Avery, who was responsible for upending Milly’s entire life.

No, that wasn’t true. She forced herself to breathe. Richard had done that.

Nicole eyed her and bent down to roll up the mat. “By the look on your face, you should have bought a punching bag.”

Clearly feeling at risk from Milly’s pacing, Tiger sprang from the floor to the sofa.

“He said my whole focus was on duty and responsibility!” The words exploded out of Milly. “He said that all I think about is boring chores. He said I’ve turned my life into a never-ending to-do list!”

Nicole was still holding the mat. “I assume the he is Richard?”

“Yes. And it’s true I have a to-do list—who doesn’t?—but that’s because there are things that need to be done and he doesn’t do them, so that leaves me! And whenever he does do something, which is so rare I can’t even quote you a time when he did, apparently he is ‘helping’ me.”

Nicole’s eyes widened. “He said that?”

Milly forced herself to breathe. “You’d be angry too?”

“I’d be steaming.”

Milly felt a little better. “I’m sorry. Here I am ranting, and we should be talking about you.” She felt a stab of guilt. “All morning I’ve been waiting for you to call so that we can carry on the conversation Zoe interrupted last night, and then Richard called me, and now I want to kill him.”

“I want to kill him too. And forget about me—there’s plenty of time to talk about that. First we need to calm you down.”

“I don’t know how. I’ve never been this angry before.” She felt as if she was boiling inside.

“You need to vent your excess anger somehow. Exercise?” Nicole tucked the mat away. “You could go for a run?”

“I’m horribly unfit. That would kill me, not calm me.” Milly rubbed her fingers across her forehead.

“Cook something, then. Chop an innocent vegetable into tiny pieces and fry it in hot oil. That always works for you.”

“That’s true. It does.” Milly wondered why she hadn’t thought of it herself.

She stalked to the kitchen and pulled open the fridge with such force that all the bottles stacked in the door rattled together. She grabbed leeks and mushrooms, and Nicole leaned against the countertop, keeping a safe distance.

“Tell me about Avery. She’s a yoga teacher?”

“Yes. But not just that.” Milly grabbed a sharp knife and slit the leeks down the middle in a single decisive move.

Nicole flinched. “Careful! If you slice your finger off, you won’t be able to make rude gestures.”

“Avery has her own studio and a huge social media following.” She felt a wave of insecurity, which seemed to be happening more frequently.

“You stalk her on social media?”