Secret Strangers in Love novel · Chapter 9 of 24

Chapter 9: Friday Lunch

On Friday at noon I stood outside the private dining room with a gray folder and no excuse to be there.

Mr. Stanhope had asked me to hold it.

"If I need the evidence, I'll knock twice," he'd said.

"What's in it?"

"Everything you found me."

Everything I had found him was a list of true things about the woman wearing my name.

I had written each line with a steady hand, and now I felt a little sick about all of them.

The dining-room door was heavy oak with a brass handle.

It did not quite close.

I told myself I would not listen, and then I listened.

"You wanted lunch," said Brooke's voice, light and sweet. "How romantic."

"I wanted a conversation," said Mr. Stanhope. "I speak for the chairman."

"Is it about the wedding?"

"It's about withdrawing from it."

A pause.

A fork clinked against a plate, very gently.

"I see. May I ask why?"

"You kissed the groom's cheek in a restaurant for a good deal longer than manners require."

Brooke laughed, and the sound slid under the door.

"That's what this is? A cheek?"

"There's a recording."

"Of what?"

"Of you and the groom, planning something you called a secret."

"Planning!" She sounded delighted. "Gavin won't like being spied on."

"Gavin will survive it."

"By whom were we informed?"

He didn't answer.

Brooke's chair scraped.

"Doesn't it matter that the grandfathers have already signed?"

"No."

"Doesn't it matter that I'm exactly what they asked for?"

"Then let's be practical," she said. "Whatever the Ashworths pay you, my family can double it."

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