Free Busy Woman Seeks Wife by Annie Sanders Page B

held tightly to his arm
     as she unfolded, then immediately pushed him away, brushing irritably at her clothes. As they sat side by side in the waiting
     area, Frankie found a newspaper and read little snippets out to her—he noticed she wouldn’t put on the glasses hanging around
     her neck, just held them in front of her eyes briefly when she absolutely had to—but far from being interested in the arts
     reviews, she asked him in detail about the racing results. When she was eventually called in to see her consultant, Frankie
     watched her sail across the room, looking confident and poised. He shook his head in amazement. That this elegant beauty should
     have given birth to the tall, slightly gawky woman who had questioned him so seriously at his failed interview seemed incredible.
     He sat staring at the consulting-room door, still unable to believe what was happening to him, until his mobile rang, earning
     him a stern look from the receptionist. Since the call was from Ella, he darted outside and took it. From the first wheedling
     word, it was obvious what she wanted.
    “You see, it’s gone brilliantly. They all really like me and this other woman’s going to be off for a fortnight—her back or
     something. So could you . . .?”
    “Oh, I don’t know.” Frankie shook his head. “It’s really not on. You took this job. You can’t just drop it like that. Why
     don’t you tell them you’ve got to work out your notice first and then you can start in a few days, so Alex has a chance to
     find someone else?… What do you mean, me take over? What’s Alex going to say? She didn’t want me in the first place.
     It was you she wanted. We can’t just substitute me for you and hope she doesn’t notice. It’s dishonest. Look, she’s coming
     out. We’ll talk about this later. Yep, yep. You owe me big!”
    The Bean had emerged from the consulting room and was looking around vaguely, almost unsteadily, clasping her injured arm.
     “Oh, there you are.” The imperious tone couldn’t hide her relief as she spotted him. “Well, that consultant doesn’t know a
     thing. He maintains that I have to stay with Alex for a few weeks at least, and then I have to come back for another X-ray.”
     She took hold of his arm and leaned close. “You know what, darling, there’s a little bookie not far from here, perhaps we
     could pop in on the way back. And then perhaps we could go and get some decent marmalade. If I’m condemned to staying at Alex’s,
     at least I might be comfortable. That idiot sister of yours has no idea about anything. I shall just phone her and tell her
     I can manage on my own.”
    As the afternoon progressed it became increasingly clear she couldn’t. When they returned to the flat, bets laid, he watched
     her struggle to take off her jacket, unsure whether she would be insulted by his offer of help—she was so proud. But when
     a teacup slipped from her hand and shattered on the kitchen floor, he knew he would have to step in.
    “Listen,” he said, getting out the dustpan. “I think I can persuade Ella to give up her job here, and what if I come and help
     you for a couple of days?”
    “Oh, what a relief,” the Bean sighed dramatically. “You’re quite delightful! And I do so love having a man about the house!”
    “Okay, but your daughter won’t be very pleased. There’s something I’m going to have to tell you. You see, we’ve met before
     …”

Chapter 10

    B loody disaster!”
    Camilla sat down heavily in the seat opposite Alex. “What do you mean?”
    “I don’t think I’ve ever been so embarrassed in my life,” Alex continued, easing her bag off her shoulder and dumping it under
     her desk. She gingerly moved her head to try to relieve the strain from carrying the bag from Heathrow on the hot and packed
     Tube. There hadn’t been a hope of a taxi. “Can you get on to tech support? They can take that bloody laptop and sort it out.”
    “What went wrong?”
    “What