"Not at all," the other woman drawled, adding with meaning, "I wasn't sleeping in the spare room.''

"I'm sure you weren't," Pippa said, meeting her eyes evenly.

Luke had slipped away to talk to Bertha, who cleaned for him and had just arrived. Dominique lowered her voice, indicating the photograph. "Don't kid yourself, honey! That picture never appeared before today."

Pippa's lips twitched. "Really? He must have needed it very urgently-today."

"Oh, you're very funny! But I know a con whan I see one."

"I'm sure you do. It takes one to know one, doesn't it?"

Dominique flounced away, too wise to answer this.

It might have been a lot worse, Pippa realized. As it was, she'd had a welcome better than her brightest hopes, even if it was because she was saving his skin. That reference to "my family" had been for Dominique's benefit of course, but it had been just what Josie needed to hear.

Luke returned, smiling, and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Let me look at you. Oh, Pippa, you're a sight for sore eyes."

"So I gathered," she teased.

"No, not just because of that. After all this time you're just-just my Pippa."

"Hey, what am I?" Josie demanded indignantly.

"You're my best girl," he said at once, and hugged her. "Now, first things first. Coffee, then the hotel."

"I'm hungry," Josie declared.

"Josie!" Pippa exclaimed. "Manners!"

"Of course she's hungry," Luke said. "Milk and strawberry salad."

"You can't put strawberries in a salad," Josie protested.

"You can, chez Luke."

Josie looked puzzled, and he explained, "Chez means at the home of. It's French. I use it when I want to impress people."

"You said milk," Josie reminded him in the accents of a starving orphan.

"Coming up!"

While he was finding the milk and pouring it for her, Bertha returned to say the room was ready. Pippa slipped away with her, while Luke got to work on the strawberry salad, collecting strawberries, raspberry vinegar, mint and lettuce.