Nancy didn’t speak. She waited.
Julia twisted the stem of her wine glass between her fingers. ‘He’s seeing someone. I don’t know who, but I feel it. He’s careful, of course. Always has an excuse. A meeting. A phone call. But I know him, Nancy. I know the signs.’
‘You definitely think he’s having an affair? And it’s not the first?’
Julia nodded. ‘One of many. But it’s not just that. There’s something more. Something… off. It’s like he thinks he’s got some special power over the girls. As though he’s so perfect in their eyes that he can do no wrong and I’m the enemy.’
Nancy’s mouth went dry. ‘What do you mean?’
Julia looked away. ‘Dee dotes on him. He’s like her bloody teen idol and I keep thinking I’ll go into her room one day and there’ll be a life-size poster of the pillock on her bedroom wall.’
‘And what about Molly?’ Nancy said. ‘She couldn’t stand him at one time and I know she’s okay with him now, but surely she’s not as gullible as Dee?’
‘No, she’s definitely not. I think Molly knows what side her bread’s buttered so makes the most of having a willing chauffeur and someone who will top up her allowance when she runs out. But it’s like he has a secret. One that’s nothing to do with… you know.’ Julia whispered, her eyes darting towards the door, checking they weren’t overheard. Their secret, the thing only they knew about, that was never ever spoken out loud.
The silence stretched. Nancy set down her glass and leaned in. ‘You have to find out what he’s up to and who this woman is. Then we’ll have something solid on him.’
Julia shook her head. ‘I can’t confront him because he’ll just threaten me with…’
Nancy nodded, understanding exactly what Julia meant.
‘He’s clever, in a sly, slimy way. Always one step ahead. But I’ve started gathering things. Financials. Emails. Copying everything to a private folder. And I followed him once and saw him going into a flat over a pub. I have a photo, too. There are rumours at work about him. I overheard a whispered conversation in the toilets but I haven’t had the guts to confront anyone, not yet.’
‘Have you told anyone else?’
‘Only you. And… my online therapist. I had to talk to someone, Nancy, but of course I haven’t told her all of it, just how he makes me feel really.’
‘Oh, love, I didn’t know but if it helps, the therapy, that’s a good thing not a negative.’ Nancy reached across the table and took her sister’s hand, relishing the touch of skin that felt familiar. ‘And now you’ve got me. You know I’ll do whatever you need. Let me help. Put my training and experience to good use.’
Julia squeezed Nancy’s fingers. ‘You don’t know how much I wanted you to say that and I wish I’d told you before now. I can’t tell you how many times I picked up the phone to talk to you then chickened out because I felt so…’
‘Ashamed, stupid, cornered, diminished… I could go on.’ Nancy could feel tears pricking her eyes; the ones in her sisters had already started to fall.
‘Yes, all of those and more,’ Julia replied.
‘Well don’t. Don’t you dare let him make you feel that way because you are none of those things, okay? I cannot tell you how many women I’ve acted for were made to feel just like that and it trapped them in a world of misery and I will not let that happen to you. Not for one day, one hour or minute longer. We’ll do this together and wewillwin.’
Julia nodded and managed a smile as she swiped away her tears then said, ‘There is something, though, that’s moreimportant than Shane and money and the company. If anything happens to me, if something goes wrong, I want you to tell Molly. Everything. About the truth. About her.’
‘Julia, don’t talk like that.’
‘Just promise me. If I can’t… you will. She deserves to know and I’d rather she heard it from you…’ Julia began to sob in earnest then, the sound of it broke Nancy’s heart and brought back scenes from the past she’d tried to erase.
Pushing them deep into the back of her mind once again, Nancy sucked in air and nodded, a sick feeling swirling in her stomach. ‘I promise.’
They sat like that for a long time, hands clasped, the wine forgotten. Outside, the breeze picked up. The garden rustled like it was listening to a private conversation, one that bound two sisters in a pledge that had never been broken. And never would be.
Chapter Twenty
Molly was jolted awake by the shrill buzz of her phone vibrating against the polished wood of the nightstand. She blinked, disoriented, the room swimming in a grey half-light. For a moment, she couldn’t remember where she was. Then her eyes adjusted and the hotel room came into focus. Floor-to-ceiling windows draped in pale curtains, cheap underwear on the floor by the bed, a scattering of designer shopping bags near the dresser, and beside her, the shape of Shane, deeply asleep, sheets tangled around his naked body.
The phone stopped vibrating.
She exhaled, sinking back into the mattress, her limbs heavy with the ache of exhaustion. The night had been a blur of heat and whispered words, of tangled limbs and breathless laughter when she’d paraded in tacky lingerie he’d loved even more than she’d expected. They had talked for hours after, the way lovers do when the end is near. He had touched her hair like it was fragile and fascinating, said things she would remember always. It was all coming into focus now. The heat. The words. The way he’d held her.
The phone lit up again.
She frowned and reached for it. A number she didn’t recognise. Her heart quickened as she answered. ‘Hello?’
