Page 42 of His Last Gamble

Lucy crossed her legs and swung one foot in a tell-tale gesture. Charmaine knew that particular piece of body language from old, and felt her spirits sink. Lucy scented a mystery, and she was not the kind of woman to let a mystery pass her by. Even as a little girl, she’d always sought out her Christmas presents, no matter how carefully their parents tried to hide them, and opened them to see what was inside.

‘Jo-Jo was surprised I didn’t know,’ Lucy mused, looking up from an apparently disinterested inspection of her fingernails — painted in a rainbow of colours — and snared her sister with a sharp glance.

‘He always thought you told me everything. And until now, so did I.’

Charmaine couldn’t mistake the hurt tone underneath the banter, and she bit her lip.

‘I just didn’t want you to know in case I made a fool of myself,’ she lied frantically. ‘You know how it is. Ideas that seem good at the time slowly begin to look like a mistake. Well, this was one of those. I thought it would help me break out of my rut. It seemed like such fun — model a few of my own clothes, take an exotic holiday at the same time, kick over the traces. But then I began to worry I wouldn’t be any good, so I decided not to mention it to you or Dad.’

Lucy shook her head wryly. ‘You are a dope. I keep on telling you and telling you that you’re a born star, and still you persist in doing yourself down. Of course you were a hit. I bet that spiteful redhead you use is howling at the moon.’

Charmaine chortled. ‘She is a bit,’ she said, with understandable glee.

Lucy laughed. Then her eyes narrowed. ‘So, what made you choose the Bahamas?’

Charmaine swallowed hard. This could get tricky. Lucy was no fool. ‘Oh, well, you had something to do with it actually. You told me how great this place was when you came back off holiday a few months ago. Remember?’

Lucy watched as her sister walked to the dressing table and kicked off her shoes, refusing to meet her eyes. She always knew when Charmaine was lying. She was always so hopeless at it. Unlike herself, who could and did lie regularly, and very well indeed.

‘So, what bringsyouback?’ Charmaine asked, unable to bear it any longer. She simply had to know. ‘Another holiday is it? It’s not like you to go to the same place twice. I thought you said the next vacation you took was going to be to Bangkok or Singapore?’

She glanced up at her sister’s reflection in the mirror just in time to see the look on Lucy’s face, and her heart jolted.

Her sister looked grim, and yet resolute. Like someone about to face something unpleasant. And yet, at the same time, she looked excited. Almost radiant. She turned slowly, a sense of fear and dread beginning to rise up in her throat.

‘Oh, I’m not here on holiday,’ Lucy said at last.

‘No?’ Charmaine croaked.

Lucy shook her head, then looked up, smiling.

‘Charmaine, I’m here to get back the man I love.’

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