‘I was devastated at the time, but I think I’m much better for it. He was a proper narcissist now I come to think about it.’
Jack smiled. ‘It’s fun getting to know you again, Ava. It’s been tough for me recently, and you’ve made me laugh so much this week, reminiscing. But I’m guessing we both have excess baggage.’ There was a long pause. ‘My wife had an affair, too.’
Ava bit her bottom lip. ‘I’m so sorry.’
Another long pause, and it was beginning to feel awkward until Jack spoke again.
‘Katrina, that’s my ex, was sleeping with Dan. She was taking Graham for a walk as a precursor for meeting him. The fact that if they hadn’t arranged to meet, the accident wouldn’t have happened, never leaves me. The weather had been atrocious, and yet they needed to see each other.’ Jack ran a hand over his face. ‘She left me on the day of the funeral. She told me she couldn’t bear to be with me because I reminded her of what she’d lost.’
Ava balked. She couldn’t help it. How could anyone be so cruel?
‘I’m sorry,’ she said quietly. ‘That must have been hell to go through.’
‘It was, but like you, I’m out the other side now.’ His eyes settled on hers again. ‘I haven’t told many people about that, and I’d prefer it if you kept it to yourself. It would devastate the kids more than anything.’
‘Gotcha.’ Ava hoped her tone was reassuring because she wouldn’t break a confidence. But his wife and his brother, what a cliché. And oh-so painful, especially in a place as small as Sapphire Lake, where everyone could have found out.
She looked at him, unsure why anyone would want to hurt him so much.
Graham got up and rested his head in Jack’s lap.
‘Seems like someone is ready to go.’ Jack reached for his coat. ‘Best be on our way or we’ll end up staying here all afternoon.’
‘And I have a train to catch soon.’ Ava pulled on her coat.
‘Can I give you a lift to the station?’
‘Thanks, that would be great.’
Walking quietly back, they were both deep in thought, but the silence was companionable. Ava couldn’t believe how cruel Jack’s ex-wife had been, nor how he would have got over anything like that. At least she’d found him on the other side. And single, that was a bonus.
Ava laughed to herself then. She doubted Jack would be feeling as giddy as she was now, just like when she was a teenager. And, although they’d shared a few delicious kisses, Jack was the first one to steal her heart with them, so she might have treasured that moment whoever it was with.
Suddenly she twisted her ankle on the path. Jack reached for her to stop her from falling. She grasped his hand.
‘Are you okay?’
‘Yes, thanks. Just lost my footing, again.’
‘Nothing to do with me this time.’
Still, he kept hold of her hand a little longer than was necessary.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Eliza was bushed. She’d had Monday off, and was working most of the weekend, and yet it already felt as if she hadn’t had a break the previous one. Still, she had the memories. She’d gone to stay with friends in York, and even though the weather had been wet, she’d had a great time.
She and Maisie had met at the college creche, she too having a baby shortly after leaving school, and they’d kept in touch ever since. Maisie was married now, to Darius. Her eldest, Clint, was an apprentice mechanic and she had two younger children too. Maisie and Darius had been childhood sweethearts, and Eliza had often wondered if they would stay the course. But they seemed devoted to each other, and it was so lovely to see. It also made her feel lonely, reminding her of what she was missing.
Eliza had struggled when she’d first found herself pregnant. At sixteen, her whole life changed, and not in the way she’d planned. She’d hoped to go to university and move out of the village, despite her parents wanting her to take a job in the business.
But although she pretended the father was someone who’d come for a week’s holiday, it wasn’t true. She’d only slept with one man, and he’d left before she could tell him.
Would things have worked out differently for her if he’d stuck around? Would she still have been with him, got married and had more kids together, like Maisie and Darius? Who knew, but it wasn’t to be. Instead, she’d gone to college while her parents helped out with Willow when she wasn’t in the creche, completed courses in hospitality and management, and kept her feet firmly in Somerley.
Her parents had been amazing after the initial shock had worn off. They’d created a suite for her downstairs in the hotel by adding a doorway through to a large unused storeroom and laid it out with a further bedroom, shower room, and living area with a small kitchen at one end. She was back there again now. But it hadn’t always been that way.
Eliza had met James when Willow was four years old. He hadn’t been fazed by her having a child and loved to spend time at the hotel with her family. When he proposed, Eliza didn’t know who was more pleased, her or her mum.
