Chapters (67)
- Cover
- Dedication
- PROLOGUE
- PART ONE
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- PART TWO
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- PART THREE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- PART FOUR
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- EPILOGUE
- Mailing list
- A Letter from Kathryn
- Acknowledgements
- About the Author
- Also by Kathryn Croft
She’s torn now, even though she is the one who said they should meet. Now she’s here, she’s consumed with guilt. She should drive away now, leave him staring after her, but she doesn’t. She unlocks the door and stares through the windshield while he climbs in beside her.
‘I’m sorry,’ he begins, reaching for her hand.
Abby pulls away. He has to know that she doesn’t want him touching her. That’s not why she’s here. ‘Don’t. I don’t want to hear it.’
‘But you came.’
‘Where have you been? You disappeared off the face of the earth. Why?’
‘You know why.’
‘Because you regretted it. And you couldn’t face up to what you’d done. That’s the only thing I know.’ She should try not to sound bitter; he is already wielding power over her because she’s agreed to be here, despite what he did.
‘You just didn’t have the guts to tell her the truth, did you? That’s what it comes down to. That makes you a coward.’
‘And were you going to tell Rob?’
This was the plan, even though she knew it would crush him. She couldn’t keep living a lie. That wasn’t fair to him either. ‘Yes. It was up to both of us to tell the truth, wasn’t it?’
He sighs, and Abby warms slightly; this can’t be easy for him.
‘Don’t you think that by not telling her the truth you’re hurting her even more? But you never loved her, did you, so I’m guessing you don’t care about that.’
When he smiles, it looks to Abby like more of a wince, full of pain. ‘We don’t choose who we give our hearts to, Abby. It is what it is, and that’s actually a beautiful thing. Everything in this world is so planned and calculated, don’t you think it’s special that love doesn’t follow any rules? As much as we want to, we don’t control it.’ He takes her hand and, despite everything, it feels right. She doesn’t want it to: it’s Rob who should feel this way, who she should feel like she belongs with.
She pulls away. Too late, though, because the warmth of his skin has already infected her. Again. ‘You need to go. Leave me alone. What’s done is done and we can’t undo it, but this stops now.’
He’s shaking his head. ‘No, Abby. No way. We’re not done.’
And that’s when she knows that she needs to put an end to this before it’s too late.