‘Beyond my wildest dreams.’ But Allie’s tone said what she thought of that.
Rachel stretched out her legs until the soles of her shoes pressed against the book shelves across from her.
‘My dad always says there’s nothing like being rich and powerful to make you hate wealth and power.’
Allie blinked. ‘He says that?’
She couldn’t imagine the always circumspect Raj Patel saying something even mildly rebellious.
‘He says lots of things.’ Rachel changed the subject. ‘Will it be weird for you? Being so rich, I mean?’
Allie considered that. ‘Will it be weird for you?’
‘No.’ Rachel’s reply came without hesitation, and Allie cocked her head.
‘Really? You don’t have any doubts?’
Rachel’s face grew serious. ‘Allie, after everything we’ve been through, I’ll always be your friend. If you had no money and lived in a cardboard hut or you had all the money and bought Buckingham Palace… it doesn’t matter to me. I’m your friend for life.’ She grinned crookedly. ‘I hope you like me. Because you’re stuck with me.’
There was no way she could have known how much that meant to Allie. It was just what she needed to hear.
Allie launched herself at her, pulling her into a rough hug.
‘You old softie,’ she said. ‘I thought you hated me.’
‘I do secretly.’
As they laughed at that, at the end of the row of towering bookcases where they were hidden, two students approached chatting.
For a horrible second, Allie thought one of them was Sylvain.
She hadn’t spoken to him since the break-up. He hadn’t been at the debrief, after the meeting with Nathaniel. He’d avoided all meals in the dining hall. He’d just disappeared.
She wasn’t ready to see him yet.
Releasing Rachel abruptly, she crawled to the end of the row and peered out to see if it really was him.
It wasn’t. It was one of the junior exchange students – not Sylvain at all.
It took a second or two for her heart rate to return to normal. Her cheeks felt hot.
When she looked up, Rachel was watching her quizzically. ‘What’s the matter?’
‘Nothing…’ Allie lied. ‘I just… thought it might be Sylvain.’
Rachel’s eyebrows winged up. ‘And that totally freaked you out because…?’
Allie hesitated. She hadn’t had a chance to tell Rachel what had happened. Everything had been too crazy since last night.
‘Because… we broke up. And I don’t want to see him.’
‘What?’ Rachel stared at her. ‘When did this happen?’
‘Last night.’
‘So, that’s why you looked like you’d been crying.’ Rachel reached for her hand. ‘Oh, bollocks, Allie. I’m sorry. I should have asked what was going on but with Carter and Nathaniel…’
Allie waved her apology away. ‘I didn’t want to talk about it anyway.’
‘What happened?’ Rachel studied her face. ‘Was it rough?’
Allie thought of the look on Sylvain’s face when he saw the teardrop on his own fingertip.
The memory made her heart ache.
‘It was hard,’ she admitted. ‘Really hard.’
Haltingly, she told Rachel what had happened in London. The night with Carter. Her sudden realisation that he was the one she wanted.
Rachel knew better than to interrupt. She just let her talk until she’d told her everything.
When Allie was finished Rachel leaned back. ‘Wow,’ she said. ‘Everything makes sense now. I knew something was up but I just didn’t know what it was. And you’ve been carrying all that around by yourself for days?’
Allie nodded. ‘I kept waiting for a time to tell you about it…’
‘But it’s hard to share personal stuff around here lately.’ Rachel finished the thought for her. ‘Don’t worry. I don’t mind that you didn’t tell me. I’m just worried about you. How are you dealing with all of this?’
‘Badly,’ Allie confessed. ‘The thing is, this is all my fault. I made everything so much worse by not making up my mind earlier. That made Sylvain believe I’d chosen him. So when I told him the truth… it really hurt him.’ She blew out a breath. ‘I wouldn’t blame him if he hated me now.’
‘Hey, don’t do that.’ Rachel’s voice was passionate. ‘It’s not like you meant to fall in love with Carter. You tried with Sylvain. I watched you try. You can’t help who you love. No one can.’
‘Yeah, but… I could have made it easier.’
Rachel shook her head. ‘Come on. You can’t blame yourself for this and I won’t let you. You did the best you could.’ She must have seen Allie wasn’t convinced, though, because she leaned forward, reaching for her hand. ‘We’re young. This is the age when we’re supposed to make mistakes. You have to let yourself learn. We’re still figuring out what we want. Who we are. All of us are.’
The intensity with which she said those last words caught Allie’s attention. She frowned, suddenly aware that Rachel might be hiding secrets of her own.
‘Hey. Is something going on with you, too, Rach?’