Free Bliss by Fiona Zedde Page B

child's voice told any brave caller to leave a message.
    "Hi, Papa and Nikki. This is Sinclair. Thank you both for
the card. It's beautiful. I'm thinking of taking you up on that
offer to come down and visit." Her voice faltered. "Give me
a call at home or at work when you get this message."
    She left her numbers and wished them both a polite good
evening. For the rest of the night she worried that all the in
vitations-all twenty years of them-had been for politeness'
sake alone and no one would return her call. She fell asleep
earlier than usual thinking about coconut trees and smiling
children.

    The next day Shelly was in the office before her. Sinclair
stopped at her secretary's desk.
    "You're in early."
    "I didn't want to give you the chance to avoid me again."
She grinned, looking not at all like someone who'd knocked
back half a bottle of whiskey the night before.
    Today she was in head-to-toe pink, like an extra from that
Audrey Hepburn movie, Funny Face. Knee-hugging pink skirt,
matching jacket, pale pink blouse and high-heeled pink shoes.
A pale pink pillbox hat sat on top of her French-twisted hair.
    "You're not funny," Sinclair muttered to her earlier comment. "But you do look lovely today."
    "Thank you, boss lady," she said to Sinclair's retreating
back.
    Sinclair was just putting her briefcase and purse away
when Shelly buzzed her.
    "Your father is calling for you," Shelly said.
    "Thanks." Sinclair took a deep breath. "Hello?"
    "Sinclair!" His voice came hearty and loud over the phone
line. "What a surprise to get your call last night."
    "I hope it wasn't an unpleasant surprise."
    "No, no. Don't be crazy." He laughed. "So, after all these
years you're coming to visit your old man?"
    "If I'm still invited, yes."
    "If you're still invited ... daughter, please. When are you
coming?"
    "When's best for you?"
    "Any time you want to come is fine. I'm not going anywhere off this island anytime soon."
    "How about next month? How long can you stand to
have me?"
    "Next month is fine. If the burden of your company gets
too much I can always ship you off to a family friend." He
laughed long and hard at his own joke.
    "How about four weeks?"

    "That's fine. Just try to get a flight coming in after three in
the afternoon and let me know when to come get you from
the airport."
    "All right. Um ..." Sinclair glanced at her desk calendar.
"Let's say four weeks starting the eighteenth of next month."
She scribbled down a note to herself to buy the plane tickets.
"I'll call you when I know exactly when my plane lands."
    "Sounds good. Nikki and Xavier are glad they will finally
get the chance to meet you. Especially since you didn't send
any pictures." He tut-tutted, then laughed again. "Seeing you
in person will be better than a hundred photographs."
    "Don't talk too soon. You may not like what you see." She
wasn't entirely joking.
    "There you go talking crazy again." He didn't laugh this
time. "I know that you're at work and everything so I won't
take up too much more of your time."
    "That's all right."
    "Sure it is. Just call me later on."
    "I will. Talk to you soon." She disconnected the line, then
rang Shelly.
    "Shelly, could you put in four weeks of vacation down on
the company calendar for me, please? Beginning May eighteenth."
    "A month?"
    "Yes." A trace of impatience touched her voice.
    "Are the big bosses going to allow that? You're not exactly
dispensable here, you know."
    "Use your sweet talk to make it happen, Shell." Sinclair's
mouth twitched with amusement. "Bryony and Steven can
handle my workload until I get back. And don't worry, I'll
leave plenty of work for you to do while I'm gone."

Chapter 6
    In Sinclair's last day of work before her vacation, she invited Shelly to share a drink with her. The dark-haired
woman seemed pleasantly surprised and said so when she
walked into the office.
    "Don't worry, I'm not turning senile or anything. I just
wanted to thank you for going