Darcy looks up and sees Mel gesturing to wind it up. Alice must be looking for her. ‘I’ll call you when I can.’ She knows this isn’t offering him much, but she’s scared of making promises she can’t keep.

‘I’ll drive down there anyway. Maybe you can come up tomorrow and we can have at least one night together.’

Darcy can see Alice pacing the room, words flying from her mouth. Even though Darcy can’t hear what she’s saying, the terrifying wrath vibrates. She knows there is no way she’ll be heading to the Hunter tomorrow.

‘Darcy! Get in here!’

Alice’s voice paralyses her for a split second. ‘I’ve got to go,’ she hurriedly tells Drew. She can hear a shift in his breath, he’s about to say something, but she cuts him off. ‘Love you.’ She hangs up, knowing how his face would be pinched with frustration. To him, she’s choosing her career over him, and that’s never going to be okay.

Chapter 10

10

‘Okay, so what do we know about him?’

‘Thirty-two, an only child, furniture designer, ready to settle down,’ Mel says.

Even though Darcy and Mel spent hours going through the original shortlist of suitor applicants from when Joe had applied, making phone calls and checking availabilities, Alice has been instructed by Nigel, the head honcho of the network, that the new suitor is Ty Peterson. It doesn’t matter that he hasn’t filled out the application form that resembles something of a PhD or gone through three rounds of interviews and psychological testing—Ty had gone to school with Nigel’s son which is enough to fast track him to the finish line.

‘He was engaged,’ Darcy adds, wishing she had some toothpicks to keep her eyelids open, ‘but the girl dumped him and has pretty much disappeared.’

‘Disappeared?’ Alice repeats dubiously. ‘I hope he’s not a deranged psychotic killer.’

Darcy cringes uncomfortably. She’d said something similar to Mel as the circumstances do sound cagey. ‘We’ve contacted friends and family. No one really knows what happened, but I did speak to her old boss who said the girl has relocated.’

‘Oh, geez, what’s wrong with him?’ Alice flicks through the notes Mel and Darcy have compiled.

‘Everyone thought they were happy, but he got home from a mate’s bucks weekend and she had her bags packed, ready to go.’

‘She must have been having an affair,’ Mel muses.

Darcy thinks maybe they just weren’t as in love as everyone thought, but she’s so tired she doesn’t bother saying anything. The quicker they get through this, the quicker she can go home and get some sleep.