So much for hoping Milly wouldn’t find out.

“I had a little tumble from the horse, and Brian kindly brought me home. I’m fine.”

“But—”

“Don’t fuss, Milly. I really am fine.” She didn’t feel at all fine, but she had to hope it would settle in time.

“I interrupted you. I didn’t realize you had company.”

“It’s not a problem. Brian was about to leave when you arrived.” It wasn’t exactly the truth, but she didn’t want Milly to feel worse than she evidently already did. “He teaches a wilderness-survival course first thing on Monday, so he doesn’t like to stay out too late.”

“How long have you—”

“Been friends? A few weeks. We met horse riding.” And bonded over the stresses of parenting adult children. “Tell me what has happened. You don’t arrive at my door with Zoe and an overnight bag unless something is wrong.”

The room started to spin, and Connie sat back down at the kitchen table.

Something was very wrong.

Milly turned to Zoe. “It’s getting late. You should probably get to bed. Is it okay if we stay here tonight, Mum?”

Stay? She’d been hoping to crawl into bed via a hot bath, but that wouldn’t happen now. She resolutely ignored how bad she felt and focused on her daughter.

“You know you’re always welcome. Have you eaten? Can I make you anything?”

Zoe shook her head. “I’m okay, thanks. Dad and I stopped for burgers on the way home. I’ll go straight to bed. But, Mum—”

“I’m fine, honey, honestly.” Milly reached out and hugged her. “Just a bit tired. It has been a long week. Don’t worry about me.”

“Right.” Zoe hesitated, as if she had something more to say, but then seemed to change her mind and instead headed upstairs to the bedroom she used whenever she stayed, her feet clomping heavily on the stairs.

That is someone carrying a heavy burden, Connie thought.

“She was with Richard this weekend.” She poured Milly a glass of ice water. “Did something happen?”

Milly sat down at the table, and her face crumpled. “Sorry. I promised myself I wasn’t going to cry.”

“Oh, sweetheart.” Connie put the glass on the table and sat down next to her daughter. Milly’s anguish transferred itself to her like an electric current. She grabbed the box of tissues from the end of the table and handed one to Milly.

Milly blew her nose. “Richard insisted on bringing Zoe right to the door, and he came into the house with her bag. I couldn’t stop him.”

Connie had always thought that Milly’s desire to keep the boathouse a Richard-free zone was understandable but impractical in the long term. “Does it matter that he has seen the boathouse?”

“Unfortunately the boathouse wasn’t the only thing he saw. Nicole arrived back while he was still there.”