Page 3 of Heal You (The Study You #3)

What was the point? Jan didn’t even know if she could speak the words. She was yet to inform Gillian of her day so far. “N-no. But thank you. I appreciate your concern.”

“Well, I just need to change a beer barrel and then I’ll be right back.

” Morgan regarded Jan with a gentle smile, her deep brown eyes soft and caring as they always were.

Jan understood, though. Morgan was probably used to playing therapist for the lonely souls who ended up sitting here night after night.

Jan couldn’t believe she had just become a part of that particular group, but here she was, unable to comprehend what her future looked like.

She’d had it all planned out. She’d never imagined anything different.

But here she sat, with the knowledge that her husband had been having an affair with a woman sixteen years younger than him.

She turned her phone over and looked at the screen. He’d texted her again.

Jan, please come home, love. I want to work this out with you. I made a terrible mistake.

Jan scoffed. Phil hadn’t made a terrible mistake and they both knew it.

She swallowed as she exited her message thread and instead brought up Gillian’s number. Her best friend would know what to do, and if she didn’t, they always had the option of Finn kicking Phil in the bollocks to fall back on. Jan would pay good money to see that happen.

The call connected just before it went to voicemail. “H-hello?”

That wasn’t Gillian’s voice. It was Finn’s, and she was very out of breath.

“Hi, Finn. Is Gill around at all?”

Finn cleared her throat. “She, um…she’s a bit busy at the minute, Jan. Can I ask her to call you back in a little while?”

Jan heard Gillian moaning in the background, then Finn giggling.

She couldn’t deal with this tonight. She loved Gillian and Finn more than anything in this world, but Jan wasn’t in the right headspace to make some kind of dirty comment.

She just wanted to talk this through with the very woman who had stood by her side for so long.

“I…it’s okay. I’ll call her in a few days. ”

“Sure?” Finn asked.

“Yes, I’m sure. H-have a lovely night, both of you.” Jan hung up before she heard something else she didn’t need to hear.

As she looked down at her screen, she saw a notification for a memory on one of her social media apps.

She opened the app and read the notification, tears sitting in her eyes as she stared down at the picture.

The very woman her husband had been having an affair with was pictured with Jan during a teambuilding day last year.

They’d all gone out for lunch and drinks, and Anais had spent most of the afternoon sitting with Jan.

To know that Phil had been sleeping with this woman, it sent a shiver up Jan’s spine.

She shook her head and locked her phone, looking up from it to find Morgan watching her from the other end of the bar.

Jan smiled, then lowered her gaze to her fresh glass of wine.

Maybe she should just buy a bottle and get a hotel room for the night.

She sure as hell wouldn’t be going back to her marital home.

Not in a rush, anyway. The thought of seeing Phil’s face right now had anger flaring in the pit of Jan’s stomach. Going home was not a good idea.

“Hey, Morgan?” Jan called her over, quickly brushing a tear away that had escaped down her cheek. When Morgan stopped in front of Jan, she sniffled. “Can you recommend a good hotel nearby?”

Morgan ran a hand through her light brown hair, her tongue poking out and playing with her lip ring. “The guesthouse two blocks down is decent. It’s not five-star, but it’s clean and safe. I believe they do a very good breakfast, too.”

A very good breakfast , Jan thought. She wasn’t sure she would be able to stomach a coffee in the morning, let alone a breakfast. “Do you know the name of it so I can call and see if they have a room available?”

“Tell me to mind my own business, but you don’t even have any belongings with you. Is…everything okay, Jan?”

“Define okay…”

Morgan cocked her head and stared back at Jan with those pretty eyes. “I’m locking up in thirty. Hang back and we’ll have a chat, okay?”

It meant a lot that Morgan was willing to do that for her. They knew one another, Jan had spent enough time in here now to say that, but she still hadn’t expected the offer. “You don’t have to do that, but thank you.”

“Trust me, I could do with a chat, too. I find it hard to wind down as soon as I lock up, so I’d appreciate the company.”

“Okay. That would be nice.” Jan ran a fingertip up the stem of her wine glass, unable to gaze into Morgan’s eyes any longer.

She hadn’t noticed it before today, but they were strikingly beautiful.

Almost mesmerising. “Could I buy a bottle of wine to take to wherever I’m going before you cash up for the night? ”

“Any drinks once I lock up will be on the house. If you still want that bottle once we’ve had a chat, then it’s on me.” Morgan winked and walked away, clearing up behind the bar while people finished their drinks.

Jan relaxed into her seat, ignoring her phone as another message from Phil flashed on the screen.

She turned it over again, screen faced down, and sighed.

If she could just get through the next twenty-four hours, she would kick herself up the arse and prepare for a life she had never imagined. A life…without Phil Bartlett.