Page 64 of Wife After Wife

“He’s talking about a golf course. Says Kindrummon could be another Gleneagles.”

Ana was silent. Had Harry been misleading her when he’d said Merry wasn’t in his future plans?

“I wish he was here,” said Merry. “How long do you think a widow—goodness, that sounds grim... how long should a widow wait before being seen out and about with a new man?”

“If he’s married, never.”

“Oh, not this again. He’ll be separated soon.”

“Did he tell you that?”

“It’s only a matter of time.”

Ana pulled ahead, increasing her stride. “Today probably isn’t the day for this conversation,” she called over her shoulder. “Let’s have a little respect for Will.”

“You started it.”

“Sorry.” She stopped, waiting for Merry to catch up again. “Everything was lovely, by the way. Well done on the arrangements.”

“I didn’t do much. The hardest part was finding something to wear. I don’t normally do black. Maybe I should, though. Looks good with the lighter hair, don’t you think?”

Ana said nothing. People were often surprised to find out they were sisters, “one so fair, one so dark.” Sometimes she wondered herself. Was it really possible they shared the same genes?

•••

The next morning, Ana avoided the other guests catching the London train. All she wanted to do was stare out the window, thinking. She had an important decision to make.

Percy was taking the Dublin job. It seemed he didn’t have a choice,if he wanted to stay with the firm. He was convinced she’d go with him and was full of his new role. He couldn’t say “MD of BWG Dublin” often enough. Megan had started rolling her eyes.

Then there was Charles and his “follow your heart” speech.

She’d tried to picture herself living in Dublin, but it couldn’t match up to the image she’d carried with her this past year, of the two of them buying a place in a leafy London suburb, enjoying weekends away in the countryside. The English countryside.

And then there was her own career. Since the successful redesign ofHooray!, which had won two industry awards, she’d been consulted on other Rose projects, and after all this time as “Harry’s protégée” had finally proved her worth and was able to let her work speak for itself. She was Rose Corp.’s top designer.

Mia Fox wasn’t, after all, the nightmare boss Terri had predicted, perhaps because she was wary of being reported back to Harry. Terri had been on the nail when she saidHooray!and Harry were Mia’s life. She was single and seemed to have no interests outside of work. So far she’d been polite and complimentary, if not exactly warm, friendly, and let’s-do-lunchy.

So, career-wise, Ana was in the best place possible.

If she didn’t go to Dublin, could she and Percy still make it work? Or would she end up being a Mia, or a Terri? Tough, career-driven women, with no life outside of the office?

Percy, or work? Or both? Surely if she truly loved him, the decision shouldn’t be this hard.

Harry

June 1993

Harry was walking the short distance to Hampton Court station, on his way to catch the seven twenty-five into Waterloo. Already the day was warm; it looked like his thirtieth birthday was going to be a scorcher.

Katie had still been asleep when he left. She’d almost kicked the antidepressants and sleeping pills, but it still took her a while to get out of bed in the mornings.

He bought a copy of theTimesand stood in his usual spot on the northbound platform. Dotted around were other commuters, the men in similar suits to his own (cheaper versions, obviously), reading the same newspapers they read every day. Many faces were familiar—they were the same people he saw each time he caught the seven twenty-five. The only difference today was that most had taken the risk of going umbrella-free.

He had a sudden memory of driving to work from the Fulham house in his red TVR, top down, music blaring. Now look at him, like Mr. Banks fromMary Poppins. All that was missing was the bowler hat.

He was thirty.

The train clattered into the station and he made his way to his usual seat, then read the same paragraph on the front page of the newspaper three times before registering he was taking none of it in. He lowered the paper and stared out the window.