Nicole gave a faint smile. “Not pathetic. I get it with Richard. But us? If there was one thing you and I did well, it was talk.”

“And that’s still the case.” Milly felt terrible. She’d been unforgiving and unyielding. It hadn’t occurred to her that something bad might be happening in Nicole’s life. In trying to protect herself from more hurt and be more assertive, she’d kept herself at a distance, but was she really going to let pride and fear of rejection stop her from trying to fix what they’d broken?

“Don’t go. We’ll talk. Right now. I want to hear about everything that has happened to you. I want you to tell me about Justin.”

Her phone started to ring, but she ignored it.

“You have a job,” Nicole said. “People relying on you. You should answer it.”

“No, I can—” Her phone rang again, and this time she checked it and saw a message from Lorna marked urgent. She sighed. “You’re right, I do need to answer this. But promise me you won’t go anywhere. Lock the door behind me, and this evening, after Zoe has gone to bed, we’ll talk. Please?”

Nicole looked at her for a long moment and then nodded.

“If that’s what you want.”

“It is.” And it didn’t matter how uncomfortable the conversation made her, they were going to have it. “Cancel that cab.”

Chapter 8Connie

Connie spent the morning cleaning the house and doing laundry. It crossed her mind that she could wander over to Forest Nest and see what was happening, but since she’d handed over the reins to Milly two years ago she’d been careful to limit her presence around the place. She was conscious that appearing too often might make it seem as if she didn’t trust her daughter. But it had been hard to relinquish something that had been such a big part of her life for so long. She made herself available for busy times, but they had a good, strong team supporting them, and she was rarely needed. Which had turned out to be both good and bad.

There were days when she wondered if she’d done the right thing by passing over responsibility. Having devoted the best part of her life to nurturing and growing the business, it felt strange that it was no longer a priority. Forest Nest featured in her earliest memories. She remembered sitting at the desk in her mother’s office with a coloring book, aged seven, waiting for Peggy to finish work for the day so that they could do their “walk around” together. When school had demanded more of her time during the week, she’d helped in all her spare moments. She’d done whatever needed doing, from sweeping floors to making up beds with fresh sheets.