Page 5 of The Payback Plan
‘Well, I sure as hell am,’ Astrid confirmed. ‘I don’t know about you, but I’ll sleep a little better knowing Horrible Harvey is getting his comeuppance.’
Yeah, Paige would, too.
‘Look, this only works if we all agree,’ Sienna said, suddenly serious. ‘And nobody should feel pressured into doing it if it doesn’t sit right.’
Bella placed her glass on the table. ‘Definitely.’
‘God, fuck yes.’ Astrid appeared to gear down her enthusiasm. ‘The last thing I want to do is browbeat my new co-conspirators. Sorry…besties.’
They all laughed but the idea was becoming more attractive. What was the harm in creating a little mischief for these men? For too long, too many men had been allowed to get away with stuff. Maybe theyowedwomankind a little cosmic rebalancing?
‘I do love a cream tea,’ Paige admitted.Anda pasty. She glanced at Bella. ‘I’d be safe there?’
‘Definitely,’ Bella hastened to assure. ‘For all his commitment-phobe tendencies, he’s a true gentleman. Painfully polite in that very English way. And I know he feels terribly guilty about the jilting. Which I’m perfectly okay exploiting to get you in there. I still have his number.’
‘Oh yes,’ Astrid enthused. ‘That’s a great plan. You could text him now.’ She glanced at the clocks on the wall. ‘It’s six in the evening over there.’
An introduction would certainly help. And yet Paige still felt a little unsure.
‘Look. How about this?’ suggested Sienna who was clearly in tune with Paige’s hesitancy. ‘What if Bella texts and then we leave it up to the universe?’
Astrid frowned. ‘The universe?’
‘Yes, you know, fate.Kismet. If he texts back while we’re all still sitting here at this table we randomly ended up at, then it’s a go. If he doesn’t? We’ve all had a laugh and filled in a few hours. No harm no foul.’
‘Ooh.’ Astrid nodded vigorously. ‘I like that.’
‘Me too,’ Bella agreed.
So did Paige. ‘Okay… yeah.’ She nodded definitively. ‘Okay.’
With everyone agreed, Bella took out her phone. ‘Olly,’ she read off as her fingers flew across the screen. ‘A friend of mine needs a place to stay in Cornwall for a bit in the New Year.’ Her fingers stopped as she considered her next words. ‘She’s very nice and won’t bother you. You have room and you owe me.’ Hitting send, she placed the phone on the table. ‘Done.’
The die was now well and truly cast.
For the first time since their meeting, everyone was absolutely still as they stared at the device as if it was the Charlie’s Angels’ speakerphone. When an incoming text chimed almost immediately, they all startled.
Bella opened the text and read aloud, ‘Is she a Roger Prendergast groupie?’
Paige frowned. ‘The actor? That died a little while ago?’
‘Yep.’ Bella nodded. ‘Roger was his dad.’
‘Oh.’ Roger Prendergast was a famed Shakespearian actor who had made the move from stage to screen seamlessly and won at least one Oscar that she could recall. She supposed she should be impressed and maybe she was, a little. But famous or not, it didn’t change the fact his son was an asshole ‘No. My movie tastes run more along the lines of campy superhero than Hamlet.’
Bella laughed but sent the reply. The response was lightning fast again and Paige watched as Bella’s eyes moved across the screen. ‘He says fine.’
Fine.Just like that.She was going to Cornwall to live in the house of a famous dead British actor to mess up his son’s charmed life. She certainly hadn’t had that on her bingo card for next year.
But, the universe had spoken.
Paige looked around the table at the expectant women. She hadn’t trusted anyone in four years and yet she felt more connected to these women, thesespurnedwomen, than she’d felt to anyone in a very long time.
‘Okay then.’ She nodded. ‘Looks like I’m off to Cornwall.’
Sienna whooped and held up four fingers to a passing waiter who promptly delivered four bubbling glasses of prosecco. The PA was playing ‘Last Christmas’ as they lifted their glasses in a toast. ‘To just desserts,’ Astrid declared and they tapped glasses.
‘Now,’ Paige said, ‘tell me more about this Olly.’
