When Chocolate Is Not Enough... Read Free

seconds,watching out for the madcap cyclists, London buses and black cabs as he did so.
    He had never been comfortable in this fabulous city, with its never-ending stream of action and life, the noise and bustle of people and traffic. His home was the Caribbean forest plantation house where he had grown up. The only real noise pollution there came from the flocks of wild brightly coloured parrots which descended on the treetops to squawk at the workers when they disturbed their calm life. Now he tried to block out the cacophony of noise from the traffic and the crush of people which seemed to deafen him, and was grateful when he spotted the entrance to the central London art gallery.
    Minutes later Max hoisted his bag higher onto his shoulder and looked around the crowded restaurant until he spotted the woman he had once called his wife, perched on the edge of a dining chair at the best table in the restaurant.
    Catherine Ormandy Treveleyn was wearing a caramel-coloured linen shift dress, gold sandals and gold jewellery. Her long straight blonde hair fell in a waterfall over her shoulders. She was elegant. Sophisticated.
    But to him she would always be the backpacking university student who had sauntered onto the plantation on her way to meet up withher friends on the beach. She had lost her way. And he had lost his head and his heart the same day.
    This was the woman who’d had dreams of running an eco-cocoa plantation in the West Indies under the Caribbean sun.
    Until it had all gone wrong.
    Until she had decided that her future was in London, and that he could either come with her or stay in St Lucia with his one true love. The plantation. She’d used to call it the mistress she could not compete against—and she was right. He had sacrificed his family for that estate.
    All the more reason for him to make sure that the estate did not fail.
    Kate looked up from her glass of wine just as he stepped forward. She glanced at her watch with a smile and a gentle shake of her head as he bent to kiss her cheek.
    ‘Sorry to keep you waiting, gorgeous.’ Max smiled. ‘You are looking as lovely as ever. My feeble excuse is the organic food festival in the street outside the tube station. Can you forgive me? I picked up something for Freya on the way.’
    Kate kissed him warmly on the cheek. ‘Time-keeping has never been your strength. I can see that you’re still not wearing that watch I gave you for Christmas.’
    Max shrugged. ‘Watches and clocks are for other people. You should know that.’ He gave her a sly wink as he sat down. ‘How is our little girl today?’
    Her reply was a gentle nod of the head and a wide grin. ‘She’s on fine form. And very much looking forward to seeing you. Do you still plan to pick her up from school?’
    She passed him the bread basket and he inhaled the delicious aroma of freshly baked rosemary focaccia with a sigh. He nodded absentmindedly and peered at the food on the table, suddenly famished. ‘Absolutely. This looks good.’
    ‘The food here is terrific, and I took the liberty of ordering your favourite lasagne
al forno
. One of the few treats that’s hard to find on your tropical paradise.’
    ‘You know me too well,’ Max replied, and passed her the paper bag that Tara had given him. ‘In that case I trade one lasagne for a bag of chocolate rabbits. Can I add these to the birthday feast next week? I know that you can buy organic chocolates anywhere in London these days, but the stall was run by two pretty girls and the bunnies look almost good enough for our daughter to eat.’
    Kate peered into the bag, then stared at him across the table. ‘You? Buying chocolate? Well, this is new. The very thought ofa supermarket chocolate bar sends you into a tizzy. They must be good—either that or the girls were particularly pretty. And please don’t growl at me like that.’ She reached out and lifted a curl of hair from his collar. ‘Even with hair that long, some girl might give