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
‘No,’ he says. ‘You don’t understand. Do you realise what this means?’ He’s raising his voice, and a couple at the next table turn to stare. She doesn’t care. She’s quickly realising that what other people think doesn’t matter, that it should never have been important.
‘Abby didn’t sleep with your husband,’ he says, ‘and I’m ashamed of myself that I believed she did. I should have known she’s not that kind of person.’
‘Rob, I heard her. She was telling someone on the phone.’
His face is red. ‘But it wasn’t Greg she was talking about!’ he hisses. ‘She was talking about the man she loves. The one she’s never stopped bloody loving, and if it wasn’t for you, she might have tried harder. She might have wanted to fight for us.’
Sienna turns cold. ‘What do you mean? I don’t understand what you’re telling me.’ She’s also frightened; she’s never witnessed Rob like this, even though she understands he’s distraught. There’s more to this, there has to be. ‘Listen, why don’t we go back to my place? We can talk properly there. Everyone’s staring at us.’
‘I don’t care,’ he mutters.
‘I know.’ And neither does she. ‘But let’s just go. If you want to drink yourself into oblivion, then that’s fine – I’ve got plenty of wine. No beer, though, I’m afraid.’ She makes this comment to lighten the mood, despite knowing nothing will work.
Rob apologises as soon as they get back to Sienna’s. He seems to have sobered up, although he’s been quiet all the way back. She makes him a strong black coffee and he silently takes it.
‘Tell me what happened, Rob. Why are you so sure that I’m wrong about Abby and Greg?’
He leans back against the sofa, defeated. ‘When I first met Abby, she’d just come out of a relationship with someone.’ Sienna remembers him telling her this the night of the dinner party. ‘Mark Holmes. They were… together at school. Star-crossed lovers. Like bloody Romeo and Juliet.’ He shakes his head. ‘I never stood a chance, did I? How could she ever love me when it was him she wanted all along?’
‘You don’t know that,’ Sienna says, trying to offer some comfort. ‘Plenty of people who were together from a young age don’t last. Aren’t meant to last. People come into our lives for a reason and they’re not all meant to stay with us.’