a difficult time. But they have these two little girls. It’s time for them to try again.’
Offence at words like ‘liaison’ and ‘entertainment’ was completely subsumed by a wash of horror as Hannah took in Vivvi’s final words. Shame followed as she realised the horror was for herself. Nico had not given her any form of commitment. ‘They’ve been divorced for ages,’ she said through numb lips.
Vivvi bristled. ‘These challenging chapters happen in adult relationships,’ she said in a way that somehow implied Hannah wouldn’t know. ‘It’s hard when Loren suffers a bout of depression but Nico never gives up on her. Taking Maria was his way of showing Loren he could accept her so they could create a stable home together. Loren’s my daughter and it pains me to say this, but she needs that man and he finds being a single dad lonely – hence you, I suppose. But even you must see that those lovely kiddies need both their parents.’ Vivvi sniffed. ‘Sleeping with you a few times doesn’t compare to years of marriage. He’s a man – why wouldn’t he sleep with you, if you were on offer? But if there’s one thing Nico Pettersson is all about, it’s facing up to his responsibilities. It was him who asked me to take the girls out while he and Loren talked. Josie and Maria are going to be so happy when they’re all one little family again!’ This last was delivered with a caring sympathy Hannah didn’t buy.
But that was irrelevant – or ‘our elephant’ as Maria had once said. Every word the woman said was shrivelling her heart with guilt and humiliation.
She tried to think, remembering Nico not answering a single text or call today. Not turning up as promised. All the times he’d blown hot and cold … she’d forgotten them once he’d turned his brilliant blue eyes on her in Sweden. Been blinded by his lovemaking and the easy way he’d brought her into his family. They’d laughed over Carina’s matchmaking but maybe Hannah had been so conveniently ‘on offer’ that he’d taken advantage of it?
Mortification colder than the wind that blew between the cosily lit cottages swept her as she remembered his words on the aircraft. I didn’t even have to ask you to help me on this trip. He’d followed up by saying she’d made him the happiest he’d been for years but if he’d been unhappy as a single parent, that wasn’t saying much. And he’d been getting sex.
Gagged by tears, Hannah blanked whatever else Vivvi was saying and fumbled for her keys. She’d go to Nan’s and leave Nico to contact her. If Vivvi was horribly and completely wrong then he’d just tell her, wouldn’t he?
She had to perform an ignominious twenty-point turn in the lane under Vivvi’s watchful gaze and drove shakily home – her temporary home, anyway – in a haze of pain. Nan’s house was cold and empty but she was glad. Right this minute, she didn’t want to see her lovely family because the sympathy she knew would pour out of them would rip out what was left of her heart. She dragged herself upstairs for a hot bath that didn’t cure her shivers, her phone within reach.
The hours ticked by and it didn’t ring.
She crept off to bed to lie awake, gazing into the darkness.
Hopelessly, she faced facts. Nico was a wonderful parent. He’d been upset at the idea of the girls being split up again. Making the family one unit would make sense. And if Vivvi hadn’t been telling her the truth he would have called her by now.
And still the phone didn’t ring.
Suddenly she was angry.
Bloody men. How many more would think it was OK to bugger things up for her? To live his own life and if she became disruptive, winkle her out of it? It filled her with impotent rage.
When the clock beside her bed said two a.m. she got up. If Nico hadn’t sent so much as a text by now he wasn’t going to. He could even be in bed with Loren.
Grief-stricken, she took down the presents she’d stored atop the wardrobe. Two new nighties for Nan and a book about the stately homes of England. A super-duper car care kit for her dad and a box of chocolate liqueurs. Champagne for Mo, who dearly loved it but would never consider buying it for herself. Clinique mascara and eye liner for Leesa, who appreciated brands, and a North Face