Chapter 34

The station was almost abandoned when his mobile rang. Looking at the caller ID, he was surprised to see it was Katharine. "Hello, are you ok?"

"Of course, why do you ask?"

"You don't generally call in the middle of the day?"

Her laughter filled the line, "It's not the middle of your day. It's the end of your day which means you are a mere night's sleep from your date with Dr. Hobson. I was calling to see if everything was all right for tomorrow?"

"Everything all right for tomorrow?"

"Are you nervous at all?"

"Nervous, why should I be nervous?" Seeing James striding toward him, "Call you back." He ended the call as James walked past him. The guitar case was a new addition to the mystery which was James, "What you got there?"

"She's my Gibson L5. We're off to a festival of world music."

"World music? What all of it?" James pointed at him smiling sarcastically. "You'll need a big room."

"It's in the open air. Are you doing nice things?"

Fighting a smile, he raised his chin to James. "If I told you, you wouldn't believe me."

The music swelled in the room. After he'd told Katharine about his date, she'd sent him a recording of the opera complete with a book of the production. A handwritten note informed him she'd highlighted a few key facts. Nothing everyone would know but smaller facts which were guaranteed to impress.

At the time he'd scoffed, had even called her to complain about the gift. Suggested next time she should just send whisky. But on his way home, he'd called Laura and now he was nervous. She seemed to know quite a bit about this particular opera. And that was how he found himself listening to the CD and perusing the program.

For a moment, he doubted himself. Perhaps this wasn't a good idea. Maybe she would change her mind, discover he wasn't cultured enough for her. He grabbed the phone, dialed her number from memory.

Turning down the music, he waited, pacing. "Hi, it's me again."

"Hello, me. You sound frightfully like my friend Robbie. Has something happened to him?"

He rolled his eyes, "No, nothing's happened. Just…you know, double checking."

She smiled to herself, "I will be ready at nine AM tomorrow morning. I've called the hotel to confirm and my suitcase is all packed. I'm sitting here having a glass of wine debating a snack."

"What kind of snack? No, let me guess, a piece of fruit."

"Wrong."

"How many more guesses do I get?"

"Depends on the odds."

"A pound."

"You can do better than that, Inspector."

"Two pounds."

"Make it three and I will give you two more guesses."

"Deal. My second guess is crisps."

Wrinkling her nose, she shook her head. "Nope, one more guess."

He thought for a moment. His daughter and his wife had always loved chocolate. "Chocolate biscuits."

Her laughter filled the line, "Close, but no cigar. It is chocolate but not biscuits."

"I think I should get partial credit."

"Not the way it works, Inspector. See you in the morning and don't forget my three pounds."

Smiling, she ended the call. There was something rather thrilling about his obvious excitement. It felt nice to have someone want to be with her. For the first time she realized she was looking forward to their weekend.

Standing in the middle of his flat, he smiled at his phone. This was going to be OK. She wanted to go with him, was packed, ready for him to pick her up. Tossing the phone in the air, he caught it one-handed. Turning back to the stereo, he turned up the music then headed to his room to finish his own packing.

As he was ironing his shirt, carefully, the phone rang. Looking at the caller ID, he remembered he hadn't called Katharine back. "I'm so sorry."

"You can make it up to me by telling me you got a better offer."

"Would it make you feel better to know I spent my night listening to the recording you sent and reading the program and your notes?"

Her laughter trilled across the line, "Immensely, you're forgiven. What time do you leave?"

"I'm picking her up at nine."

"And where will you be staying?"

He shrugged as he fell back on the bed, "I still don't know. I also don't know how many rooms, so no need to ask again."

"How many rooms do you want?"

"I think you know the answer to that."

"And if there are two rooms?"

"I'll cross that bridge when I get to it."

"You're going to be fine, Robbie. Even without my notes."

"How are you so sure?"

She smiled, "Because I know you, you are utterly charming mostly because you have no idea that you are. Relax and let the evening go where it will. Just think of it as a very long breakfast."

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"You always seem to know exactly what to say to me. I'm not sure I'm as good a friend to you as you are to me."

She smiled, "I wouldn't say that. I'm not sure if you realize what a good friend you were when we met. Perhaps this is just me paying you back."

"Whatever it is, I'm grateful for it. And I'm grateful for the CD and the program. But mostly I'm grateful for you."

"So I should cancel the order of whisky?"

She knew the moment her phone buzzed it wasn't Robbie. She also knew there wouldn't be a weekend away. A pang of loss pulsed through her.

He cursed as his phone buzzed. All of his planning, ruined with the ringing of his phone. Reaching for it, he mourned the loss.

She was kneeling by the fountain, quietly instructing her staff what to do. As quietly as he could, he approached, kneeling next to her. She looked back at him, a soft smile curving her lips.

Nodding at the body, "Do we know who he is?"

"Ethan Croft. Teacher, apparently."

"What was he doing here?"

"Taking part in a quiz weekend."

Nodding, "I see. So Mr. Croft is our starter for ten."

Looking back at him with a soft smile, her voice automatically lowered. "Where's our favorite sergeant?"

