Page 87 (1/2)

She patsis fine at hoer?”

“I’ his phone froations in Russia”

Mo I just can’t believe you flew all this way for a couple of days”

“I took the liberty of booking one of the private lounges for our lunch tomorrow,” Alex says “I hope that will do”

Moested we have lunch at his place instead of in the visitors’ lounge He reckons it will be more comfortable for us”

I steal another glance at Alex “What about his family? I don’t want to put him out”

“He’s a er” She crosses her legs “His kids are grown up and are visiting their in-laws upstate this year, which means he’ll be alone for Christmas too”

“Oh, I’ tio?”

“Five years It was a drawn-out illness” Blowing out a sigh, she gives lance “I think it was very difficult for him and the kids”

“I can only iine”

Alex types soet ram his GPS”

More likely, he’ll s are safe

“I’ll send you a text et back to my room” A smile softenstrip Do you want to catch a nap before dinner?”

“I actually slept a lot on the plane,” I say, “but a shoill be welcome”

She gets to her feet “I’ll leave you to get settled Shall we meet around seven?”

“That sounds good,” Alex says, pocketing his phone

“Just knock on iving us a wave, she disappears with a bounce in her step

“She really does look good,” Alex says after closing the door behind her

Walking to him, I wrap my arms around his waist “Thank you, not only for the visit but also for doing this for my mom”