Joanna stirred and glanced at her. “No. There were a few occasions when I tried, right back at the beginning. But it never works. Better to stay out of sight, lie low and wait for it to die down.”

Ashley didn’t want to lie low. The anger inside her had grown from a flicker to a flame. She wanted to snarl and fight back. “They shouldn’t get to decide how we live. And I can’t believe it’s a woman. Whatever happened to sisterhood?”

“It’s alive and well, which is why we’re here for each other.” Joanna gave her leg a reassuring squeeze. “I guess the reporter just didn’t get the memo.”

“Right.” Was there really nothing they could do? “Should we give them an interview where we can put our side of things? Tell the truth. Then they might go away.”

“They won’t go away. And they don’t want the truth. They want a story. It’s not the same thing.”

“So we let them say what they like and do nothing?”

“They can say what they like with or without our permission. We can talk to lawyers, but if what they’re printing is fact, then there’s little we can do, and to be honest once the article is out there the damage is done. Retaining lawyers just means we keep the story running. It stays high profile.”

“So that’s it?” Ashley was frustrated. “There’s nothing we can do?”

“There’s plenty we can do. We make ourselves invisible. We don’t give them pictures or any kind of opportunity to describe how we’re looking. If we don’t feed it, the story will eventually die.”

“You’re saying we have to stay hidden in the beach house?”

“Why not?” Joanna glanced around and smiled. “It’s not so bad here, after all.”

It was idyllic, but that wasn’t the point. They’d be hiding, as if they were guilty of something. She didn’t like the idea of someone else making her hide, and dictating her choices. It was a form of bullying, wasn’t it?

But this wasn’t only about her, and just as she didn’t want the reporters to dictate her choices, she didn’t want to dictate to Joanna. Particularly as it was Ashley who had put Joanna in this position.

She had to respect what Joanna wanted. It was the least she could do.

The true impact of this on Joanna was gradually dawning on her.

“You came here to avoid attention. You wanted to escape them, and now they’ll be coming here. And that’s my fault.” And Ashley was ready and willing to storm through Joanna’s gate and tell them exactly what she thought of them, but Joanna didn’t want that. Joanna had protected her, and now she had to protect Joanna.

“None of this is your fault, Ashley.”