Page 31

She bit on the inside of her cheek. Now that the ring had been mentioned, she could probably bring up the children issue too, but that felt like something that needed to be done in person.

‘Have you told Faye this as well?’ she said instead as she continued her stroll. There didn’t seem any harm in having a little exploration while they were talking. ‘Have you rung her, or are you going to ring her? Does she need telling to be nice?’

‘No, don’t be daft, because Faye’s… she’s my sister; she doesn’t have a choice in this. It matters, okay? This weekend, it matters a lot to Sienna, and therefore, it matters to me, and if it matters to me, I know it will also matter to you.’

‘Is that right?’

‘I’m serious, Hol. I need you and her to get on well. I’m not sure what I’d do if you didn’t.’

‘Well, you’d have to find a new friendship group,’ Holly said jokingly, only for a loud sigh to reverberate down the line. One that she reciprocated almost immediately. ‘Giles, I know. I was just being silly. I’ll be nice.’

‘Promise?’

‘Promise.’

‘Great, that’s all I rang for. I shall let you get to your relaxing.’

‘Thank you.’

She was about to end the call when she remembered something. ‘By the way, did you know – did you know this place is a?—?’

But it was already too late; he’d hung up on her.

33

It was only now she’d stopped walking that Holly realised how far she had gone during her little chat with Giles. She was all the way downstairs again, but rather than heading towards the foyer, she seemed to have gone in the other direction. By the looks of things, there was a dining room to the left of her, the thought of which was enough to make her stomach grumble. Straight in front was a corridor, with a long window at the end. For a moment, she stood there, trying to get her bearings, whilst thinking through the conversation she’d just had.

Was it strange that Giles had rung her, telling her to be nice? Probably not. Not if he guessed she would see the ring and start getting all judgy about it. But then, he had obviously changed it some time ago, and he could’ve easily spoken to her about it before now. Why wait until the minute she and Sienna were alone, or near enough? Was that odd? It felt odd.

With a deep breath in, she released a sound somewhere between a sigh and a groan. She had promised Giles, in the sweet shop, that their relationship wouldn’t change now that he was engaged. That things would stay the same between them. But maybe Sienna was right. Maybe things couldn’t stay the same. Maybe things had already changed. She’d certainly never doubted the truthfulness during her and Giles’s conversations before.

Fingers crossed Faye had brought a couple more of those mini bottles of Prosecco with her. Although they’d probably have to ration them out. Even a small glass of bubbles on a stomach filled only with juice was a recipe for disaster.

Recalling what Sienna had said about wanting to have a dip in the pool before their dinner of mildly flavoured, probably green water, Holly turned around, ready to head back upstairs and get changed, when a series of squeals from outside caught her attention. Lots of squeals, followed by lots of laughter.

Intrigued as to what could cause such a reaction, Holly walked forward towards the window. With each step, the squealing got louder, although it was only when she was standing right there, by the pane of glass, that she saw exactly why the people were making so much noise. Her stomach sank.

‘You have to be freaking joking,’ she said.

34

Holly marched up the stairs, not once stopping her stride, even as she opened the door into her and Faye’s room. She was so angry, she was trembling.

‘Where have you been?’ Faye said. ‘You’ve been gone for ages.’

‘I went to look around the resort.’ Holly’s voice hitched uncontrollably. ‘I saw the spa.’

Faye grinned. ‘Was it amazing? I was going to get my swimmers on, but this bed is so damn comfortable. I’ll go down and check it out with you now.’

‘I wouldn’t get your hopes up if I were you,’ Holly said. Her anger was turning into tears. She didn’t know why it was making her so upset other than she’d given up a weekend with her daughter and friends and felt like she’d been tricked. Sienna had lied to her. This was as far away from a luxury spa weekend as she could ever imagine. ‘It’s a pond.’

‘Sorry?’ Faye frowned.

‘The pool. It’s not a pool at all. It’s a pond.’

Faye’s brow remained furrowed for a moment longer before her expression cleared. ‘I don’t think that’s right.’

‘It is. I saw it myself. It’s labelled as a plunge pool. Only it’s outside, surrounded by weeds, and there were ducks nesting at the edge of it. You know, this is a joke, right? This is all part of some weird game Sienna is playing.’