me.’ She took a morose sip of champagne. ‘She hasn’t said anything, but I know she blames me for leaving.’

      ‘Ah,’ said Guy. ‘So you and Richard were more than just friends?’

      Lucy nodded. ‘But not much more,’ she said quickly. ‘We went out for a while, but that’s all. It wasn’t a big deal. He was a friend of Meredith’s and I didn’t realise until too late that she was in love with him, but hadn’t let on to anyone how she felt. So Richard didn’t have a clue, and I didn’t either. I would never have gone out with him if I’d known.

      ‘It’s not that Richard isn’t lovely—he is. He’s very intelligent and charming and nice-looking and…steady, I suppose. I’d just broken up with a boyfriend who was the opposite of that. Tom was great fun, but he was wild and unreliable and Richard seemed like a grown-up next to him, so when he asked me out, I couldn’t see any reason to say no.’

      Guy had turned slightly in his seat to listen to her. ‘When did you realise how Meredith felt about him?’

      ‘Not until about a month later.’ Lucy turned the champagne flute in her hands, remembering how aghast she had been. ‘If only she’d told me! But that’s typical of Meredith.’ She sighed. ‘She keeps everything to herself. I only found out by accident. I just happened to see her face in the mirror when I was talking about Richard, and suddenly it was so obvious, I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t guessed before.’

      ‘It must have been an awkward situation,’ commented Guy.

      ‘I felt awful.’ It was a relief being able to talk to Guy about it, Lucy realised. ‘Meredith’s my big sister and she’s done everything for me. The last thing I wanted was to hurt her. I would never have encouraged Richard if I’d known how she felt.’

      ‘So what happened?’

      ‘The honest truth is that Richard and I weren’t going anywhere. He’s lovely, but a bit serious for me, and we didn’t really have much in common, not like him and Meredith. I thought that Richard felt the same way and that the best thing would be for me to leave. If I was out of the way, I was sure they’d get together and everything would be all right.’

      Guy glanced at her and his eyes gleamed. ‘That was very selfless of you, Lucy.’

      Lucy had the grace to blush a little. ‘I’m not saying that it didn’t suit me. The fact is that I was bored with my job and feeling restless anyway. I’d always loved the idea of the outback and it seemed the perfect opportunity to get a working visa and go.

      ‘That’s how I ended up at Wirrindago, and I’ve been so happy there,’ she said with a wistful smile. ‘Meredith was furious with me for going, though. She said I’d hurt Richard and that I was being selfish, and things were rather strained between us when I left. I didn’t honestly think that Richard was that upset, but she told me yesterday that he was devastated. Apparently he’s been confiding in her. She says he still loves me and that’s why they all want me to go back now but, to be honest, I felt worse about hurting Meredith.’

      Lucy grimaced at the very thought of how unhappy her sister must have been when she’d walked off with Richard under her nose. ‘Meredith was known as the sensible one and I was the party girl who never settled down to anything. We lost our mother when we were both small and it was always Meredith who looked after me.’

      ‘It seems to me that she’s still doing that,’ said Guy. ‘And you let her.’

      Lucy paused with the champagne glass halfway to her lips. ‘What do you mean?’

      ‘Who was it who arranged everything with Hal so that you could go back?’ he asked, unfolding his paper once more. ‘You didn’t even think about booking a flight. You just assumed Meredith would do it for you. And if Meredith isn’t around, I’ll bet there’s always someone else—like me on this occasion—who’ll sort things out for you.’

      ‘That’s not fair,’ she said, but her voice didn’t hold quite enough conviction, and Guy glanced at her face before he returned to the Financial Times.

      ‘Isn’t it?’ he said.