"On his way back from a world music festival in Somerset, swearing all the way, I should think."

She couldn't help the sigh which escaped, "I know the feeling."

His heart leapt at her sigh. It seemed he wasn't the only one disappointed. "Me, too." They gazed at one another, "Sorry about…"

She nodded, "Our best laid plans."

"Mmmm. Right, better get to work."

She watched him walk away. He seemed as disappointed as she was. Was his disappointment, like hers, not so much about missing the opera?

Robbie followed Laura from the main room wanting to get a moment alone with her. Once he was sure he was clear of everyone, he lightly touched her arm. She turned back to him and smiled, "Any luck with the tickets?"

"I phoned the box office they reckon they might be able to get rid of them."

"I hope so, it's a lot of money."

He shrugged, "You lose some you lose some." They looked at one another for a second, "Still, we can try again another time." He looked down at her a bit concerned she was relieved their plans had fallen through, "That is if you're happy about that."

She paused for a moment looking him up and down. As he asked the question, she realized how disappointed she was they'd had to cancel their plans, "Yeah, I'm happy about that."

They smiled at one another as Robbie answered, "Good."

Robbie watched her walk away pleased with himself and didn't see James sneak up behind him, "Your date for the weekend, Dr. Hobson?"

Robbie cringed inwardly, he hadn't wanted James or anyone for that matter to know about their weekend, "We were going to Glyndebourne to see The Faerie Queen. Alright? Now you know all there is to know."

James smiled smugly, "Were you overnighting?"

"Mind your own business."

"It's only because I care."

Robbie walked away needing to get as far away from James as he could. All he could think about was her smile when she'd said she was happy about that.

She watched him speak with the maître d'. It was the third restaurant and the results were the same. No tables. He seemed so disheartened when he walked back to her.

"Same story again." In a very bad Italian accent he mimicked the maître d', "It's a bank holiday weekend. We should have booked a table."

She laughed to herself, thinking he was very sweet and something else. "Damn."

Robbie's attention was drawn over her shoulder, "Desperate times, desperate measures." Pointing at her, "Wait there."

She watched after him, confused. In a matter of minutes, he returned carrying two wrappers filled with fish and chips. Holding them up proudly, "I promised you dinner."

Laughing out loud she nodded as he offered her one of the wrappers. They walked down the river, finding an empty bench. They each tucked into their wrappers and ate in silence. He heard her moan as she took the first bite. "Who'd have thought that one day haddock would be a luxury food?"

"Mm, and that we'd get little forks to eat it with."

"Mmm, yeah. I know how to give a girl a good time." They smiled at one another. All Laura could think was it was the best time she'd had in a long time. "I'm sorry about the opera, though."

Shrugging, "Me too."

He looked at her slyly, desperate to ask the question, "Had you booked somewhere nice to stay?"

"Hmm, just a modern little country house hotel in its own grounds and a swimming pool, a gymnasium and a jogging trail. And just to stop you wondering, I booked two rooms."

"Of course." He grinned at her. "It would have been a damn sight more exciting than a quiz weekend though wouldn't it have been." She giggled. "What's the attraction about quizzes, why do people do it?"

She nodded her head. "Compulsive list makers. Clinically speaking they're obsessive neurotics."

Robbie looked around. "Here's a question. If you went on Mastermind, what would be your chosen specialist subject?"

"Hmm, well the thing I know most about is corpses."

Robbie laughed. "That would go down great, barrel of laughs."

"What about your specialist subject?"

He thought for a moment. "Aside from work and the kids, I haven't got one."

She looked at him. "What about loneliness?"

The stared at one another for a moment, tension in the air. Then Robbie smiled, "Pass."

They sat eating in silence. Two dear friends enjoying the moment. As Laura finished eating, she balled up her wrapping and looked at him, "In light of our almost weekend away, I think I need to tell you something."

"Shoot, you can tell me anything."

"I wasn't completely honest with you. When you asked why I was going to leave Oxford."

He nodded, "Go on."

Biting on her lower lip, "I was engaged. Was supposed to be married."

"What happened?"

Meeting his gaze, she shrugged, "I chose the job. I didn't want to have to choose between my career and marriage."

He smiled, "You shouldn't have to." She looked at him, surprised by his answer. "You've worked hard to get where you are."

She nodded, thrilled he seemed to understand. "I think you're the first person who seems to get that. My friends all thought I was crazy. He was the perfect man, I was foolish."

"I'm sure he is perfect, for someone. But he wasn't perfect for you. If he had been, no job would have kept you from choosing him."

She smiled at him, "Thank you."

Silence fell between them for several minutes. Robbie digging in his pocket, made her turn to him. "Your hand please." She looked at him curiously, "Please." She held out her hand. He dropped three shiny pound coins into her palm. She laughed. "Don't say I don't pay my debts."

Smiling brightly at him, "I never did have that snack. We could go back to mine, I'm willing to share."

"That depends, what's the snack."

Standing, she held out her hand. "I guess you'll just have to trust me."

Without a second thought, he took her hand, let her pull him up. As they walked away, she tucked her hand into his arm and leaned her head into him.