Page 184 of Original Sin

A deep furrow appeared between Susie’s brows. ‘Really?’ she said, her eyes flickering to the table.

‘Yes, really.’

There was a long, clumsy silence.

‘Tell me, Susie. Did he hit you?’

Brooke could see that Susie was clasping her cup so hard, her fingers were trembling. ‘It was just a couple of times.’

Brooke felt her skin turn hot, then cold.

‘The first time it happened I thought it was my fault,’ said Susie softly. ‘It was the night of the dinner party and he was pretty drunk. Everyone had gone home and I was a little upset about the way I saw Matt behave when he was around you – stupid, isn’t it?’ she said, trying to laugh. ‘ I said a few things I shouldn’t and he hit me. Not hard – I wasn’t hurt, just shocked. I even blamed myself for annoying him and accusing him of being in love with you.’

Her pale cheeks flushed. ‘I tried to forget about it, but it kept bothering me, so a week or so later I told a friend of mine who’s a therapist in the healing centre where I work. She said it was a pattern and that if Matt hit me once it would happen again.’

Susie was shaking her head. ‘I didn’t want to believe it. You imagine men who hit women are monsters, don’t you? But Matt is a great guy in so many ways and, I know this sounds silly … but I really thought I could marry him. So I had to know if it was true.’

Susie trailed off, carefully placing her cup back on its saucer.

‘So I went to see his wife’s sister,’ she said, her voice sounding almost apologetic. ‘I went snooping around Matt’s apartment and found her contact details in an address book. Well, when I turned up at her doorstep and told her I was Matt’s girlfriend, she knew why I had come. She said Katie, his wife, was about to divorce him just before she died.’

Finally she looked up at Brooke. ‘And that’s why you’re here, isn’t it?’ she asked. ‘You had to know too, didn’t you?’

Brooke looked into Susie’s eyes and she saw trust, solidarity, sadness. She nodded, anger and disappointment making her body feeling hollow.

‘He hit me again when I told him I knew about Katie.’

‘

I’m sorry,’ said Brooke desperately, putting her hand over Susie’s.

‘People come into our lives and disappoint us, but at least we both found out in time,’ said Susie quietly. ‘And at least you didn’t make a mistake. Your David looks like one of the good guys.’

‘I know,’ whispered Brooke sadly. ‘I know.’

Leaving the diner, Brooke walked across to Prospect Park and sat down. No one noticed New York’s most famous woman, her hood pulled tight around her head, her eyes fixed in front of her, staring at the tall, bare trees. The bench was cold beneath her coat and snowflakes had begun to fall from the sky. She watched them drift down from the grey sky, so tiny, so perfectly formed, each one dissolving on the wet path as they landed. Her stomach knotted with anger and disappointment. She felt empty, sad, foolish, betrayed, and so very, very sorry.

Finally Brooke pulled out her phone and called Tess Garrett.

‘Don’t panic,’ she said with as much certainty as she could muster. ‘The wedding’s going ahead.’

CHAPTER SIXTY–FOUR

‘Who wants Irish coffee?’ asked Kevin.

Tess flopped back on his bright yellow sofa and rubbed her stomach.

‘I don’t think another thing is going to fit in there,’ she said. ‘I think that was the biggest Christmas dinner I have ever eaten.’

‘I’ll have some!’ said Jack eagerly.

‘I don’t think so,’ smiled Patty, pouring cream into long glass mugs and handing it to Kevin. Tess saw him smile and wrap a hand round Patty’s slim waist. They had been discreet with their shows of affection all day, but they obviously couldn’t keep their hands off each other.

‘Ah, young love,’ sighed Jack rolling his eyes dramatically. ‘Come on, Tess, let’s leave them to it. I’ve got something to show you.’

Groaning at her bloated tummy, she stood up. It was time she was going anyway; it had been so kind of Patty to invite her, especially when she was clearly looking forward to a quiet intimate Christmas with her new boyfriend, but she didn’t want to outstay her welcome. She followed Jack into his room where he presented her with a box gift–wrapped in brightly coloured paper and ribbon.

‘Ooh, what’s this?’ she said, eagerly tearing it open. Inside were half a dozen DVDs.