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Stepping out of the plane and onto the stairs, Bunty wrinkled her nose. It was hot and humid. While she was looking forward to her time in Argentina, she had not been excited about such a drastic change in the weather. But her friends had given her warning, so she was prepared. Or as prepared as one can be when flying halfway across the world for a wedding.
“Bunty!”
Looking up, she could see Alice and her fiancé waiting for her with a handful of other people. She waved before making her way down the stairs. Bunty picked up her checked bag before making her way outside the gated area to greet her childhood friend.
“Alice! How are you?”
The other woman swept Bunty into a bone-crushing hug. “Oh, I’m wonderful, Bunty. Just wonderful. How are you doing? Did you have a good flight?”
“It was long, but overall it was a good flight. I just wish it wasn’t so hot down here. I’m practically melting already. You’re lucky I love you enough to come down here for your wedding,” she teased as she pulled back.
Alice rolled her eyes. “I don’t believe you for a moment because you look fabulous. Drink lots of bottled water. Your hotel room will be restocked every day.” She turned to her fiancé. “Mateo, I would love for you to meet the Honourable Penelope Windermere. Bunty, this is my fiancé, Mateo Cardozo.”
He took her hand in his and pressed a kiss to the back. “It is a pleasure to meet my love’s closest friend, Señorita Windermere.”
“Oh, please call me Bunty. All my friends do,” she told him.
“Then you must call me Mateo,” he replied.
“Shall we leave for your hotel?” Alice suggested as she looped an arm through Bunty’s and led the way to their car. “How are Father Brown and Mrs McCarthy doing?”
“Well,” Bunty replied. “I did leave Sid in charge, so...”
Bunty continued to update her friend about England as the trio made their way to her hotel for the next few weeks.
“Sid, you know you didn’t have to come after me,” Bunty said as she opened the door to her hotel room.
On the other side of the door stood Sidney Carter, dressed in a tuxedo rather than his standard green chauffeur’s suit.
Bunty stared at him for a moment. “But you do clean up well.”
Sid grinned as he fingered the lapel of his black jacket. “I have your aunt to thank for this. She had it made for me before she sent me after you. I know you can take care of yourself just fine, but I was given an offer I couldn’t refuse. Plus, Inspector Mallory was happy to see me leave for a while.”
She laughed, “I bet he was. It’s probably my parents that are behind you being sent to follow me here. It’s like they don’t trust me to spend a month in Buenos Aires for the holidays and a friend’s wedding,” Bunty pointed out as she stepped back to allow Sid to enter. She closed the door behind him. “If you would like something to drink, there is clean water over there. It’s been a lifesaver the past week. I just need to finish putting on my shoes, and I will be ready.”
Looking to the table, Sid eyed the bottles of water. “Since when have you been such a big drinker of water?”
“Since I’ve been melting pretty much every day I’ve been here,” Bunty replied as she looked up from where she was putting her shoes on. “Just wait. You’ll see what I mean.”
Sid snorted. “I’ll be fine.”
“If you insist,” Bunty chuckled and shook her head as she stood up. Then, grabbing her purse and a bottle of water, Bunty joined Sid. “Come, Sid. We have a wedding to go to.”
Opening the door, Sid allowed Bunty to leave before she locked her hotel room behind them.
“Why didn’t you warn me it would be so hot?”
Bunty glared at Sid from where she sat next to him at their table. “I did. You were the one that said you would be fine.”
“I thought you were joking!”
“I’m not like you, Sidney. I do occasionally tell the truth,” Bunty pointed out.
Sid glared at her. “I do too. It’s not quite as hot as Rhodesia, but I just didn’t realise how hot it could be in Argentina in December.”
“I think if I had been in Rhodesia with you and Aunt Fliss, I would have been drinking even more water than I do here,” Bunty murmured before picking up her freshly refilled glass. She looked up at the waiter who was pouring Sid another glass of wine. “May we have some more wine when you’re done, please?”
He nodded in response.
“Thank you,” Bunty replied.
Sid saluted the waiter with his glass of wine before taking a sip. “If you had been in Rhodesia with us, you would have become a water… holic? Is that the right word?”
“I have no idea, maybe aquaholic? It flows better, I think.”
“That works for me.”
Bunty grinned. “So you’re saying that I would have become an aquaholic if I had been in Rhodesia with you?”
He stared at her for a moment before chuckling. “Yes, yes, you would have become an aquaholic. Lady F and I both were. Granted, we both drank our fair share of alcohol while there too.”
“I would have been disappointed in you otherwise,” Bunty teased.
“I definitely don’t disappoint when it comes to my alcohol.”
“Hey, Sid?”
He looked up from his cards. “Yeah?”
“Thank you for coming down here. I know it was an inconvenience for you, but I was glad to have another friend here the past few weeks.”
“It was no bother,” Sid replied. “Since things ended up not working out with Maeve, I’ve been glad for the distraction.”
“I was sorry to hear about that,” Bunty said. Then, at Sid’s snort, she added, “I know I wasn’t the nicest person when I first met her, but in my defence, I was looking out for one of my favourite people.”
The corner of Sid’s mouth ticked up before he took a drink of wine. “I know. And thank you for that, Bunty. You apparently caught on to something that the rest of us missed. I’m just glad I realised that before either of us said something we’d later regret.”
“Me too.” Looking back down at her own cards, Bunty thought about her next move. Picking up enough chips to cover what Sid had placed, she tossed them onto the middle of the table. “Call.”
Sid smirked as he flipped his cards over. A straight; eight through Queen… three spades, a diamond, and one heart.
His smirk fell when Bunty flipped her cards over to reveal a flush. All clubs.
“How do you do that?”
Bunty shrugged. “A lady never reveals her secrets.”
“Yes, she does. Now, move over, Bunty. There are others that would like to win your money from you,” Alice said as she sat next to Bunty.
“Fine,” Bunty relented. She grinned at Sid. “Who knew that the way to celebrate New Year’s Eve was to play poker all night?”
“My new husband. Now, let’s play.”