‘They definitely owe you one.’

I shook my head. ‘They did me a favour letting me stay here. I needed to get away for a bit, clear my head.’

‘And has it worked?’

‘I’m not sure to be honest. I still don’t have any idea what went wrong with my marriage.’

‘You know what the answer always is?’ Jedda’s eyes twinkled. ‘Wine! But I think you’re right about sitting out the back. I’ve just given Bindi an early dinner and hopefully with the fresh air and the relaxing sound of the water, she’ll be asleep in no time.’

Tour over, we went back into the kitchen and, as Jedda laid Bindi into her pram with a bottle of milk, I poured two rather large mugs full of wine and put the bottle back in the fridge. Outside, Jedda sat in the rocking chair that I’d moved from the front and gently rocked the pram with her foot. I carried a chair out from the kitchen and sat beside them. Within minutes Bindi was asleep.

‘So, what’s the deal with you and your ex?’ Jedda asked after taking her first sip of wine.

‘He’s not actually my ex, well, not legally.’ I sighed and told her the whole sorry story.

‘Jesus. No wonder you looked like a broken butterfly the first time I saw you.’

Adrian was—is—my best friend’s twin brother. We all went to school together, so I’ve pretty much known him forever. I was always at his house playing with Hayley and I had a crush on him most of high school, but he barely noticed me as anything but his sister’s geeky friend. He was pretty popular at school and Hayley and I didn’t hang in the in-crowd with him. I never thought anything would happen between us, so I couldn’t believe it when he kissed me on the night of their sixteenth birthday. He never officially asked me out but after that we were just together. And everyone thought we were perfect. We were no longer referred to in the singular—we were always Adrian-and-Ash this or Ash-and-Adrian that.’

‘And how long have you been married?’

‘Eighteen years in December.’ A lump swelled in my throat at the thought.

‘Long time.’

I nodded and swallowed.

‘Do you think this is really it then?’

I gulped some wine, my stomach twisting. ‘I hope not. I want my husband and my family. Nothing is more important to me than providing a secure, loving home for my kids. But …’

‘But he’s broken your trust and you don’t know if you can get it back?’

I shook my head. ‘He didn’t have an affair.’

Jedda raised an eyebrow. ‘He told you he wants to sleep with other people. For all you know he’s done that already.’

I took another gulp of wine. ‘And you think I’d be stupid to let him back into my heart and my bed after that?’ It was what everyone was thinking—even my best friend, his sister.