“I know. I’ll still be joining you. Just a few days later, that’s all. It’s fine.” The waver in her voice suggested differently. “But I need you to look after Holly.”

Alix stared at the enormous Christmas tree in front of her, a suspicion forming. It was all very well being wanted and needed, but...

“What’s happened? And where’s Seb in all this?”

“He has a meeting he has to attend. A work thing.” Christy stumbled over the words. “Disappointing, obviously, but one of those things. We’ll fly out together a few days later and join you.”

Work? Who blew off a long-planned trip to Lapland at Christmas to work?

She had to stop asking herself these questions. What did she know about relationships, anyway?

Alix watched as a glamorous woman swept through the lobby on the arm of a good-looking man. He paused to kiss her, and she laughed and kissed him back, oblivious as to who might be watching.

Alix looked away.

If Christy had been there, she would have rolled her eyes at her friend. You’re so unromantic, Alix.

Maybe she was, but being unromantic had protected her from emotional disaster. She’d never suffered what other people called a broken heart. In fact, the last man she’d spent time with had questioned whether she even had a heart, which she thought was a little harsh. Dating, in her opinion, wasn’t so different from recruitment. You drew up a job description and then looked for someone who was a good fit. Romance and passion were unpredictable and undefinable. Also unreliable. She wasn’t interested, but she knew Christy was. Christy was the original romantic, and Seb had to know that by now. She frowned. Did he know that? Of course, he couldn’t possibly know Christy as well as she did; after all, she’d had a twenty-year head start, but surely he knew that basic detail?

A colleague approached, and she waved them away, indicating that she needed privacy. “It’s Christmas. Did he try telling his boss he’s taking his daughter on a dream trip to Lapland?” What boss would override that? “Couldn’t he say no?”

“Now you’re being judgy.”

Alix closed her eyes. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to be.”

“He has to stay, so I’m going to stay with him. It will be good to have some adult time on our own, without Holly.”

But Christy had never left Holly for more than a few hours before.

There was something her friend wasn’t telling her. What? And, more importantly, why? Maybe they didn’t spend as much time talking as they used to, but they didn’t have secrets. Did they?

“Talk to me, Christy. What’s wrong really? Tell me.”

“There’s nothing to talk about. And I have told you.”

Alix felt a flicker of unease. There was only one reason she could think of that Christy wouldn’t be straight with her. Her marriage. Could she ask? No, definitely not. Not after the last time. Christy had forgiven her for interfering that time, but she might not do so again.