Page 65

‘Honestly,’ she said, ‘it’s okay. I think it’s for the best.’

‘You’re joking, right?’ Caroline said. ‘This is insane. He’s not going to be happy. We can all see that. The only reason he proposed to her is because he had an accident and some sudden crisis of faith, like he thought if he didn’t get married immediately and have children, his whole life was going to end. That’s the truth of it.’

Holly wasn’t going to defend Giles there. Not when she knew it was the truth.

‘It doesn’t matter why he proposed to her; he did it, and he’s going to see it through. I respect him for that.’

‘You respect him for marrying a woman who’s not the one he loves?’

‘Would you just drop it?’ Holly didn’t mean to snap. She didn’t, but she couldn’t hear this any more. ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I just… I need some space, okay? Can you open up the shop again? There are still a couple of hours of trading left.’

She stood up and took her bag from the table.

‘Where are you going?’ Jamie said. ‘What are you going to do?’

‘I’m going to pick up Hope,’ Holly replied. ‘I’m going to remember how amazing my world is, because she’s in it, and then I’m going to move on with my life. It would be great if you guys would let me do that.’

69

Holly walked towards the school, only to realise it was twenty minutes before the children would be let out, leaving her with nothing to do other than stand alone with her thoughts. But that was good, wasn’t it? In fact, if she looked at it objectively, the whole situation was positive. She’d had her heart broken. So what? It wasn’t the first time it had happened. If Dan hadn’t broken her heart by cheating on her, she would never have ended up in Bourton with the sweet shop and with Hope. And having a broken heart was a lot easier than what she went through with Evan. She would pick herself up and come out of this situation stronger. Yes, it would probably take a long time for her and Giles to rebuild their friendship, but in all fairness, nobody ever thought they would do that after the whole ‘sabotaging the sweet shop’ fiasco. Just like nobody thought that she and Ben would be able to co-parent Hope so well. It would require some adjusting; that was all.

What she needed to do was find a big enough distraction that would let her move on with her life and push Giles Caverty as far out of her system as possible. A new project, something to do with work, perhaps. And that was the moment she remembered.

With a burst of energy, she turned away from the school gates. Twenty minutes. That was definitely long enough to run home and back, provided she actually ran and, while it wasn’t common for Holly to be seen sprinting down the high street, she could reach a fair pace if needed. And at that moment, she needed to run.

It didn’t matter that her question could be asked just as easily in half an hour, an hour, or even a day’s time. It didn’t matter that Fin would be coming to pick his three up from school and if she hung on for fifteen minutes, she would see him anyway. She needed to talk to him. Now.

When she reached the house, she didn’t take out her key. Instead, panting from the exertion of the run, she knocked repeatedly on Fin and Jamie’s door.

‘Hey, Holly. Are you okay? Jamie’s going to be back in fifteen. Do you want to wait in here? I can pick up Hope if that helps.’

There was something about his expression and the way he was speaking to her, as if she might, at any second, crumble into a heap, that told Holly Jamie had spoken to him about the Giles situation. But she wasn’t here to talk about Giles. Not at all.

‘I’m good. Great, actually. That friend of yours, the one who’s starting the old-fashioned sweet shops in the States. I don’t suppose I could have his number today?’

70

Holly couldn’t believe how quickly everything had moved, though most of that was due to her taking a month to make contact. In business terms, a lot could happen in that length of time. But on the same day as she received Giles’s response, she had also finally spoken on the phone to Moritz, Fin’s friend in America, and now, five days later, she was packing her bags.

‘I wish I could come with you. I want to come with you,’ Hope said. ‘We could see Aunty Erin. See Nanny and Grandad.’

‘I know, I know we could, but if this works out, then maybe we’ll get to spend quite a bit of time in America. How would you like that? Besides, Rhubarb needs a lot of fuss. You know she gets funny when I go away.’

Holly thought that mentioning the kitten would provide an adequate distraction, but she should have known better.

‘What does “quite a bit” mean?’ Hope asked. ‘I wouldn’t be leaving Daddy and Georgia?’

‘No, no, of course not, but maybe we could go for a couple of months in the summer. How does that sound? And Christmas too. I don’t think you remember Christmas in America properly, but the snow was amazing.’

‘I thought it was hot at Christmas in America?’

‘Depends on which part you go to. We could go to a hot part one year and a cold part another year. How does that sound?’

‘Could we bring Rhubarb?’ Hope asked. Holly rolled her eyes.Now she remembers the kitten.

On the drive to the airport, Jamie didn’t hold anything back.

‘This is running away – you know that. That’s all you’re doing.’