Page 47 of Never Too Late
She had Sol’s son, Zach, on the left of her and Rob on her right. Although she would have loved to spend all evening just talking to Rob, she felt she had to divide her time between both men and Sol himself, who was sitting directly opposite her beside Keith who, as predicted, kept up a constant babble of conversation. She heard a lot more from Sol and Zach about the way they were planning to publicise the fact that Royalty were once more back together and how they were going to promote the new album.
Sol announced that as soon as they finished recording the final version in London they would be flown off to the USA for a series of TV interviews all over the continent, including Mexico and Canada. Although this all sounded exciting – if daunting – Steph knew it also signified that she was likely to be out of Europe for most of October which, of course, meant she wouldn’t see Rob for ages. At the same time, Rob told her about his upcoming tours of Eastern Europe and Germany, and it appeared that he would be away almost as much as she would. This only underlined the impossibility of a relationship between them having a hope of developing, and she sighed inwardly.
She had just started on a plate of spaghetti laced with fennel, clams and roast scallops when her attention was drawn to some new arrivals. Through the door came an unlikely trio. First was the unmistakable figure of Cody Havergill, shadowed by his bulky bodyguard, as ever in his suit, and beside him was none other than Willow, dressed like a Hollywood vamp in a long silver dress.
‘Cody! Is that you?’ All heads turned as Solomon jumped to his feet and, accompanied by Vic and Zach, made his way over to greet the legendary rocker. Meanwhile, back on the Royalty table, the conversation very quickly turned to Willow.
‘Wow, she didn’t waste any time.’ Tara looked as amazed as Steph was feeling.
‘For God’s sake, she’s half, a third his age…’ Faye looked equally gobsmacked.
Steph heard Rob’s voice whispering in her ear. ‘Say what you like; she’s better off with Cody than with my brother… any woman would be.’
Steph gave him a nod in return. ‘You’re right, but I still think she could have chosen somebody a bit more suitable.’
‘Rich, famous and by the look of him not long for this earth.’ Rob was grinning. ‘For my money he’s exactly what she’s been looking for.’
When Willow caught sight of Steph, she gave a little wave to which Steph replied. At least they had parted on reasonable terms, and the woman no longer appeared to be after Steph’s blood. Sol and his ‘boys’ returned to the table and the meal continued. After roast duck in a chestnut, ginger and mandarin orange sauce, Steph excused herself and went to the Ladies. She was standing by a basin, dabbing cold water on her temples to try to cool down, when the door opened, and Willow came in. She came straight across and, to Steph’s surprise, kissed her on the cheek.
‘Hi, Steph, it’s good to see you.’
‘It’s good to see you, too, Willow. Am I right in assuming that Cody’s the friend you’re staying with?’
Willow nodded. ‘Yes, and he’s great. He eats far too much and drinks as much as Den did, if not more, but he doesn’t do drugs and he never turns nasty.’ She glanced over her shoulder to check they were alone and grinned. ‘He just falls asleep.’
While this sounded like a definite improvement on Denver, Steph reflected that this still didn’t exactly sound like a match made in heaven by any means. But that was Willow’s affair, not hers.
‘Well, I’m glad if you’re happy.’
‘Listen, Steph, I owe you. You did me a big favour by offering to tell Den I spent the night with you rather than Ethan, so I think it’s only right I should repay my debt. Now that you’ve broken up with Ethan, are you interested in Robert?’
‘Um, sort of, but I’m leaving tomorrow, and I don’t know when or if I’ll see him again, so nothing’s happened and nothing’s likely to happen. Why do you ask?’
Willow looked reassured. ‘That’s good… not that you’re leaving, but that things aren’t getting serious between you and Robert. You see, I saw him last week. Cody took me to Monte Carlo for the weekend and we stopped off for a late meal on Sunday night in Sanremo on the way back. Robert was there in the restaurant with a very beautiful woman, and they were holding hands and all sorts. I thought you should know.’
The air hissed out of Steph’s lungs. ‘He was with another woman? Did he see you?’
Willow shook her head. ‘I’m not sure, I don’t think so. It was a big restaurant with two or three dining rooms, and we were in a different one from them. Besides, Cody insisted on sitting in the far corner – he doesn’t like fans disturbing him when he’s eating – and I just glimpsed Robert and the woman as we walked past the entrance to their room. I’m sorry, Steph, but when I saw you tonight I thought I should let you know.’
‘Thanks…’ Steph was genuinely amazed. She had really believed that Rob was a reformed character, but it was looking as though this particular leopard might not have changed his spots after all. Of course, it could all be innocent and above board, depending on what had been going on. ‘When you say they were holding hands and all sorts, what kind of all sorts?’
‘He was sitting opposite her, holding both her hands and looking deep into her eyes. He was just starting to kiss her fingers when I lost sight of him.’
‘I see…’ Steph took a deep breath and pulled herself together. So what if he’d been with another woman? Tomorrow would see her separated from him, probably forever, so it didn’t matter, did it? She managed to muster a little smile for Willow’s benefit. ‘Out of interest, what did she look like, this woman?’
‘She had a mass of jet-black hair and she was wearing a rather fine black gown, although it was a bit too conservative for my tastes.’ Considering Willow’s current dress was open to the waist, Steph could believe it.
Her antennae started bristling. That sounded very much like Rob’s accompanist, and it didn’t come as a complete surprise. Spending so much time together it was almost inevitable that they would have grown close. Swallowing her displeasure, she did her best to put on a bold front. ‘Sounds like it’s just as well nothing’s happened between me and him. Thanks again for telling me.’
Pulling herself together, she returned to the dinner table and did her best to act as if nothing had happened. Rob was still charming and attentive, and Sol and his boys were still exuding a tsunami of confidence for the future of Royalty. Any gaps in the conversation were immediately filled by Keith, who was still firing on all cylinders. She smiled and responded from time to time while her brain continued to process what Willow had told her.
Of course, it might be a pack of lies. Maybe Willow had never forgiven her, and she had made this up as a way of getting payback for Steph’s imagined interest in her original boyfriend. Besides, Rob’s dinner companion might not have been his accompanist after all. Without seeing her, this was just supposition. She could have been a relative or a very close friend of his, although the black hair and gown were suspicious and the finger kissing was a bit intimate. It did of course sound very much like Rob’s behaviour in his former, licentious incarnation. The finger kissing made what she had thought of as a special moment when he had kissedherhand feel somehow cheapened as a result.
She gave a little internal sigh. The most likely answer to this conundrum was that he hadn’t really changed at all, and he was still an inveterate womaniser. Still, considering that after tomorrow she wouldn’t see him again until his sister’s wedding in December, it probably didn’t matter. Actually, she told herself, knowing that he hadn’t changed should make their separation all the easier to bear. She repeated this to herself over and over again, but it didn’t help very much. In fact, it didn’t help at all.
In consequence she was in a deflated mood when they returned to the villa. She joined the others on the terrace for coffee, but her head was elsewhere. It soon emerged that her hostess knew her well enough by now to smell a rat.
‘How’re you doing, Steph?’ Faye appeared alongside her and caught hold of her hand. ‘Feeling a bit overawed? Sol’s like that but don’t worry; Keith and the others will look after you.’
