that she almost didn’t care where she was. She found he was gazing at her too, and at the same time they both smiled.
It was as if her memory was still sleeping for she was struggling to remember everything clearly, but she sensed something awry between them, something that needed to be resolved. Maybe it had been and she hadn’t yet remembered. ‘Are we OK?’ she asked, and felt her heart tighten in anticipation of his answer.
His eyes softened more deeply into hers as he said, ‘You tell me. Are we OK?’
It was starting to come back, but not fully. ‘I hope so,’ she whispered. ‘I think we need to talk.’
‘Of course, but not right now.’
She looked past him and realized she was in one of her mother’s guest rooms. She had a faint recollection of Callum insisting she come to lie down, and no idea how long she’d slept only that she’d felt more exhausted before he’d brought her here than she ever had in her life. Pain, drugs, emotion, had all taken their toll.
Looking at him again, she found herself thinking of all the reasons she loved him, and tears blurred her eyes. There were so many, and she wanted to tell him, but as her thoughts began to clear making way for Martha and everything else she held the words back.
She was remembering now what had happened before he’d brought her upstairs, the harrowing scene with Freda as she’d broken down so wretchedly and the way Marianne had comforted her. Where were they now?
‘Your mother’s downstairs talking to Jamie on the phone,’ Callum replied when she asked, ‘and Freda’s in the other guest room resting. I’ve heard from her nephew, Edward. He’s on his way back, but probably won’t get here until tomorrow.’
She thought of Edward on the ski slopes, tanned face and brilliant blue eyes. She pictured him hurriedly booking a return flight, and explaining to his friends why he had to go. ‘What did you tell him?’
‘I gave him a brief outline of what I know. He was pretty upset to hear about what happened to you, and he’s very worried about her. Did you know that she’s had a breakdown before, presuming that’s what happened here.’
Joely nodded. ‘Yes, he told me when he came to visit her. It was just after her husband and brother died.’
Her eyes closed again as more pain throbbed through her left side. She tried to fathom how she felt about the secret her mother and brother had kept from her, but David hadn’t been her father, so why would they have shared it with her? Perhaps her own father had cautioned against it, concerned that she would feel protective of him, and she would have.
‘Is Holly back yet?’ she asked.
Wryly, Callum said, ‘We’re to expect her when we see her, and we’re not to worry about her because she won’t be worrying about us.’
Joely smiled and rolled her eyes. ‘She’s definitely her own person,’ she commented softly. She’d like to go back to sleep now with Callum lying next to her and nothing to keep them apart, but she was too concerned about her mother, and Freda, to stay here any longer. ‘What time is it?’ she asked, as he helped her up.
‘Just after seven. Are you hungry? You must be. I’ll order a Deliveroo after I’ve helped you to dress.’
Realizing she was wearing only the sweatshirt Andee had loaned her, and a pair of pink cotton pants and socks, she said, ‘Did you undress me?’
His mouth crooked in a smile as he said, ‘Only your trainers and jeans. There’s clean underwear in the bag over there. Would you like to change?’
Yes, she would, but could she manage with one hand?
She found that she could, but he helped her anyway, and when her jeans were zipped and trainer laces tied he tilted her face up to his. ‘I’m still not sure why it started to go wrong between us,’ he said softly, ‘but I want you to know that I never stopped loving you.’
Thinking of what she had to tell him, and of how hurt she’d been when he’d left her for Martha, she said, ‘We have a lot to talk about, but it’s good to know that, because I never stopped loving you either.’
By the time they got downstairs Marianne had finished on the phone and was with Freda in the sitting room, their hands wrapped around each other’s as they sat side by side talking softly. They