She didn’t dare bring that unending pain on herself. It was going to be like a death to fly to Venice tomorrow, but she knew it was what she had to do for self-preservation.
“I think you’d better drive me to the guest apartment.”
Without his saying a word, he drove her to the petit château. He helped her with her things and walked her to her apartment where he set everything down. His dark eyes narrowed on her mouth. She could almost feel him kissing her.
“Go ahead and make plane arrangements. I’ll call you in the morning. Depending on the time of your flight, I’ll pick you up for breakfast in the morning and drive you to the airport.”
“Wait—” she cried because he’d pivoted too fast and was already walking away.
He looked over his shoulder. “That wouldn’t be a good idea.”
When she couldn’t hear his car, she shut the door, devastated by what had just happened. She waited there for at least five minutes, hoping he’d come back and beg her to reconsider. But it was evident it wasn’t going to happen. If he’d really wanted to be with her tonight, he would have found a way.
She hurried in the bedroom to call the girls. Though it was late, she had to talk to them. She phoned Zoe first and got her voice mail. Too frustrated to leave a message, she called Ginger.
“Abby? Hey—what are you doing phoning this late?”
“I’m sorry, but I’m flying to Venice tomorrow and will try to plan a flight that fits in with yours and Zoe’s schedule.”
“You’re not staying in Burgundy?”
A shuddering sigh escaped. “No.”
“So the ‘come and see my notebook’ thing turned out not to be for real.”
She gripped her phone so tightly, she could have crushed it. “Actually there was a notebook with a poem, but it wasn’t an authentic signature of Byron’s.” In this instance, she had to lie after promising Raoul she’d let the find stay a secret.
“But he really had something to show you?”
“Yes. I met his grandparents and they showed it to me.”
“Then he was on the level.”
“Yes.”
“You sound odd. Are you okay? What’s going on with you two?”
“It’s been a very full day with a funeral and a dinner. He’s a very important man.” But tonight he hadn’t pressured her to stay with him and it hurt like crazy.
“Don’t let me keep you up any longer. Shall I come early or late? You’d better check with Zoe.”
“She’s not here.”
“What do you mean?”
“Zoe decided to fly to Greece early, so I took her to the airport today and now I have the car. Tomorrow is Sunday and I’m going to Burano Island for a couple of days. I’ve already paid for travel and the hotel room for two nights on a special deal. Why don’t you check flights for Tuesday and I’ll meet you whenever you say?”
Another two days with Raoul. Abby could hardly breathe.
“That sounds fine. I’ll call you Tuesday and we’ll plan from there.”
“Perfect.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
AT SIX THIRTY Sunday morning, Raoul’s phone awakened him. He worried it might be Abby and checked the caller ID. One look and he knew his father was summoning him, but he ignored it.
Last night he’d worked for a half hour sending instructions to Félix, then he’d stretched out on the couch in his office. It had taken all the self-control he could muster to leave Abby alone.