by Sue Fortin
‘Yeah. They found no evidence of her failing to perform her duties diligently.’ Harry blew out a breath. ‘I’m still getting my head round that one. I still don’t really know what to believe.’
‘She was told not to dig too deep,’ said Steph, feeling she wanted to defend her mother and yet knowing Wendy had done wrong. ‘But you know why and it won’t do any good going over that again. I am sorry.’
‘You don’t have to be sorry. You’ve done nothing wrong. All you’ve done is give Sonia Lomas some sense of closure. It may not be exactly what she was hoping for, but I think she’s taken some sort of comfort from Mum’s death.’ He said the words with no malice as he looked around the room.
‘I’m just here packing up the last of Mum’s things,’ explained Steph. ‘She didn’t want to stay around to do it herself.’
‘You weren’t tempted to move with her, then?’
‘It’s early days between us,’ admitted Steph. ‘There’s a long way to go before I think we’re at that stage. There’s a lot of damage to repair, now the honeymoon period of our relationship is over.’
Harry nodded. ‘I’m glad you’ve found each other finally. You hold on to that, Steph, because it can be taken away from you when you least expect it. Don’t be too hard on her. No one is perfect.’
She could see the pain in his eyes. ‘You don’t have to feel guilty about anything.’
Harry shrugged. ‘So, what are you going to do with yourself now?’
‘Go back to Brighton, I expect. I don’t want to stay around here; it has too many sad memories.’ She was surprised when her voice caught in her throat.
‘Whatever your dad was, whatever he did, from what you’ve told me, there was never any doubt he loved you,’ said Harry. ‘Don’t let anything taint your memory of him.’
Steph went to speak but found the lump in her throat too big to swallow. She nodded instead, which dislodged the unexpected tears from her eyes. Harry thumbed away the tears and let out a sigh. ‘Don’t cry.’
Steph wrenched in the emotion. ‘I’m being silly and you’re being so kind.’
‘I haven’t finished being kind yet,’ said Harry. ‘I wanted to thank you.’
‘For what?’
‘For not going to the papers with your story.’
‘I didn’t want to do that to you. I didn’t want to exploit your pain for my gain.’
‘You could have been offered that dream job at a big national.’
Steph shrugged. ‘Turns out I don’t really want that anyway. I’m going to focus on my photography. That’s what makes me happy.’
‘Sometimes it takes more than things to make someone happy.’
‘True. You never answered my question,’ said Steph, looking up at him. ‘What are you going to do now?’
‘I’m going back to France,’ he said, and then somewhat unexpectedly, ‘Come with me?’
It was said so simply, as if he were asking her if she wanted to go for a walk or a drink at the pub. She looked at him as a seismic swirl of emotions sped through her – amazement, temptation, realisation and finally disappointment. ‘I can’t. How can I? How can we even contemplate it when our lives are so intricately entwined for all the wrong reasons?’
‘I don’t know,’ he replied. ‘In my world, it would be just you and me.’
‘But in the real world … God, I want to say yes but I … I don’t know, Harry.’
‘You don’t have to commit. You could just try it. See how you like it.’ He gave a smile. ‘There are some pretty cool places in France to photograph.’
‘Oh, God, why can’t this be in another six months’ time? I’ve still got things to sort out. There’s my mum – I can’t just leave her, not now when we’re trying to patch things up.’
‘France isn’t the other side of the world. You can jump on a plane and be in Devon in three or four hours.’ He let out a long breath. ‘Six months, you say? OK, I can wait.’
‘I just need a little more time.’
‘Like I said, I can wait.’ Harry dipped his head and kissed her very lightly on the mouth. It was brief but said so much. Once again, he wiped her tears with his thumbs as he cupped her face. ‘Take care of yourself, Steph.’
‘You too.’
‘Oh, before I forget.’ Harry took an envelope from his pocket. ‘Sonia sent this to Conmere. She asked if I could pass it on, said she didn’t have your address.’
Steph took the envelope, unable to look at Harry for fear of crying. He left without another word, leaving her alone in the middle of an empty room, bar a few packing boxes. Her heart felt as empty as the space she was standing in.
She opened the letter.
Dearest Steph
Now that everything has settled down, I wanted to take the opportunity to write to you. I know I could phone or email, but to someone my age it would seem inadequate and would dilute what I want to say, so forgive me for being old-fashioned with this letter but do know it comes from my heart.
