If it was finally over with Jude – and this time she really wanted to stick to her guns – then a new job and a new place to live would have to be her top priorities. She saw Zak coming out into the garden again and smiled at him. But she wasn’t going to dwell on her impending homeless and jobless status now.

‘I’ve booked dinner at a local hotel tonight, if that’s okay,’ her friend said as he sat down next to her.

Lauren was surprised to find that she was hungry again. But then, it had been a long time since her chicken soup earlier today.

‘We only have to stroll down the road.’

‘Sounds perfect.’

‘I thought we could go and have a drink first.’

‘Even better.’

‘Then you go and freshen up while I take up deckchair duty.’ Zak closed his eyes and settled into his garden chair.

It was nice for someone else to take charge of her life as her brain was too exhausted to think. She looked at his face while his eyes were closed. He was a very handsome man, there was no doubt about that. Had she noticed that before? Really noticed it?

‘What?’ he said, opening one eye.

Lauren smiled. ‘I’m just thinking that you’re a very nice man.’

‘I’m a complete bastard, actually,’ Zak informed her. ‘This is a carefully constructed façade that could shatter at any moment.’

‘I bet you’re kind to small children and furry animals too.’

‘Nah,’ Zak said. ‘Eat them for breakfast.’

‘And here was me thinking you liked nothing more than a bit of toast.’

‘Shows just how easily you’re fooled,’ he teased. He closed his eyes again.

Zak might only be joking, but it was true. She had been fooled by the man in her life. For years.

‘I won’t be long,’ Lauren said. The promise of a strong drink was calling her.

Upstairs, the cottage was small and neat. Her case was on the bed in the room at the front. There was an old-fashioned wrought-iron bed with crisp white linen on it. An oak dressing-table and a tall wardrobe flanked it. The room was cool, welcoming, like a safe cocoon.

Lauren sat on the bed and tested it. The springs creaked, just as she knew they would. It made her smile.

Zak was being so kind to her that she felt like weeping. No one had ever cosseted her like he did. She looked at herself in the mirror on the dressing-table and was shocked. A gaunt white face stared back at her. Blue shadows ringed her eyes. She looked like a giant panda minus the cuteness. Lying down on the bed, she cried what she vowed would be her last tears for Jude into the soft pillow.

Lauren had reached rock bottom. The only way from here was up.

Chapter 91

Chapter 91

‘The Pudding Club?’ Lauren laughed incredulously.