up even closer.
“You don’t know the half of it,” she told me. “Believe me, you owe her fuck all, and it’s not just about her fucking off with him. She was a sly little bitch way beyond what people know.”
“I know it wasn’t exactly the lengthy process it seemed to be,” I said when it looked like she was in on the secrecy.
“I know how it started,” she said. “I was there on the night she did it. He was a wreck, you know. Too trashed to even remember his own name.”
My stomach lurched at the knowledge that someone else really knew what happened that night. It burned deep, that fresh bout of knowing just how much of a mess that one shitty night turned into, and I was summoning up more questions to ask her when that back door opened all over again.
This time it nearly swung from its hinges.
“What the fuck are you doing now?!” Nicola spat, and pulled the cigarette from my fingers. “Drinking and fucking smoking?! More greatness from Lucas cunting Pierce, no doubt!”
But I was done. Truly, I was done.
I wanted nothing more to do with Dawn or Hannah or any of the bystanders feeding on my humiliation. I forced Nicola into a hug and checked I had my keys in my handbag and then I was out of there, calling up a cab as I made my way onto the main street.
I heard Nicola shouting after me but didn’t turn around.
“SORT YOURSELF OUT, ANNA! FOR FUCK SAKE, SORT YOURSELF OUT! THAT CUNT IS WORTHLESS. HE’S FUCKING POISON!”
I thought she’d finished, but the rant started up again before I was out of earshot.
“UTTER FUCKING POISON! HE’LL TEAR YOU APART ALL OVER AGAIN! I’M NOT WATCHING IT NEXT TIME!”
Once again, I was grateful for the wine. The shards of panic were dull enough under the surface that I didn’t flinch with this fresh round. Thumbs-up to Dawn and her bullshit dare.
I was smoking a fresh cigarette as I waited for the taxi, and my phone was back out in my hands in a heartbeat summoning up Lucas’s text history.
Tomorrow, I told him. This time you can come to me. I’m sick of hiding.
I had a sickening pang of concern as soon as I sent it, scared I really was being a total bitch who was fucking things up with his daughter, but his message came back in a flash before I could truly rethink myself.
Can’t wait to see you there, he said. I’m sick of hiding too.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Lucas
Nobody was ever going to accept us, so fuck it. I was done with all thoughts of trying to make them.
I called up Beth from my work team and she was happy to dog sit with her boyfriend, and take advantage of house sitting the countryside alongside it.
I waited until they’d arrived before I finished getting ready, putting on a smart blue shirt and garish red and gold tie for the fun of it, and trimming my beard into order. I chose my finest tailored trousers and laced up my finest brogues, and my heart was thumping hard at the thought of seeing Anna there in town.
I fussed goodbye to Bill and Ted, and thanked Beth and Wes all over again, and I was churned up with pure waves of want as I set off to meet her.
I opted to take the truck, and parked up overnight in Broad Street car park before walking on through town to our agreed location.
And there she was, my Anna, right there and waiting – standing on the lawn right beside the Neptune fountain. Her usual sweet spot.
The water was tumbling down in a torrent and she was framed just perfectly by the orange glow of the lighting, and she looked divine.
Absolutely fucking divine.
Her heels were high, and her legs were bare. Her dress was silver satin and her hair was swept up in curls. Her eyes were dark and her lips were pale, and she was enough to stop my breath, as well as stop me in my tracks along with it.
Holy fuck, how I loved that woman.
She closed the distance between us, and her smile was shining bright.
“I missed you so much,” she said, and her arms were straight around my neck.
It felt so right to be there standing next to her that I didn’t give one single shit about any potential onlookers. The whole world could go fuck itself. I belonged there.
“Ditto,” I whispered. “I missed you so much it