can call the florist but forget the celebrant. We can’t have a real one, Charlotte. Too risky, legally. I’ll get someone to stand in and play the part. My brother-in-law will do it. The bridal suite can be real, though.’
‘The bridal suite?’ she choked out.
Their eyes locked, hers wide, his narrowed.
Daniel was momentarily thrown by the sudden panic he glimpsed there. Surely she must have realised that was where tomorrow would end.
‘You said you’d cancelled it,’ he reminded her.
‘I… I didn’t actually book one of the bridal suites,’ she said, clearly flustered. ‘They have several here in the hotel, each one decorated with a different theme. They’re all terribly expensive. I couldn’t afford any of them so I booked one of the ordinary suites.’
‘I see. Well, you don’t have to worry about the expense any more. My treat. You ring the florist whilst I go organise one of those suites. Then we’ll have that coffee. I think a walk in the fresh air would do us both good.’
Ten minutes later they were walking together down George Street towards the quay. The day had become a little hotter, but not unpleasantly so. Charlotte had had no trouble re-booking the florist, with Daniel looking similarly pleased.
She didn’t dare ask him what suite he’d booked. She didn’t want to think about tomorrow night. She would think about that tomorrow.
‘You handled the situation with your parents very well,’ Daniel complimented when they stopped at a corner for a red light. ‘No one would have known you were upset. Which you must be. I’m not that insensitive that I don’t realise today has been very difficult for you.’
Difficult in more ways than one. How often did one man dump you and another bewitch you within the space of a few hours?
‘Training,’ she said brusquely, which led to her telling him about her work history and how she’d learned not to wear her heart on her sleeve.
‘Except when I’ve just been jilted,’ she added as the light turned green and they walked on. ‘I always lose it on occasions like that. Especially when I find out the man who’s supposedly in love with me has made some other girl pregnant. Would you believe this isn’t the first time this has happened?’
‘That’s incredibly bad luck.’
‘I agree,’ she said drily, and launched into her sad tale about Dwayne.
Daniel nodded sympathetically at all the right moments.
‘Men can be right bastards at times,’ he pronounced when she finished.
She stared at him, then smiled. ‘You’d know, I guess.’
By this time they’d reached the quay area and weren’t far from the open-air café Charlotte was taking him to.
‘On the plus side,’ she said as they strolled along together, ‘you are a wonderful listener.’
‘Aah, now, that’s my training. I’m not just any old lawyer, you see. I’m a divorce lawyer. With female-only clients. A good proportion of my job is just listening to women rave on. I have to confess I’m used to hearing the sexual shortcomings of the male sex. Frankly, some of the horror stories I’ve heard make me ashamed of being a man at times.’
‘But why do you have only female clients? Surely men want you to represent them sometimes.’
‘Aah, now, that’s a long story.’
Charlotte refused to let him fob her off with that old chestnut. ‘You must tell me all about it over coffee,’ she said firmly.
Daniel had no intention of doing any such thing, but oddly enough, within ten minutes of their sitting down together at one of the very pleasant alfresco tables, he found himself telling her in minute detail all about his father’s desertion and subsequent marriages.
‘Mom never recovered from his betrayal,’ he said as he stirred his coffee. ‘And I guess neither did I. Beth was too young to hate him. She never even knew him. But I despise the man for what he did, and what he’s done since. When I first started practising law and handling divorces, I did have male clients. But I couldn’t put my heart into representing them. It felt like I was representing my father. When I became a partner in the practice a few years back, I decided enough was enough. I’ve only had women clients from then on.’
‘I fully understand,’ Charlotte sympathised. ‘And your mother? How is she coping these days?’
Daniel’s chest tightened. ‘Mom passed away last year.’
‘Oh, how dreadful for you!’ Charlotte exclaimed with genuine sympathy in her gorgeous blue eyes. ‘I don’t know what I’d do if my mother died. I’d be devastated. And of course so were you. I can see it in your face.’
Daniel blinked his amazement. He’d always prided himself on never showing his emotions to the outside world. Maybe he wasn’t as self-contained as he thought. Or maybe Charlotte was extra-observant when it came to people’s body language. He’d read somewhere that hairdressers had to be good counsellors and therapists as well. They spent as much time talking to their clients as he did.
‘So is this why you’ve come out here to visit your sister?’ she went on. ‘Because she’s the only one who understands how you’ve been feeling?’
Daniel was once again taken aback at the accuracy of Charlotte’s observation. He wasn’t used to being read so well.
‘Partially,’ he replied. ‘But I also had the urge to come home for a while. I’ve lived in LA for many years, but I always think of Sydney as home. There’s no place like it,’ he said as he glanced around.
Their table was less than ten metres from the harbour, which he was facing. To his left loomed the magnificent coat-hanger-shaped harbour bridge. To his right, the truly splendid opera house with its white sail roof and absolutely perfect setting. Right on a point that jutted out into the harbour.
‘I fully agree,’ she said. ‘I know exactly what you mean about that urge to come home. I lived overseas for years, but in the end all I wanted to do was come home to Australia.’
When she picked up her coffee he did likewise, sipping and soaking in some of the sunshine whilst he admired the beautiful city he had been born in.
‘Daniel…’
‘Yes?’ He put down his cup and looked over at her.
‘I want to thank you. For everything. Regardless of your motives. You were wonderful with my parents at lunch-time. And very agreeable about the food. I know it was pretty simple fare.’
‘I enjoyed it immensely.’
‘Oh, come, now. A big-shot divorce lawyer from the Hollywood hills would be used to the best of wine and food, and the most sophisticated of company.’
Used to them. And bored silly with them. ‘I much prefer the company I had today. And the company I’ll have tomorrow.’
‘What about after that, Daniel? I mean…you’re going back to the States in a fortnight, aren’t you?’
‘That’s my plan,’ Daniel said. ‘Meanwhile, I thought you might like some company on that honeymoon you’ve already paid for. The one up at the Hunter Valley.’
Her eyes widened. ‘Did I tell you about that?’
‘You certainly did.’
‘Good old blabbermouth me.’
‘So how about it?’
She stared at him, her expressive eyes betraying her. She wanted him to come with her. He could feel it.
‘I don’t think so, Daniel,’ she replied, stunning him. ‘As much as I find you a very attractive man, I don’t want to risk