Page 64 of My Husband’s Wife

Eva

One year after Hugo’s death

The sea is a little choppy, it’s breezy, but the sun is out.

It’s taken a lot out of me to get this far but I’m finally ready to move on, and I want to move on with Madison and Nicole, my two best friends.

Our children are happy together. Emily is a beautiful toddler now.

Caiden and Aaron adore her and they all know that they’re half siblings.

They took it well. It’s amazing how children get on with things.

Aaron and Emily are the reasons I won’t leave Combe Martin.

I want to stay for the children, so that they can all grow up together, which is why I’ve bought a small terraced house in Ilfracombe and decided to stay working at the Sea Horse Hotel.

I keep in touch with Zach and we spend a lot of time talking on the phone and neither of us has initiated a divorce as yet.

Maybe we might get close again – one day – who knows?

I still can’t get over how he deceived me, though knowing about the pain he was in does help a little.

Cynthia has started to visit Caiden and I really like her.

She’s not his blood grandmother but she’s amazing with him.

I’m happy that she no longer has to live in fear of what Hugo might do to her.

Madison has set up a marshmallow toast on the beach.

Apparently, it’s what her family do on any occasion, and I think it’s lovely.

We all have a skewer and she’s trying hard to get the small barbeque to light, but given the windy weather, I admire that she’s even trying.

Sea spray catches my cheeks and it takes me back to the night I was standing here looking into the sea for Hugo.

Despite how bad he was, I hope he died fast and it wasn’t painful.

I’ve spent many nights since then trying to imagine what it would feel like to drown and it’s what nightmares are made of. I shiver at the thought.

‘I give up,’ Madison says. ‘I think we’ll just eat them as they are. Who needs to toast?’

I’m proud of her. We spoke a lot in the weeks after Hugo’s death.

Since Emily’s birth, she’d struggled to eat and her family had been worried, but after the truth came out, she’s been happier and has put on weight.

As a big family, we all eat out together regularly so things are looking up.

She’s even hoping to move her salon to larger premises with a spa.

I know she’ll do well, and Nicole and I will be there to cheer her on.

Nicole sits on a rock, hugging Aaron. I admire how she’s turned her life around.

I look after Aaron while she attends regular AA meetings.

She’s been throwing herself into her gardening business and even has a contract with the Sea Horse, where I still work.

She comes over to me and smiles. ‘Well, one year has passed. It’s weird thinking we’re here.

I don’t know if I’m meant to feel sad or happy. ’

I shrug as I watch a boat bobbing around in the distance.

‘I feel more at peace than ever.’ I don’t want to go into the details but knowing that Hugo was instrumental in me thinking I’d lost my mind, and that it was the same for Madison too, I can’t help but feel relieved that Hugo is gone.

I’m here to celebrate but I won’t shout about it.

‘I guess I do too. I’m happy,’ Nicole says.

‘Me too.’ Madison holds Emily in one arm and puts her other arm around me. ‘Without Hugo, we wouldn’t have each other. We nearly all died but hey-ho. Things worked out well in the end.’ She holds her marshmallow stick up. ‘Let’s toast – without the toast bit – to friendship and family.’

‘Friendship and family,’ Nicole repeats.

I throw my arms around them. Caiden and Aaron join us.

All one big happy, unconventional family.

‘Friendship and family,’ I say as I look over Nicole’s head at the exact spot where I thought Hugo was going to drive me over the cliff’s edge.

That’s when I catch sight of a man wearing an anorak and a beanie hat.

A chill runs through me as his eyes meet mine.

I’m not close enough to see his features but I know it’s Hugo.

I release the others and step back to look again, but he’s gone, and I wonder, was it really him?

* * *

If you were hooked by My Husband’s Wife , then check out The Next Girl for another addictive crime thriller by Carla Kovach.

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