One by one, Anna pulled her purchases out of their bags. She was so pleased with herself that she barely noticed the shift in his expression.
Tessa noticed, though. The smile remained in place, but his eyes were narrowed as he took in the little burgundy outfit, then the soft dark green skirt that Anna had said might come in handy for a school thing she had been invited to, then the series of vest-tops, perfectly respectable but certainly nothing like what she had possessed before.
Tessa was tempted to offer some reassuring explanation for the choice of clothes. They looked a lot smaller off than on.
‘Well! What do you think?’ The clothes had all been neatly laid out now. They presented a startling and colourful divergence from what Anna was currently wearing, namely a sober grey trouser suit and some flat black shoes.
Curtis was still trying hard to maintain his relaxed smile and Anna must have sensed it because her face shadowed and she asked in a smaller voice, ‘Don’t you like them?’
‘How can he help but like them?’ Tessa stood up firmly, drawing attention to herself and giving Curtis the most professionally warning smile she could muster. She walked across to where they were laid out and gave Anna’s arm a little squeeze. ‘You ought to have seen your daughter in these.’ She folded her arms and, with her back to Anna, managed to consolidate the warning in her eyes. ‘She looked fabulous. She’s been so excited buying that the time just ran away with us.’
‘They’re lovely, darling,’ he ventured, skirting round Tessa. ‘But perhaps you’d better gather them up. No, better than that, after a hard afternoon shopping, why don’t you get a cab back to my place? I’ll be an hour here, tops, and we’ll go out somewhere special for something to eat.’
‘I’ll wear one of my new outfits, shall I? Which do you think, Dad? Where will we be eating? Somewhere smart? I can wear the cream skirt and top with my coat. Just so long as we won’t have to do too much walking.’ She looked lovingly at the new shoes. The shoes had been the very last purchase and had benefited from being bought at the very peak of Anna’s excited embarkment into the world of glamour shopping. They were fur-lined, pointed-tipped fawn boots that fitted lovingly to mid-calf and had instantly transformed her into fashion-model height.
‘That’s a very nice outfit, darling, but perhaps a little too skimpy for this time of year? And those shoes, well, they might get scuffed. You wouldn’t want to ruin such lovely things on your first foray, would you?’
‘I suppose not.’ The voice was uncertain now. She slowly began to gather up the various bits, folding them neatly before returning them to their expensive bags.
‘Perhaps we’ll go somewhere casual after all.’ He yawned expansively. ‘Long-haul travel is hideously tiring.’ He pushed himself away from the desk and gave Tessa a veiled look, oddly lacking in its usual warmth. ‘And there’s a stack of things to get through before I call it a day. Tomorrow we’ll do dressy, shall we?’ He beckoned Anna across to him and swamped her in a big bear hug. When she emerged, her face was once again beaming, all uncertainty gone like a scattering of rain on a summer day. ‘Why don’t you help Anna down with her parcels—’ he turned to Tessa ‘—make sure she gets a taxi and then meet me in my office?’
Anna was full of it. Her father had returned early! She had spent the past two nights in the company of her exbabysitter, now a married woman with a toddler of her own, and had expected to be spending another night in her company. Her eyes were shining at the prospect of an evening out with her dad. Tessa wondered whether she should gently steer her away from wearing any of the clothes that had certainly met with his disapproval, however much he had tried to mask it, and decided against it.
But she was curious. In every way, he was utterly and disconcertingly laid-back. He did things his way, sweeping everyone else up into his own unique personality, yet there he was, frowning like a Victorian stereotype the minute his own daughter displayed the slightest inclination to be a normal adolescent.
And curiosity was not something she wanted to feel. Certainly not when it applied to her charismatic boss. Hopefully by the time she got back to the office he would have moved on to some other thought. He was like that, possessed of a restless, brilliant energy that sometimes leapfrogged with dizzying speed. Every so often, even when he was dictating something to her, she would see that look in his eyes and realise that his mind was working ahead of itself, had jumped ahead to something new.
No such luck.
That clever, questing mind had focused on his daughter’s brand new wardrobe and was staying there. The look on his face said it all as she walked into his office and shut the door behind her.