A pale ghost of a smile passed over Charlie’s face.

‘Yeah. That’s what we’ll do,’ said Charlie.

Nula said nothing.

She just watched Harlan.

79

‘Milly!’

Milly was walking down the drive at home one day when Nipper’s car pulled up alongside her, the powerful engine idling. Milly kept walking, her face set. The engine stopped. She heard him get out of the car. She kept walking.

‘Milly! Come on, stop, will you? I want to talk to you.’

Milly stopped walking. She turned on her heel and glared at him. It hurt to even look at him these days, after what she’d heard being said between him and Belle. They’d been laughing at her. Well, he had anyway. To be fair, Belle had been defending her. And Belle had warned her about Nipper. Maybe she’d been wrong to lash out at her friend. She was going to make up with Belle, soonest. She missed her.

‘What do you want?’ she snapped.

‘What do you think?’ he said, standing right there in front of her with his thick blond hair riffling in the breeze, his face twisted in contrition, his eyes pleading. ‘Oh come on, Mills . . .’

‘Don’t you dare come here with that pathetic look in your eyes, thinking, “oh yes, poor old Milly, she’ll forgive me because she’s so grateful.” Don’t you fucking dare.’

‘Look.’ He ran a hand through his hair and stared at her. ‘I didn’t want Belle to know how I feel about you. That’s all. So I told her it was only a laugh. I knew she’d tell her parents the whole thing and that they’d laugh about it, but then it might get back to Charlie and he’d bite my balls off. I didn’t mean it, not a word of it.’

Milly was frowning. ‘I don’t believe you.’

‘It’s the truth. I couldn’t risk Charlie finding out that we’re in love.’

‘You’re lying.’

‘No.’ He was shaking his head, smiling. ‘No, I’m not lying. My silly sweetheart, I’m not lying at all. I was lying to Belle, yes – but not to you. Your dad’s a very dangerous man when he loses that temper of his. You know and I know, he wants you to get cosy with Javier. So I had to cover our tracks. To pretend there was nothing between us, even to Belle. You were never meant to hear any of that and I’m so bloody sorry if it hurt you.’

Milly was staring at his face. After turning Javier down the first time he’d asked, she’d just accepted a dinner date with him. ‘I didn’t . . .’ she started. ‘I thought . . .’

‘I know what you thought. That I was a cruel bastard, laughing at you. That’s not true. None of it’s true.’

Milly stared at him. Well, dinner dates could be cancelled.