“Yes, our Nicole.” She felt a pang of loss because there had been a time when she had indeed thought of her friend that way. When they were young she’d thought of Nicole as family. Sister. She’d had such a shiny view of their friendship. “She called and asked me for help. She’s in some trouble.”

“Is this anything to do with that story a few days ago? The one with Justin Fisher pulling stupid faces next to his wife? Awkward. You could tell he so didn’t want to be there. She had her hand locked around his wrist, like literally trapping him in place so he couldn’t run.”

It probably shouldn’t have surprised her that her daughter knew more about it than she did, but what did surprise her was that Zoe hadn’t mentioned it.

“You’ve seen those stories?”

“Everyone has seen those stories.”

“You didn’t mention it.”

“Because you hate that stuff. You always have.”

That was true. “I’m guessing it’s linked. She’s being hounded by the press. She asked for my help, and I agreed. I picked her up from the station last night. We got in late and both went straight to sleep. We haven’t talked about it properly yet.” That conversation was still to come, and she wasn’t looking forward to it. Even though Nicole had hinted that there was more to the story than the headlines suggested, technically she was Avery in this situation. Milly wasn’t confident she’d be able to offer nonjudgmental support. She wanted to be worldly and broad-minded, but she wasn’t feeling either of those things. She was feeling disillusioned and disappointed, and she didn’t understand why people couldn’t exercise more self-restraint. There were plenty of men in the world, plenty of single men, so why did Avery have to target Richard?

She realized that Avery and Nicole had somehow merged together in her mind. She needed to separate them.

“You’re saying Aunt Nicole is staying in our house?” Zoe’s voice was an excited squeak. “Like hiding?”

“Yes, I suppose you could say she is hiding.” Milly felt a sudden flash of panic. What if someone knocked on her door before she got home? It was unlikely, but not impossible.

Hopefully Nicole would have the sense not to open the door.

“This is amazing!” Zoe virtually bounced on her seat. “Aunt Nicole in my house. Unbelievable.”

It was a good thing that one of them was excited.

“You’ve known her since you were a baby, and we’ve stayed with her before.”

“I know we have, and that was amazing too, but this is different. Nicole Raven is in my house! It’s a very big deal.” Zoe was transformed by the news. There was no slump in her shoulders, and her face was one big smile. “Can she share my room?”