BooksBarbecue
Back One Mistake Save as PDF
Chapters (56)
  1. Books by Rona Halsall
  2. Dedication
  3. Prologue
  4. Chapter One
  5. Chapter Two
  6. Three weeks later
  7. Chapter Three
  8. Chapter Four
  9. Chapter Five
  10. Chapter Six
  11. Chapter Seven
  12. Chapter Eight
  13. Chapter Nine
  14. Chapter Ten
  15. Chapter Eleven
  16. Chapter Twelve
  17. Chapter Thirteen
  18. Chapter Fourteen
  19. Chapter Fifteen
  20. Chapter Sixteen
  21. Chapter Seventeen
  22. Chapter Eighteen
  23. Chapter Nineteen
  24. Chapter Twenty
  25. Chapter Twenty-One
  26. Chapter Twenty-Two
  27. Chapter Twenty-Three
  28. Chapter Twenty-Four
  29. Chapter Twenty-Five
  30. Chapter Twenty-Six
  31. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  32. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  33. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  34. Chapter Thirty
  35. Chapter Thirty-One
  36. Chapter Thirty-Two
  37. Chapter Thirty-Three
  38. Chapter Thirty-Four
  39. Chapter Thirty-Five
  40. Chapter Thirty-Six
  41. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  42. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  43. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  44. Chapter Forty
  45. Ten days later
  46. Chapter Forty-One
  47. Seven months later
  48. Love You Gone
  49. Hear More from Rona
  50. A Letter from Rona
  51. Books by Rona Halsall
  52. Her Mother’s Lies
  53. The Honeymoon
  54. Keep You Safe
  55. Acknowledgements
  56. *

‘Nothing to worry about,’ he’d said with a reassuring smile that had made her palms greasy, because now she was committed to his deal. Committed to attending more than one event with him. Committed to lying to Matt at least twice.

He hadn’t elaborated any further on how many events constituted interest on nine thousand pounds, and she hadn’t wanted to ask, because then she might have to agree to a specific number. A large number, one that would stoke her anxiety to even higher levels. Better to wait and see how it goes, she decided. There was still a chance that eagle-eyed Julia would spot the two transfers and then it would be game over for both of them. Straight to prison. She shuddered at the thought, but at least if that happened, she’d have Hailey to step in to look after the children. One less thing to worry about – her contingency plan already in place.

Would the kids even miss me? she wondered. Or Matt? She remembered the mug of tea she’d made for her husband, still sitting on the worktop and put her own mug down, pushed her chair back. ‘I’ll just take Matt his tea,’ she said to Hailey as she stood. ‘Then he’ll know I’m home and I’ve not forgotten him.’

She opened the back door and walked the few steps to the garage, knocked on the door and waited. No answer, but she could hear voices and wasn’t sure if he was on the phone, doing a video chat, or if there was someone in there with him. She knocked again. ‘I made you a cup of tea,’ she called, her ear to the door. The voices didn’t stop. One of them sounded like a woman.

She listened, heard a tinkling laugh. Definitely a woman. Her scalp prickled and she knocked again, harder this time, a proper rapetty-rap-rap-rap! The voices went quiet and she tensed, remembering how annoyed he’d been the last time she’d interrupted with a drink a couple of days ago.

‘I’m running a bloody business,’ he’d snapped. ‘Trying to be professional. And it doesn’t look great if there’s someone in the background shouting through the door. I’ve got video meetings going on.’ She’d thought she was being supportive, but the force of his stare had made her feel two inches tall. ‘You’re making me look like an amateur.’