The only person who had an inkling as to what had gone on between her and Ellis was Geraldine. She had seen them slipping away into the darkness the night of her wedding reception, and then spotted them later furtively rejoining the party inside. She claimed that there had been an unmistakable look of guilt about them when they reappeared, a look that shouted from the rooftops that they’d just had sex. Whether or not that was true, Colin had been too drunk to notice anything different about Naomi.

Geraldine didn’t let on that she had guessed what had taken place between Naomi and Ellis until she and Brian were back from their honeymoon. By then Naomi had explained to Ellis the reason why they must never see each other again.

‘Are you sure the baby is Colin’s and not mine?’ he had immediately asked, and she’d explained why there could be no doubt.

‘Trust me, Ellis,’ she’d said, ‘it can’t be yours; the timing is wrong.’

The conversation had taken place on the telephone and she’d been deliberately and uncharacteristically brutal, telling him that it had been nothing more than a selfish act of revenge, her sleeping with him.

‘I don’t believe you,’ he’d said. ‘Yes, the night of the wedding that might have been true, but not in the days since. That was real between us.’

‘You’re wrong. None of it was real. We were both playing a part. Me the wronged wife, and you the—’

‘No,’ he said softly, ‘don’t go on. Please don’t twist or denigrate what this last week has meant to me. Or what I hoped it might lead to.’

‘Then, please, if that’s true, if you really care about me, let it end now. Let me get on with repairing my marriage. Because it’s the right thing to do. You’re a decent man, Ellis, so I know you’ll respect my decision.’

It said a lot about him that he did. She never saw him again, not until that day on the beach back in February.

Now, in the kitchen at Anchor House, and as the sky began to lighten and the first of the birds started to sing, Naomi feared that once again she might be forced to make a tough decision.

Would she have to put her children and their happiness before her own, or was there a way to have both?

Chapter Twenty

In the week since she’d been down at Mum’s with Tom and Martha, Willow had been suffering with terrible morning sickness. Which was making it almost impossible for her to keep Rick from knowing she was pregnant.

Wiping her mouth after only just making it to the bathroom in time, she sat on the edge of the bath and pressed a cold flannel to her face. Her stomach still churning, she felt light-headed and drained of all energy. Why did women willingly put themselves through this? Not just once, but again and again.

‘You going to be in there much longer?’