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
‘I’m not doing this, Sienna. I just… can’t.’ He stands up, walks towards the door and out into the hall.
‘You’re a liar,’ she shouts after him. ‘What are you lying about, Greg?’
It’s a few seconds before the front door slams.
She knows that the second Greg gets to work she – and this argument – will be out of his head. He will focus on what he has to do, and she won’t be a factor in the rest of his day.
She won’t accept it. This needs to change, and it needs to change now.
ELEVEN
Abby
For a week Abby hears nothing from Greg. She’s done what she promised and given him this time but judging from Sienna’s texts – her attempts to arrange get-togethers with words as friendly as they’ve always been – he definitely hasn’t kept his promise to talk to her. Now it’s up to her – the guilt is Abby’s to bear too – and she has to put things right.
The thought of wrecking Sienna’s life cripples her, but there’s no way she will live this lie and cause her friend even more pain. A week already feels too long, and slowly she’s begun to regret allowing Greg this time.
And what of her own marriage? Despite her best efforts, she withdraws from Rob in minuscule ways that he is too busy, or too trusting, to notice. For now.
On the final day, late at night, Greg’s text comes. I’m going to tell her, he says. But can we please meet first? Abby softens – maybe because he’s added a please – despite how angry she is that he’s left it until the last possible moment.
Assuming Greg wasn’t going to keep his promise, she’s already arranged to see Sienna the next day – a morning coffee in a cafe on Palmers Green High Street, somewhere public, and safe. Now she’ll have to find an excuse to cancel. The two women haven’t seen each other since that night, so Sienna will know something’s wrong, but it’s only right that Abby lets Greg speak to her first.
Okay, she texts back. When and where?
When no reply comes, Abby wonders whether his text has just been a ploy to buy himself more time. It makes her uneasy, but still she waits. She will give him until morning.
It’s two a.m. when her phone pings. She’s been drifting in and out of a restless sleep, and now she’s fully awake.
Six p.m. tomorrow. At the park near the library.
Her stomach somersaults. She doesn’t realise this is her body alerting her to the fact that something is wrong. So she agrees to meet Greg.