Page 195 of The Stranger

“Good.” He reaches across the table, and I let him. How can tenderness feel so sharp? So sharp it almost hurts. My hand aches to turn beneath his, my fingers to slide into the spaces by his, anchoring him to me. But pride is a powerful thing.

“What are you doing here?”

“Well, I was trying to give you space. It hasn’t worked very well so far.”

“So you thought you’d try stalking me instead? Using your children?”

He gives a low chuckle, and it echoes inside me. “Neither of those. We’re here for ice cream, Sylvie and I. It’s a coincidence we’re here, in this café together.”

“Let me get this straight. In a city of nine million people, we just happen to be in the same⁠—”

“Yes.” He turns my hand. Fits our fingers together. “Think the fates are trying to tell us something?”

“What’s next on the agenda?” I ask instead. I glance over at my sister and Sylvie, then the door. “Can I expect Felix to wander by next?”

“I shouldn’t imagine so. He’s at school in Switzerland, having a whale of a time, by all reports. We’re here buying school supplies. Sylvie is very particular and didn’t want to chance ordering online.”

“It’s a long way to come.”

“Not really. Sylvie’s new school is in Kensington.” He stares at our hands as he says this. Though not for long as I pull my hand from his.

“Please don’t say you’ve done this for me.”

A tiny crease forms between his eyes. “I would do anything to win you back, but no. I wouldn’t harm my children.”

“Then why?”

“I told Emmy what happened between us.”

Shock blooms through me immediately.

“Why—why would you do that?” Tears prickle against my lids. I close my eyes as I try to compose myself. To get a grip on my emotions.

“I told her I manipulated you into coming to Mallorca. That I made you stay and used her job as an axe over your head.”

“What?”

“I told her I made very improper advances toward you. But that you would have nothing to do with me. Until you did. I also told her we fell in love. That I broke your heart. And that I wouldn’t blame her if she never set foot again in any house of mine.”

“She never said,” I whisper.

“She’s respecting your privacy. Meanwhile, I…” He inhales deeply. “I am mad with want of you.”

I say nothing, though my heart aches like a bruise.

“As for her job, she loves the children, but she doesn’t want to leave her father.”

Things I should know if I hadn’t been so self-absorbed.

“So we’re here in London. Not for you, not for Emmy, but for Sylvie. She doesn’t want to lose the women in her life who mean the world to her. You and Emmy both. And a dog, but that’s a tale for another time.”

“What about her aunt?”

“Amélie has the soul of a Romany princess. Apparently. And too much money not to indulge in that fantasy. She’s a wonderful aunt but not the most… suitable role model. Primrose,” he says quite suddenly and very passionately. “I didn’t tell you any of that to make Sylvie’s happiness your responsibility. You owe my children nothing. You owe me even less.”

I say nothing.

“But I need you to understand that we aren’t here to visit. I’m not going to appear with flowers, make beautiful promises, and then carry you back into my life as if you are the one that must bend.” His eyes hold mine. “I’ve brought our life here, to be with you, with my children’s full blessing. Felix is in Switzerland and Sylvie is looking forward to starting school. She’s already made friends. And in London, Sylvie gets to keep both the women she loves. And you get to keep everything you worked so hard for.”