“Yes.” And Clare didn’t know what to make of it. She’d read the email with a sick feeling in her stomach and so many emotions she couldn’t begin to untangle them. She started to type a reply and then stopped because her hands were shaking on the keys and she kept making mistakes. Feelings she’d worked hard to suppress had erupted past the barriers she’d put in place. She felt grief for Jack and pity for herself for having the bad fortune to find herself in this situation. She felt angry with Becca, and then guilty for feeling angry with someone who was dead.

Her fingers had finally stopped shaking but still she hadn’t responded because she didn’t know what to say. She loved Jack. She loved the children. But seeing them again would be hard. It would stoke all those feelings she’d worked hard to control. Grief. Anger. Guilt. Indecision. Oh yes, indecision. She’d burned the letter but the memory of its contents couldn’t be so easily destroyed.

“That’s great. The more the merrier. Jack and I can get some sailing and hiking in. The kids will love it.” Todd glanced at his watch. “I have to get going. I have a site visit on the other side of the valley and you know what the traffic is like at the moment.”

She did. It was another reason to be grateful she worked from home. Jack had converted one of the downstairs rooms into a study for her. The bay windows offered views across the gardens to the lake and often she found herself spending more time staring at the water than she did her computer screen.

Only as he was about to leave did she blurt out the information she’d been keeping to herself. “Jack’s bringing someone with him.”

Todd grabbed his coat from the back of the door. “I hope he’s bringing Izzy and Molly.”

“Yes, but this is someone as well as Izzy and Molly. Her name is Flora.”

Todd lifted his eyebrows. “A friend of the girls?”

“I rather got the impression,” Clare said slowly, “that she’s a friend of Jack’s.” And she felt conflicted. Her feelings were already complicated. It seemed unfair of Jack to introduce yet another complication into the mix. Their two families meshed so well, and now he was bringing a stranger.

For all her faults, Becca had been her best friend. Clare had loved her. And now she was expected to welcome her replacement. She’d have to smile and make conversation. Laugh, even though her heart was breaking and all she really wanted was to see Becca living happily with Jack.

“That’s great news.” Todd picked up his car keys. “I’m happy for Jack.”