She pushed her hair back from her face. She had more makeup on tonight than usual, lots of blue eyeliner. It made her eyes look huge. Was she hoping to pick someone up? I wanted to laugh at the thought. Joel was the only eligible man there. She lowered her voice and leant across the table. I could smell the wine on her breath. ‘He made a move. Not long after I arrived. He was very insistent, forcing himself on me.’

‘What?’ I spluttered in horror. I had occasionally suspected that Joel might have a soft spot for me, but he’d never acted upon it. And he had never made me feel uncomfortable.

‘Yep. I was vacuuming the carpet down here, after afternoon closing, and he came up behind me. Wrapped his arms around me really tightly so I couldn’t get away and nuzzled my neck. Pressed himself against me.’ She pulled a face of disgust. ‘I could feel . . .’ she shuddered ‘. . . everything.’

‘Oh, my God.’ I was an even worse judge of character than I’d thought. I would never have thought that of Joel. He always seemed like the perfect gentleman.

She sat back in her chair with a self-satisfied grin and folded her arms across her chest. ‘I know.’

‘W-what did you do?’

‘I pushed him away. Told him if he ever tried anything like that again I’d chop off his cock.’

I nearly choked on my wine.

‘And he’s been making my life difficult ever since. He obviously doesn’t like being rebuked. Urgh. Honestly, I’m so pissed off with men thinking they can pull this crap on women. Well, not me.’

I couldn’t help but admire her feisty attitude – so at odds with the nervous, jittery woman I’d witnessed on Christmas Eve. But it cemented everything I thought I knew about her past. She had been a victim of a cruel, misogynist man, like I had.

She reached out and took my hand. ‘We have to stick together, you and me, Rose. It’s a shit world out there. We need to look out for one another.’

I glanced over to where Joel was now serving a couple of old blokes at the bar, chuckling at something they said, and my stomach dropped with disappointment. I had been taken in by him but he was the same as the others.

He must have sensed me watching him because he turned to me, flashing me a warm smile.

I didn’t smile back.

21

Lorna

SHE SEES HIM BEFORE HE SEES HER. A BIG BEAR OF A MAN. HE’S sitting in the corner of the restaurant, a pale blue shirt straining across his broad shoulders, his dark hair ruffled and a hint of stubble on his handsome face. Her stomach flips.

Euan Cutler. Her one-time husband, lover and best friend.