Page 144 of Escape to the Country

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Eleanor had only managed to get as far as her workshop by mid-morning. Weak from crying, she couldn’t have moved much further anyway. She stayed huddled in a corner, trying to call Tom over and over on his mobile. But he had turned his phone off.

Sometime later, Annie and Megan appeared at the door.

‘Thank god you’re here,’ said Megan, sighing with relief. ‘We’ve been looking for you everywhere.’

‘Is he still in the house?’ said Eleanor, looking up at Annie with pleading eyes.

Annie shook her head. ‘He left about an hour ago. He’s catching a last-minute flight to New York. Says he needs a change of scenery.’

Eleanor bit her lip as more tears spilled down her cheeks. ‘It’s all my fault.’

‘You didn’t really write that article, did you?’ asked Annie, the tears glistening in her eyes.

‘No, of course not,’ said Eleanor, her voice breaking. ‘It’s that bitch editor of mine. She made the whole thing up. With Lucas’ help, of course,’ she added bitterly.

She had read the whole wretched story in horror and disbelief. Various quotes from ‘a close friend’ only confirmed what she had guessed. That her ex-boyfriend had spoken to Theresa. She hoped the VIP tickets he no doubt received in exchange would choke him.

Her friends were still looking at her with worried faces.

‘Anyway, I wouldn’t do that to you. To either of you. I promised,’ Eleanor told them. ‘Besides, I love you, you know that.’

Annie and Megan looked at each other in shock.

‘You never say that,’ said Annie, her eyes wide.

‘Not after your dad left,’ added Megan, equally astonished.

‘Well, I do. I really love you guys.’ Eleanor began to sob again. ‘And… and I love Tom. He’s the love of my life and he hates me. I’m never going to love anyone ever again.’

‘You love him?’ asked Annie gently.

‘I do! I really love Tom!’ wailed Eleanor.

‘We know,’ said Megan, stepping forward to give her a hug. ‘We just wanted to hear you say it out loud at last.’

‘What do I do now?’ asked Eleanor, frantic. ‘He won’t answer his phone to me.’

Her friends sat down on the floor next to her.

‘I don’t know,’ said Megan, with a shrug of her shoulders. ‘We’ll just take it one day at a time, okay?’ She paused for a second. ‘You might not want to hear this right now, but there is some actually quite amazing news this morning.’

‘What’s that?’ sniffed Eleanor, hardly caring.

‘You won’t believe it,’ said Annie. ‘Rackelle has gone intoCelebrity Big Brother. Apparently she’s been raving about your products and now Megan says the brand new internet site she’s built for you has crashed!’

Eleanor was stunned. ‘You’re kidding,’ she gasped.

‘Nope,’ said Megan. ‘Isn’t it great? Well, you know. Apart from losing the love of your life and all that, obviously.’

Eleanor began to cry again.

‘I don’t know what we can do about all this,’ said Annie, drawing her into a hug.

‘Nothing,’ said Megan. ‘Except be here for you.’

They all leaned forward into a group hug.