‘Well,’ he says with a smile. ‘I’m sorry you had to witness that, Tilly, but I can’t tell you how relieved I am now the truth is out in the open. No more skulking about, we can be together in plain sight now. You wanted me to give you more, and now I can give you all of me.’

If I thought we were done with the gut punches, I was evidently wrong.

‘I’m sorry? You’re joking, right?’

‘I’ve never been more serious about anything,’ he says, stepping forward. With horror, I realise he’s intending to wrap his arms around me, and it’s all I can do to stop myself from kicking him in the balls. Instead, I place my hand on his chest to prevent him coming any closer.

‘I don’t think so,’ I tell him firmly.

To my amazement, he smiles again. ‘I get it. I don’t seem so exciting now the danger has gone. We’ll just have to find other ways of upping the ante.’

‘No. Let me explain it to you. I don’t have relationships with married men.’

‘I think, given the way today has turned out, that’s unlikely to be an issue for much longer.’

‘OK, I can see you’re not getting this. You’re a liar, Luke. You lied to Cindy and you lied to me. You lied about your mother, and you also tried to make out I was some kind of lunatic to save your own skin, which makes you a coward to boot. To be honest, I don’t know what I saw in you, but my eyes are well and truly open now, and I want nothing more to do with you. You’d better not dream of making any sort of complaint about me, because I’ll be straight in with everything I know about you, and it won’t go well for you. You stay away from me, do you understand?’ Without giving him an opportunity to reply, I turn to Richenda. ‘I’m sorry, for everything,’ I tell her.

‘Likewise,’ she replies, but I’m already heading for the hallway and my coat, with nothing on my mind except getting as far away from here as possible.

18

‘I’m sorry, love, but I’m not entirely sure why you’ve tied yourself up in such knots about this,’ Mum says as she sets a mug of tea and a plate containing a large slice of carrot cake in front of me.

After leaving Richenda’s, I quickly realised I needed someone to help me decompress and unravel everything that’s just happened. The only person I could think of that wouldn’t be at work was Mum, so I headed over to Paddock Wood, but I’m starting to realise that this might have been a mistake.