Read Online Friends & Rivals by Tilly Bagshawe - Free Book Online Page B

supportive.’
    Jack had described Catriona Charles to Kendall as some sort of goddess, as kind and funny as she was beautiful, and ‘far too good’ for Ivan. He’d waxed so lyrical about her, in fact, that Kendall couldn’t help but feel a little bit jealous. So it was a relief to find that, while Catriona certainly did seem kind, she was actually a rather blowsy, red-faced, middle-aged woman.
    Ivan kissed her on the cheek. After the hanging up incident earlier, he wasn’t sure what reception he’d get, but Cat seemed to have forgiven him over the Hector thing, or was at least prepared to let bygones be bygones until they were alone. ‘Shall we eat?’
    Dinner was delicious. One of the few talents Jack Messenger hadn’t credited Catriona with was cooking, but Kendall didn’t think she’d ever tasted such succulent chicken or such meltingly soft sweet potatoes. But it wasn’t just the food that delighted her. The Charleses’ house was utterly charming, from its crumbling, wisteria-clad Cotswold stone walls to its warm and inviting shabby-chic interior. Even the dining room, often the coldest and most formal room in a house, was full of colour and life, with overflowing jugs of wild flowers plonked on the table and sideboard, mismatched floral china glinting in the candlelight and Catriona’s exquisite photographs hanging on the walls instead of stuffy old oil paintings. Ivan and Catriona’s children were adorable too, funny and chatty without being precocious, and the other dinner guest, Ned, seemed charming. It was exactly the sort of noisy, happy, close-knit family atmosphere that Kendall had longed forwhen growing up. She hadn’t been sure about accepting Ivan’s invitation, but now she was delighted she’d come.
    â€˜Did Cat tell you,’ Ned asked Ivan, ‘the record company want to talk to me about doing an album of duets?’
    â€˜Not a bad idea,’ said Ivan, helping himself to the last roast potato. ‘Did they have someone else in mind?’
    â€˜I think it would be a variety of people. Other tenors, maybe, or sopranos. Solo instrumentalists too. Sort of a “rising stars” thing. They mentioned Joyce Wu. She’s with Jester, isn’t she? Have you seen her recently?’
    â€˜Joyce? No. Not recently.’
    Was it Catriona’s imagination, or did Ivan seem uncomfortable all of a sudden?
    â€˜Isn’t she the violinist you were telling me about?’ Kendall said innocently. ‘The one who left her music at the flat?’
    â€˜That’s right,’ Ivan said evenly. From the stiffness in his jaw, Kendall realized too late that she’d put her foot in it. Remembering the sex smell at Eaton Gate and Ivan’s evident discomfiture when she’d shown up unannounced, she put two and two together.
    Ivan smiled at Catriona. ‘Joyce came over weeks ago to talk about renegotiating her contract. The silly girl left some sheets of one of her concert pieces behind. I haven’t had a chance to return them.’
    â€˜Oh. I see.’ Catriona smiled back, stamping down her creeping sense of unease as she cleared away the plates. It had been years since Ivan had last cheated on her – those days were behind them – but old anxieties took a long time to fade. Catriona’s own parents had divorced bitterly when she was eight, and the thought of anything threatening her own marriage filled her with utter dread. Still, Joyce Wu was hardly more than a child.
I’m being ridiculous.
    Ned caught Kendall’s eye and gave her a sympathetic smile. She seemed like a nice girl, and was certainly drop-dead gorgeous. How was she to know that Ivan Charles was a philandering prick?
    â€˜Kendall … er, do you like riding?’ Hector asked shyly. Ivan and Catriona’s eleven-year-old son had been in an almighty sulk about his father bringing a ‘work person’ home, until