them and said a little apologetically, “We’re going to have a full house. Daniel should be here any minute, and Coralie’s on her way now, too.”
“Oh,” Topaz said, rubbing at her arm. “You’d better tell her we’re here. I don’t think she’s very pleased with me right now.”
Jojo gave her a lopsided grin. “I don’t think she’s ever that pleased with me.”
“Tell me about it,” Connor said.
For some reason that seemed to upset Topaz. She gave him a quick, angry look, and stalked past him to sit on the other end of the sofa.
“It’s probably better if we’re all here, anyway,” Jojo said with a slight sigh. “Nobody should end up feeling like they’re being kept out of things.”
Connor wasn’t sure if he agreed with that. There were a number of things that he never wanted to talk about again.
* * *
—
THERE WERE LOOPING phrases running through Coralie’s head as she drove. Some of them she’d heard, and others read, but she could hear them as if they’d all been spoken aloud.
From Daniel, guardedly, Not tonight. I want to just sit at home and think things over….
Brett’s slightly guilty You should come over. Everyone’s here….No, don’t be silly, sweetheart. Nobody’s ganging up on you. If I’d had any warning, I’d have told you to come.
And over and over, Topaz’s words, spoken with venom: Fuck you, Coralie.
These people who were supposed to be her friends. The people she’d spent her whole life trying to please. The people who were supposed to be there for her.
Only it didn’t feel like they were anymore. Not since Topaz had chosen Connor over her.
It was a hurt that had never healed. She almost thought she could have stood it if it had been someone else. If it had been anyone but him.
Choosing him had poisoned their friendship. She had seen it within the first few months. And even if it had brought the others closer for a while, in the end it had leached into everything.
She felt sick and dizzy with fear as she climbed out of the car. What had they been saying about her? Had they decided to unite against her? How could they?
Her heart was thumping and her palms were sweaty as she rang the bell. She might have just let herself in, once. But she felt like an outsider tonight.
It was Brett who opened the door, and there was a hint of balm in the warm smile he gave her.
“I’m glad you came,” he said quietly, and gave her a brief, firm hug. “Come and bring a little sanity to the proceedings,” he added as he released her.
The panic lessened a little further, though she wished that he’d put an arm round her or something as they walked in. It felt like a hostile environment the moment she was through the sitting-room door. They were absolutely silent in that way that suggested she’d been the topic of conversation.
Daniel smiled at her, but then looked away quickly, and she wondered if he’d been the one doing the talking. Brett perched on a sofa arm, distancing himself a little, she thought.
“Hi, Coralie,” Jojo said, and then unfolded herself from the sofa. “Sorry. Too comfortable.”
Jojo loped over and hugged her, but Coralie found herself unable to relax as she felt Jojo’s lean arms round her. Hugging wasn’t something she and Jojo generally did.
The silence returned as soon as Jojo had sat down. Topaz and Connor wouldn’t even look at her. Topaz had her eyes on the floor and one arm folded over the other, everything about her angry.
Coralie felt the panic returning. They didn’t want her here. She should leave.
But then there were footsteps from behind her, and Anna appeared with a tray full of coffee cups and a plate of cookies.
“Coralie, my darling!” she said, and put the tray down quickly on the small glass coffee table before straightening up and giving her a real, warm hug. “Oh, we’ve missed you!”
Although slight, Anna somehow managed to engulf her in the hug, and it was profoundly comforting. Coralie felt her eyes water. She’d sometimes been uncharitable to mousy, uninteresting Anna in the past. And yet she made her feel genuinely welcome. Loved, even.
“I’m sorry,” she said as Anna released her. “London has this bad habit of ensnaring you in all the rubbish.”
“Brett’s just as bad,” Anna said with a small smile at her husband. “Once he’s there, he barely remembers to message me.”
Brett gave a low laugh. “I remember…I just choose not