There was a strange look on Cassia’s face. ‘Hi! I just had to come up and say something.’
‘Yes, yes, fancy bumping into you again.’
‘Ha. Not about that!’
‘Sorry. What?’
‘You’re with the Henry-Hicks family, that's right, isn’t it?’
Cally’s jaw tightened. What was Cassia going to say? Cally nodded, trying to keep her expression neutral even as her heart raced in her chest. She tried to make her voice sound breezy. ‘I am, yes.’
‘I saw you from the stand. Your hat caught my eye. Have you dried out now?’
Cally wanted to bolt. ‘Ahh, yes. That was some downpour earlier. It did brighten up in the end, though. I made good use ofthe drier in the loo, too. Amazing what those super-duper news ones can do.’
Cassia smiled warmly, but her face was different from before, with something Cally couldn't quite put her finger on. Cassia's smile widened, and she leaned in slightly. Her voice dropped to a whisper. 'I couldn't help but notice you with Alastair earlier. Are you two...?' She let the question hang in the air, her eyebrows raised suggestively.
Cally blinked, momentarily thrown by the assumption. Alastair? Logan's cousin? She almost laughed at the absurdity of it. She wouldn’t touch Alastair with a barge pole. Or any kind of pole whatsoever. Nor a log. Cassia didn't know who Cally was and didn't realise that she was actually there with Logan, her ex-husband. For a moment, Cally considered correcting Cassia and setting the record straight. But something held her back, a sense of self-preservation mixed with a morbid curiosity about what Cassia might say next about Alastair. She simply shrugged, her voice carefully nonchalant, ‘Oh, Alastair and I are just friends. We were just chatting earlier, that's all.’
Cassia nodded. There was a strange, knowing look in her eyes. 'Not if he invited you to the Henry-Hicks private area. He’ll be after something. Well, be careful with that one, darling. Alastair is a bit of a playboy, if you know what I mean. They all are. Never settled down any of them. Use and abuse is the Henry-Hicks motto, and many of us have unfortunately been on the end of it one way or another.'
Cally felt her stomach clench. 'What do you mean?' she asked, trying to keep her voice steady.
Cassia sighed, glancing around as if to make sure no one was listening before leaning in even closer. 'All the Henry-Hicks men are the same, really. They're known for using women, for having lots of different girlfriends at once. Logan, Alastair, even the old boy Reg… and when they're done with you, they drop you like atonne of bricks or, you know, just pay you off to keep quiet and make you go away. Seen it time and time again over the years.' Cassia gestured with her hand in the direction of the space outside the marquee. ‘All of us know what they are like.’
Cally felt as if she’d been punched in the gut. She stared at Cassia, her mind reeling as she tried to process what she’d just heard. Using women and then paying them off to disappear? Was this another thing she didn’t know about? Clearly, it was. For some unknown reason, Cally felt as if there was more to Cassia's words than just idle gossip. At the end of the day, Cassia was Logan's ex-wife, the woman who had been married to him. If anyone knew about the Henry-Hicks clan, it would be her.
Cally’s mouth suddenly felt as dry as sandpaper. 'I had no idea,' she managed to croak.
Cassia reached out to pat Cally's arm. Her face looked sympathetic. 'I'm sorry, darling. I didn't mean to upset you. I just thought you should know before you get too involved withanyof them. Seeing as I’ve never seen you before and all that. They’re obviously having to cast their net a bit wider these days. I’m not surprised with the amount of women that lot have been through…'
Cally nodded, her head spinning as she tried to reconcile the new information with the Logan she thought she knew. The hot air balloon, the show, all the picnics, the nice things. Had it all been a lie? A façade before he got bored and moved on to his next conquest? The thought made her feel sick to her stomach, made her want to run and hide and never look back.
She took a deep breath and flicked the switch. ‘Right, yes.’
‘I had to let you know.’ Cassia wrinkled her nose. ‘Just be wary. You can never be too careful in life, right? Us girls have to stick together, too.’
Cally heard herself speaking before she’d thought about it. ‘I’m actually here with Logan, not Alastair. I err. I guess I’ll talk to him before I make any judgements.'
Cassia's eyebrows shot up in surprise. 'Logan? You're here with Logan? Oh my! Right, I see.'
Cally nodded, her heart pounding in her chest. ‘Yes, I am.’
Cassia stared at her for a long moment, her expression unreadable. Then she let out a strange, rueful chuckle. ‘Well, well, well, Logan Henry-Hicks, with a girl likeyou.’ Cassia shook her head and made a strange upside-down grimacing shape with her lips. ‘I never thought I'd see the day.’
Cally wasn’t sure what to say. She narrowed her eyes. ‘Sorry?’
‘Pah! How is it? With him?’
‘Good.’
'Good? Well, I hope you're right, darling. For your sake, I truly do. But just be careful. Keep your eyes open and your heart guarded, at least until you're sure you can trust him completely. Which you can’t…'
Cally felt irritated by this beautiful woman. She wasn’t going to say thanks. ‘Sorry, I must go. Just on my way to the loo.’
Cassia smiled. ‘Lovely to meet you, Cally. Truly.'
Cally nodded. She wasn’t sure if it had been lovely from her side of the fence. ‘Hmm.’
