‘Connie, say it again, I’m struggling to hear you,’ she said into the device a second time, pressing it hard against one ear to make it easier.
But what Connie said next brought her whole world crashing down around her.
She finished the call. She made her way back to the table, stumbling into a waitress carrying a plate of eggs, toast, hash browns. Food splattered to the floor, the plate cracked as it hit.
Everything smashed to pieces.
Chapter Sixteen
Amelia
‘Amazing, isn’t it?’ Paul wrapped his arms around her from behind as they stood at the window of his penthouse suite in Times Square looking out over the entire city. Manhattan, spread out before them, full of opportunity, full of promise.
‘It’s wonderful.’ But then she already knew that. She’d come here without him and in doing so had found the missing piece of herself that she hadn’t known when she was with him. She had a confidence, something she lacked when they were together. And it was that confidence that told her all she needed to know.
He turned her to face him. ‘Amelia, what’s going on? I thought you’d be impressed.’
Here she was dressed up in a midnight-blue woollen dress she’d bagged from Cleo’s stall for Christmas day, with polished leather boots she’d brought with her on holiday but hadn’t worn nearly as much as the comfy thick-soled boots she favoured on slippery footpaths. The view was indeed like something out of the movies, but right now she’d rather be back at the apartment with the peeling paint on the ceiling, its thin windows, street noises and Kyle mooching around. Up here in the quiet with New York muted down below them felt wrong.
‘It’s my sister.’ She leaned her head on his chest for comfort. ‘She’s sick. She’s got cancer.’
‘Oh, Amelia, I’m so sorry.’ He pulled her in tight, reiterating his sympathies.
She felt safe, protected from hurt even though she had all that to come. They all did. Connie had wanted to wait until they came home after Christmas, she hadn’t wanted to spoil the holiday by sharing her news, but as she’d found a buyer for the house and things had moved unusually quickly, she’d had to make the call. Because she’d be up in Amelia’s neck of the woods by the time they returned to England.
Amelia told Paul everything. He poured them each a large glass of wine as he listened, he cancelled the dinner reservation and said they’d order room service if they needed. He was there at her side in a way that surprised her as she told him about the shock of the phone call, her worries about her sister, who had undergone one round of chemo already with another looming soon. For someone who never let her rant about her family, he was here for her.
‘Those times I thought she was hungover,’ said Amelia. ‘She wasn’t, she must’ve been suffering, couldn’t tell me. What sort of a person am I that my own sister can’t confide something so important?’
‘For once, I think she did the right thing. Look at what you do for her, Amelia.’ He pulled her down next to him on the sofa. ‘Your head must be all over the place.’
She let herself close her eyes. For the first time since that phone call her body relaxed.
‘Does Kyle know?’
‘I haven’t told him yet. Connie would rather I waited until the end of the holiday.’
‘You can’t keep it from him.’
‘She wants him to have a good time here. They’ve been talking more lately, she wants to have time away with him when we’re home. He has a girlfriend, he’s looking to the future more than he ever has before. And now…’ Her voice wobbled and she bit down on her lip to steady herself and stop the tears. She didn’t want to completely let go in front of Paul, she couldn’t.
‘Are you really happy to hide all this from him?’
She dabbed beneath her eyes with a tissue before her mascara and eyeliner did its worst. ‘Not really, but what choice do I have?’
‘If you think he needs to know sooner, tell him.
‘It’s not my call.’
Paul stood up and jolted her on the sofa as he did so. He went to the window and looked out into the darkness punctuated with city lights. She could see his reflection in the glass, his expression set.
‘She’s always done this to you,’ he said without turning round.
‘What? Get cancer?’
‘No, put you in a position where you can’t do what you think is right.’
‘She has, but I also don’t want to hurt Kyle more than necessary. This is going to be one hell of a shock.’
