Stand-In Mistress

With that thought in mind, Joanne found a couple of bottles of sparkling wine and put them in the fridge.

She was in the middle of adding a breadcrumb and pine-kernel topping to the cheese and broccoli bake when Milly appeared in the doorway.

Petite and pretty, with red-gold hair, bright blue eyes and a figure like a pocket Venus, she was usually sparkling and vivacious, dressed up to show off her charms.

Now, wearing scruffy jeans and a shrunken T-shirt, she looked edgy and in low spirits as she slumped down at the table.

‘I didn’t realise you were home,’ Joanne remarked. ‘No music.’

‘Didn’t feel like playing any.’

‘Still worrying about the move?’ Joanne asked with some sympathy.

When Milly said nothing, she added reassuringly, ‘I’m sure there’s no need to. Once you’ve settled in and made some new friends you’ll be fine.’

Her face sullen, Milly muttered, ‘What about my job? You know how much I enjoy it…’

Rather than go to college, Milly had chosen to take a secretarial course. Quick and intelligent, despite her somewhat flighty ways, she had done well. On completing the course, she had found a job with Lancing International, filling in for one of the secretaries who was on maternity leave.

She had proved so efficient that when the new mother failed to return she had been offered the post on a permanent basis.

‘Well, I’m sure you’ll find your new job interesting,’ Joanne said soothingly.

Milly snorted. ‘Depressing, more like. Who wants to be stuck in a doctor’s surgery day and night?’

Letting that go, Joanne poured them both a cup of tea and sat down opposite, before enquiring, ‘Finished packing?’

‘I haven’t even started.’

‘If you need any help let me know.’

‘I’m not sure whether I’m going.’ The words were spoken defiantly.

As lightly as possible, Joanne said, ‘I don’t see you have much choice. All the arrangements are made. And, after all, Duncan is your husband.’

‘You don’t need to remind me. I wish I’d listened to you when you said I was too young to get married.’

Joanne’s heart sank. It was true that, thinking Milly too immature, she had at first opposed the marriage. But Duncan had seemed both sensible and stable, and the pair had been so very much in love, that she had finally given her blessing.

‘Duncan and I have quarrelled so much lately that I’m beginning to wonder if the whole thing was a mistake,’ Milly added miserably.

Hiding her dismay, Joanne said calmly, ‘You know perfectly well that you’re only feeling this way because of the move.’

Taking a gulp of her tea, Milly shook her head. ‘There’s more to it than that.’

‘Stuff and nonsense,’ Joanne said briskly.

‘You don’t understand. I think I’m in love.’

‘As you’ve only been married for a few months I should hope so.’

‘I don’t mean with Duncan. I still care about him, of course, but I think I’ve fallen for someone else.’

‘If it’s Trevor, he will be flattered.’ Joanne tried to make a joke of it.

Diverted, Milly pulled a face. ‘What you see in that pompous git I can’t imagine…You may not be Miss World but you could do better than him.’

‘Thanks,’ Joanne said drily.

‘Duncan doesn’t rate him either,’ Milly added, as though that settled it. ‘He has about as much charisma as a worm without any charisma.’

‘I certainly wouldn’t call Trevor a worm,’ Joanne objected mildly.

‘Neither would I, on second thoughts. He’s too picky and bossy. He’d want to tell you what to do all the time.’

‘I’ll bear that in mind. I should hate to marry the wrong man.’

‘Like me, you mean?’

‘Don’t be an idiot!’ Joanne exclaimed with a sharpness born of fear. ‘You haven’t married the wrong man. Duncan is exactly what you need.’

‘But I keep trying to tell you…I’ve fallen for someone else.’

Taking a deep breath, Joanne said, ‘Well, if it isn’t Trevor, you’d better tell me who it is.’

‘My boss. Brad Lancing…Now, he is charismatic.’

‘Brad Lancing!’

‘He’s absolutely gorgeous! Handsome, clever, and totally charming…He has the most fascinating eyes you’ve ever seen…And that mouth…’ Milly practically drooled.

So that explained Milly’s moods, her reluctance to leave her job. Joanne groaned inwardly.

Seeing the look on her sister’s face, Milly said, ‘You think I’m just being a fool, don’t you?’

‘According to Steve, Lancing is a married man with children, so the answer’s yes.’

‘Steve’s wrong. I know for a fact that he isn’t married and he hasn’t any children. He’s a thirty-year-old bachelor.’

Unsure which version to believe, Joanne countered, ‘And you’re an eighteen-year-old married woman.’

‘Age doesn’t matter, and I don’t feel married when I’m with him. I feel…well…wonderful.’

‘Oh, Milly,’ Joanne said helplessly, ‘don’t you know that a lot of women fall for their boss, while most bosses scarcely notice their secretary?’

‘Brad notices me,’ Milly assured her triumphantly. ‘The two nights I told you I was working late, I was having dinner with him.’

Suddenly scared half out of her wits, Joanne croaked, ‘You didn’t go any further?’