‘I never have. I just wanted to talk to you. It’s all so incredibly sad over here. I want to know what you intend to do.’

‘Me?’ Maddy stared incredulously into the telephone. ‘I don’t intend to do anything. I shall live here and work and be part of the village – everything that I was and did before you came on the scene.’

‘I see.’ Drew swallowed. It was probably whisky. ‘And what about us?’

‘We haven’t got an “us”. Caroline has made it very clear that you and she will stay together. You know why. I’m not going to be part of it. Drew, I fell apart after Peter. I picked up the pieces. I can’t do it again. I – I don’t want to see you again.’

‘I love you.’

She gulped back the tears. ‘And I thought I loved you, too. But I didn’t really know you, did I? That’s why I’m saying goodbye. Go and patch up your marriage, Drew. It’s over.’

‘Very well.’ Drew’s voice had subsided to a whisper. ‘Then it makes the next bit slightly easier.’

‘What next bit?’ Maddy felt sick.

‘While Charlie is living at Peapods he can keep an eye on things. I don’t know how long I’ll be needed over here. Maybe months.’

She whimpered. ‘And are you coming back?’

‘Eventually. I don’t know when. But when I do, I trust we’ll be able to behave like adults. Maybe even friends.’

Friends! How could they ever be friends? ‘Why not? Stranger things have happened. Good night.’

For the second time that night, Drew said sadly, ‘Goodbye, Maddy.’

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-seven

Dragged down by despair, Maddy was determined to survive. She still jumped every time the phones rang, but it was never Drew. Everyone in the village knew that Drew had flown to Jersey, and everybody knew why. All sympathy was with Caroline. With her smile painted on brightly, and her eyes hidden behind dark glasses on the worst days, Maddy fooled most of Milton St John.

Most, but not all.

‘You can’t keep on doing this,’ Fran said as they sat in Maddy’s kitchen drinking coffee. ‘He’s been gone for three weeks. The poor guy is probably suffering the worst kind of hell trying to forget you and going slowly crazy. And,’ she took in Maddy’s listless expression and dull hair. ‘You’ve already gone.’

Suzy draped her arms around Maddy’s shoulders. ‘She won’t listen. She says it was for the best. Bloody funny best, if you ask me, booting out a man like Drew Fitzgerald.’

‘Leave me alone. I know what I’m doing.’ Maddy glared at them both.