‘You’re eating a Danish? That’s fantastic.’
The relief in Anna’s voice caught Nola off guard. They might barely have seen one another over the last few months but she knew her friend had been worried about her, and if she wasn’t going to tell her about the baby, the least she could do was put Anna’s mind at rest.
‘Yeah, you heard it here first. The appetite’s back. Pizzerias across the entire state of Washington are rejoicing! In fact I might even get a national holiday named after me.’
Anna laughed. ‘I always said you had Italian roots.’
‘Was it my blue eyes or my pale skin that gave it away?’ Nola said teasingly. ‘Okay, that’s enough of your amateur psychology, Dr Harris. Tell me why you’ve rung.’
There was a slight pause.
‘You mean I need something more than just being bossy?’
Nola frowned. There was something odd about her friend’s voice. She sounded nervous, hesitant. ‘I don’t know—do you?’
There was a short silence, then Anna sighed. ‘Yes. I still can’t believe it happened, but...you know how clumsy I am? Well, I was out walking yesterday with Robbie, and I tripped. Guess what? I broke my foot.’
Relief, smooth and warm, surged over Nola’s skin.
‘Oh, thank goodness.’ She frowned. ‘I don’t mean thank goodness you broke your foot—I just thought it was going to be something worse.’ She breathed out. ‘Are you okay? Does it hurt? Have you got one of those crazy boot things?’
‘I’m fine. It doesn’t hurt anymore and, yeah, I’ve got a boot. But, Noles...’
Anna paused and Nola felt the air grow still around her.
‘But, Noles, what?’ she said slowly.
‘I can’t fly for another week. It’s something to do with broken bones making you more at risk of blood clots, so—’
Nola felt her ribcage contract. Glancing down, she noticed that her hands were shaking. But she’d read the email. She knew what was coming.
‘So you want me to go to Sydney?’
Nola swallowed. Even just saying the words out loud made panic grip her around the throat.
‘I really didn’t want to ask you, and ordinarily I’d just postpone it. But the launch is so close.’ There was another infinitesimal pause. ‘And we are under contract.’
Anna sounded so wretched that Nola was instantly furious with herself.
Of course she would go to Sydney. Her friend had been a shoulder to cry on after she’d slept with Ram and generally fallen apart. She damn well wasn’t going to make her sweat and feel guilty for asking one tiny favour.
‘I know, and I understand—it’s fine,’ she heard herself say.
‘Are you sure? I thought there might be a problem—’
There definitely would be a problem, Nola thought dully. About six feet of problem, with tousled dark hair and cheekbones that could sharpen steel. But it would be her problem, not Anna’s.
‘There won’t be!’ Nola shook her head, trying to shake off the leaden feeling in her chest. ‘And it’s me who should be sorry. Moping around and making a huge fuss about some one-night stand.’
‘You didn’t make a fuss,’ Anna said indignantly, sounding more like herself. ‘You made a mistake. And if he wasn’t paying us such a huge sum of money, I’d tell him where he could stick his global launch.’
Nola laughed. ‘Let’s wait until the money clears and then we can tell him together. Look, please don’t worry, Anna. It’ll be fine. It’s not as if he’s going to be making an effort to see me.’
‘Oh, you don’t need to worry about that,’ Anna said quickly. ‘I checked before I called you. He’s in New York on some business trip. He won’t be back for at least five days, so you definitely won’t have to see him. Not that you’d have much to say to him even if he was there.’
Hanging up, Nola curled her arms around her waist protectively.
Except that she did.