Read Online Summer at Tiffany's by Karen Swan - Free Book Online Page A

and my best friend’ – her eyes flickered up to him, as she worried she was bombarding him with too much information – ‘she was there with their little girl; she’s only two.’ She sighed. ‘So you can probably imagine the state everyone was in.’
    Kentucky murmured his agreement.
    â€˜When we got to the next station, Henry jumped off and ran
back
to Fulham while Suzy and I got a cab. She couldn’t run carrying Velvet too,’ Cassie mumbled. ‘Anyway, the ambulance had arrived by then, so Suzy went to hospital with the paramedics and Henry caught a cab after them and basically stayed there all night. He’s still there now.’
    â€˜What a truly terrible story. Is Henry’s brother OK now?’
    â€˜Well, he’s hanging on,’ she said after a moment. ‘He’s still in the Cardiac Care Unit. He had another heart attack soon after getting to the hospital, apparently.’
    â€˜I’m truly sorry to hear that. What a dreadful thing.’ He shook his head as he picked up his coffee, cradling the saucer in his palm, and stared out of the window for several long moments. ‘Well, that certainly accounts for things. We knew something drastic must have happened for Henry not to have shown, or even sent word. We just couldn’t understand it, sitting there as the minutes ticked past and no word.’
    â€˜No, I’m sure. It was just so crazy, you see – everyone panicking and screaming, Henry running all over London, CPR . . . And he’s not allowed to have his phone on in the hospital, obviously.’
    â€˜No, no, of course not,’ Kentucky agreed, taking another sip of his coffee. He sighed heavily. ‘I just wish we had known this yesterday morning.’
    Cassie swallowed. ‘It’s not too late, though, is it? It was only yesterday, and in the circumstances—’ She was stopped by his sympathetic smile.
    â€˜My dear, I wish it were that straightforward, I honestly do. But you see, the nature of our profession means we’re rarely all in one country – much less one room – at the same time. A decision had to be made there and then.’ He gave another sigh. ‘It’s all the more frustrating because, in truth, the flag was his. Henry’s a great ambassador for the exploring community and we’re very proud to have him as one of our fellows. This expedition he’s pitching appeals to us on many different levels, and the meeting yesterday, really, was just a formality. But when he didn’t show and there was no explanation . . . Well, I’m sure you can appreciate we can’t afford to lay ourselves open to claims of favouritism or, worse, nepotism. It would have seemed, at the very least, curious, if not downright suspicious to the others if we had tried to accommodate the proposal outside of the formal process.’
    â€˜So then the grant’s been awarded to . . . someone else?’
    â€˜I’m afraid so. We really had no other choice.’ He sipped from his coffee again before returning it to the table and looking back at her with a kind smile. ‘But it’s by no means the end of the road for Henry’s quest.
We’re
desperately disappointed not to have the club’s name and flag associated with the trip, of course, but with a reputation like his, he should have no problem securing the rest of the funds.’
    â€˜Well, it’s more of a timing issue than anything,’ she said quietly, bitterly wishing Henry hadn’t been all but promised the grant in New York: it had meant he’d stopped looking for the funding elsewhere and had focused on nailing the itinerary and booking the rest of the crew instead. How was she going to tell him it was over? How would he tell all of them? There was no way that they could raise that kind of money in the time they had left. They were leveraged to the hilt . . . She thought suddenly of the