I cannot begin to thank you for all you have done for me and Elizabeth. For all the things Elizabeth was or wasn’t, she was always and will always be my daughter and I can rest easy knowing I shall never have to fight for justice again. You showed a faith in me that no single other person did. You believed me and were willing to take a chance, and for that I shall be ever grateful.
Now it is your turn to find what you are looking for. I know you never talked about it, but I always had a sense you were looking for something that was missing in your life. In my experience, the only things that we truly want are to be loved and to love, but to do that we must first forgive. Don’t be harsh on yourself or on others.
Go out there and grab life with both hands. As they say, life is for the living.
Fondest regards
Sonia
X
Ria appeared in the doorway. She gave Steph an appraising look. ‘So?’
‘So?’ repeated Steph.
‘So, what are you waiting for?’ She glanced out of the window. ‘He’s just about to get in his car. If you run, you can catch him. I’m sure he won’t mind postponing his flight for a few more days while you sort the rest of your mum’s things out.’
‘You know?’
‘Sure. He just told me.’ Ria held out her hands in exasperation. ‘Go on! Go!’
Steph looked at Sonia’s letter and then back at her friend. She could feel a broad grin spread across her face. She hugged Ria. ‘I bloody love you.’
‘You’re saying it to the wrong person,’ said Ria. ‘Now go!’
Steph ran out of the house and almost flew down the path. She could hear a car engine start. She was out on the pavement. ‘Harry!’ she yelled, waving her arms wildly, as his car pulled away from the kerb. ‘Shit! Harry!’ The car moved on down the road. Steph raced out onto the road, watching as the BMW continued away from her.
Then, just as it reached the junction, it stopped. The white reversing lights came on as it retraced its journey, stopping within a few feet of her.
Harry stepped out from the car and looked expectantly at her.
Steph suddenly felt nervous. She took a deep breath. ‘Could you condense those six months into six days?’
Harry walked over to her. ‘It would be my pleasure.’ He enveloped her in his arms as he kissed her.
The letter crumpled as Steph returned the embrace. Life definitely was for the living.
Acknowledgements
Whilst Conmere, Conmere Lake, Con Point Hills and Kendalton are all figments of my imagination, I can only thank the Lake District and its beauty for providing me with the inspiration. I’d thoroughly recommend the Lakes as a holiday destination if you love getting out and about in the countryside. For those of you who are familiar with the area, it’s probably not too difficult to work out roughly where I imagined Conmere Resort Centre to be.
As always, huge thanks to the wonderful HarperCollins team who make my dreams possible – especially to Charlotte Ledger for her
immeasurable support and advice throughout my writing career. I would also like to thank my two editors, Emily and Laura, who have worked so hard on my manuscript and pushed me to make it the best book I can.
A shout-out to the NaNoWriMo gang of 2018 who with their support and unflinching encouragement made it possible to write such a huge chunk of the book in one month. Also, to the Strictly Suspense writing group who are always at the other end of the computer for cheer-leading and shoulder-crying.
I’m extremely lucky to have wonderful writing pals and I really appreciate the friendship I’ve found in the writing community. In particular, I would like to say a big thank you to fellow writer, Nicky Wells who read an early draft of The Dead Wife and, as always, gave me her honest and invaluable feedback. To Laura E. James and Catherine Miller for helping me thrash out plot issues while we were on our writing retreat in France and then later over our frequent writerly chats. Thanks also to Facebook friends and Twitter mates who often come to the rescue with answers to my research questions.
Last but by no means least – a heartfelt thank you to anyone who has read any of my books, shared their enthusiasm for my stories in real life and/or via social media, for the wonderful reviews and messages I have received and for all the super supportive book bloggers out there. It really does mean so much. You’re all amazing!
About the Author
Sue Fortin is the USA Today and #1 Kindle bestselling author of The Girl Who Lied and Sister Sister. She has sold over half a million copies of her books worldwide.
Sue was born in Hertfordshire but had a nomadic childhood, moving often with her family, before eventually settling in West Sussex. She is married with four children, all of whom patiently give her the time to write but, when not behind the keyboard, she likes to spend time with them, enjoying both the coast and the South Downs between which they are nestled. She is a member of the Crime Writers’ Association.
@suefortin1
www.facebook.com/suefortinauthor
www.suefortin.com
Also by Sue Fortin
United States of Love
Closing In
The Half Truth
The Girl Who Lied
Sister Sister
The Birthday Girl
Schoolgirl Missing
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