Page 120 of Friend of the Family

She noticed that Juliet had something on her lap – a photo album, as far as she could see. Shredded paper surrounded her chair like confetti She tiptoed closer, as if approaching a wild animal; Juliet sat motionless, her red-rimmed eyes and puffy cheeks betraying the fact that she had been crying.

‘Where’s Tilly, Juliet?’ Amy asked evenly.

It was an agonising moment before she replied.

‘She’s upstairs, asleep,’ she said, her voice cracking.

Amy exhaled deeply. Thank God. She turned and ran up the stairs, praying that Juliet was telling the truth.

The guest bedroom was at the end of the landing. She crept inside and could make out a child-sized hump under the duvet. She pulled back the cover and saw Tilly’s golden hair. Her eyes were closed and there was the faint noise of breath escaping from her chest – up and down, up and down.

She took out her phone and called David.

‘I’m on my way,’ he said.

Amy ended the call and fell to her knees by the bed, stroking Tilly’s forehead softly.

‘Tilly, wake up, sweetheart. We have to go.’

The little girl’s lashes fluttered as her eyes slowly opened.

‘Mummy, I’m tired,’ she said in a sleepy voice.

‘I know, honey. I know.’

‘Why did I have to come to Auntie Juliet’s? Why did Grandma go home?’

‘We’ll talk about it tomorrow,’ she whispered. But Tilly had already fallen asleep again.

Amy walked slowly back down the stairs, trying to steady herself with every step. Perhaps there was a rational explanation for it. Perhaps an emergency had meant that Juliet had to return home. Perhaps something had happened to Peter, she thought, suddenly feeling uncharitable. But why had she turned up at Amy and David’s house in the first place?

When she walked into the living room, Juliet still hadn’t moved from her chair.

‘Are you going to tell me what happened tonight?’ she asked finally.

‘I suppose you want an explanation about the Mode job,’ said Juliet, turning her head so that she didn’t have to meet Amy’s eyes.

‘I want to know why you took Tilly from the house. We were worried sick.’

Juliet closed the shredded photo album and put it on the floor beside her, then picked up a remote control from the arm of the chair and turned off the stereo.

‘I deserve the Mode job,’ she said when the room fell silent. ‘I was approached about it weeks ago, if you must know.’

‘Where? In Douglas’s bed?’ said Amy, unable to resist the barb, even though she knew that nothing good ever came from poking the hornets’ nest.

Juliet shot her a caustic look. ‘Did you expect me to just roll over and let you have it?’

‘I never expected anything,’ Amy said evenly. ‘I wanted it, yes, and gave it my best shot. But that wasn’t enough. Not when I seemed to be sabotaged at every turn.’ She tried to contain herself, aware that Juliet ha

d an edge of unpredictability about her.

‘Think how it feels to be me for a moment,’ said Juliet through thin red lips. ‘I made you, Amy Shepherd. You’d never have had the balls to go to London if it hadn’t been for me getting you a start at Genesis, letting you stay in my flat. And yet you didn’t even ask me if I was interested in the Mode job.’

‘I did ask,’ replied Amy.

Juliet scoffed. ‘Not in any serious way. You thought I didn’t have a chance, because how could I compete with the great Amy Shepherd.’ She paused, her eyes wide and bright for a moment. ‘Well guess what. I’m smarter than you think. Better than you know. You’re not the only one who can charm and seduce and manipulate to get what they want.’

Amy thought about Juliet and Douglas, wondering how their affair had got started. She had never seen Juliet as a femme fatale, although it was impossible to ignore the fact that there was something formidable and dazzling about her. From the moment they had met, Amy had always wanted to be as witty and sophisticated as Juliet James. She had allowed herself to be in her shadow for their entire time in the Oxford house share, following her lead, letting herself be shaped and moulded. Karen was right that she had turned away from her old life because she had been seduced by a new one. And oh, how easy it had been to be seduced.