Page 92 of The Guest House at Shingle Cove

She stamped her foot angrily. Everything had been just fine until he’d turned up. She turned when she heard people walking into the glasshouse and hurried outside, wiping the tears from her face. Jolene’s words came back to haunt her. It’s not going to end well, Freya.

Chapter 40

Freya made her way through the entrance and headed to the area where they were setting up the exhibition. She was hoping to find Jolene. She strode past some of the other members of the team, giving them a sour look. She wondered which of them had been gossiping about her.

She imagined Jolene was down in the basement area, sorting out the final exhibits to be displayed. She hurried downstairs and entered the vast basement room that held the artefacts. It was dimly lit, but she spotted a bright light further down the aisles.

‘Jolene!’ Freya called out when she saw her friend bending over a crate and examining the label with a small hand torch.

Jolene rose and looked at her friend. ‘Where have you been? I thought you were meeting up with Tarek for lunch, but he returned a short time ago with some posters, and when I asked where you were he told me to mind my own business.’

‘Oh, Jolene, I’ve been such a fool. I should have listened to you and not got involved,’ said Freya as she burst into tears.

Jolene rushed over and put her arms around Freya, leading her to a bench that ran alongside a trestle table in the middle of the room. Fortunately, there was no one else in the room to hear them.

‘Just take a seat, Freya. I’m going to grab a couple of drinks and will be straight back. Nothing is insurmountable. We will sort this out.’

Freya sobbed. ‘It’s all his fault! Everything was perfect until he came along.’ Even as she was saying the words to the empty room, she knew they weren’t exactly true.

Jolene was gone only a few moments. She returned with two steaming paper cups from the vending machine.

Freya looked at Jolene in surprise. ‘We’re not allowed food and drink down here – you know that.’

Jolene took her hand and placed one of the cups between her fingers. ‘I think today we’re just going to have to make an exception, don’t you?’ Jolene found a clean tissue and gently wiped the tears from Freya’s cheeks. ‘Now, drink. It’s hot chocolate.’

Freya eyed her friend as she took some sips of the soothing, velvety hot chocolate.

Jolene said, ‘Theo loves you, and you can’t have done something that bad that you’d want to break off your engagement.’

‘Break off my engagement?’ Freya stopped drinking and looked at her best friend. ‘I’m not talking about Theo …’

‘Oh, I thought you and Theo had had a falling-out, and that’s what this was about.’

‘It’s about Tarek,’ blurted Freya.

Jolene sighed heavily. ‘Of course it is.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘So that’s why Tarek was so rude and abrupt when he came back from the printer’s. He's been biting everyone’s head off ever since he returned. Nothing’s right with the exhibition, according to him, and we’ve all got to come in early tomorrow morning to deal with it. He has a list of what has to be put right – and he’s expecting the whole team – and he emphasisedwholeteam – to sort out their differences and deliver his list of requirements,or the exhibition won’t take place.’

Freya looked up – horrified. ‘Can he do that?’

‘Evidently, he can.’ Jolene stared at her. ‘What on earth did you say to him over lunch?’

Freya bit her bottom lip. ‘He found out I was engaged.’

‘He found out. How?’

Freya looked at Jolene, relieved to discover it definitely wasn’t her. ‘He was angry when he found out. I think he has feelings for me.’

‘Oh, y’think?’ Jolene said sarcastically. ‘Of course he has feelings for you. Anyone with two eyes can see the way he looks at you, hangs on your every word. Everyone apart from you, obviously.’

‘I didn’t think … didn’t realise …’ Freya trailed off. Perhaps she’d been afraid to acknowledge his feelings for her because she hadn’t told him the truth – that she was with someone else. But now that didn’t matter. He’d made his feelings known – she’d betrayed his trust.

Jolene said, ‘Look, I don’t know what you’re going to do about Tarek and Theo, but right now – and excuse me for being blunt – but we’ve got an urgent problem: what if the exhibition doesn’t go ahead? I get the feeling Tarek is going to put a real spanner in the works.’

Freya stared at Jolene. ‘This is all my fault. What will the dean say if Tarek refuses to open the exhibition? The museum has acquired such a global reputation for its displays of rare and wonderful artefacts. It could be damaged if they cancel a once-in-a-lifetime event and people found it was all because … because …’

‘Two people met and fell in love?’

Freya frowned.

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