Page 126
What an extraordinary dream. It felt so real, like I was there with him, wherever that was. I cupped my cheek, then ran my fingers over my bottom lip where he’d touched me. Inhaling deeply, I caught a whiff of his scent.
What? Was he here?
“Tristan?” I called into the ether.
But I got nothing.
I took another deep breath and his scent was gone. Perhaps I just imagined it. I closed my eyes, and my body pulsed hot and heavy at the memory.
Whoa. What was this… longing? And from a dream.
I squirmed. Yes. Longing. Longing for him? I tried hard to fall back to sleep again, but I was too excited to return to London.
Chapter XV The Chronicle
I woke at nine, feeling refreshed and eager. Today, I would see Tristan, and I couldn’t wait.
My first problem was packing all my new clothes. I dressed in a pair of new jeans and one of the tank tops Lulu bought and went downstairs to find Dylan.
He and Lulu were having coffee.
“Morning,” I said brightly, much to their surprise. “I’m going to need a suitcase for all the new clothes.”
“Morning, Emily.” Dylan smiled. “I was just about to come wake you. You look well rested. I bought a holdall for you yesterday while you were in the church. It’s in the back of the car. We need to leave in about an hour to catch our plane.” He rose to fetch the bag. “Would you like a croissant?”
“Okay.”
Dylan and Lulu exchanged a quick, astonished look—probably because I wanted a croissant.
“Jeans look good, Emily,” Lulu said with approval.
“Thank you.” I sat and ate my breakfast while Dylan went to collect the holdall. When he returned, he brought in the bag and then handed me some orange juice.
Madame Gombert knocked on the front door and entered the kitchen.
“Je suis venue pour dire au revoir,” she explained to Dylan. Dylan had mentioned that she didn’t usually work Saturdays or Sundays and had made an exception yesterday.
He stood and gave her an enormous hug and kissed her on both cheeks. “Merci beaucoup pour vos soins,” he said.
Lulu hugged and kissed her, too, and I rose to say my goodbyes.
“Beautiful Emily, you are so much like your mother. I know she would not want you to be unhappy.” And she held me and kissed me on both cheeks.
“Au revoir, Madame Gombert. Je vais vous manquer.”
She beamed, then she turned and left.
“I wish we could take her with us,” I said wistfully to Dylan.
“That’s not a bad idea, though I’m sure Monsieur Gombert would have an opinion on that, and he’s not a man I’d like to cross,” he added.
An hour later, right on schedule, we were heading out of the driveway back to the airport.
***
The black cab pulled up outside Dylan’s house in Chiswick. I clambered out, and Lulu seized Dylan and kissed him with considerable passion in the back of the cab.
Get a room!
