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It had been an embarrassing episode that she would much rather forget, although there had been times when Hannah had wondered how her life might have turned out if she’d told Nate about the baby and forced him to stand up to his responsibilities. Perhaps he would have married her, and they would have been together all these years.
There’s no good wishing, her grandmother used to say. Besides, she doubted it would have lasted. They hadn’t loved each other.
She’d Googled Nate after she’d returned home from collecting Maisie and had found his profile on LinkedIn. She’d discovered he’d gone to medical school and become a doctor. Judging by the age of his son, who wasn’t that much younger than Maisie, he must have met someone at university and had his second child during his degree.
Hannah frowned. She didn’t mind that Lili had taken Maisie on holiday; it was where she’d taken her that was the problem. Hannah had been afraid that this would happen, and that after all these years, Nate would discover the truth. Her stomach churned at the thought of where that might lead.
She knew she hadn’t been the most responsible parent in the world – by any stretch. Sometimes she looked at her young daughter and felt that Maisie was more grown-up than she was. Why hadn’t she seen that until now? At the party, some of her new friends had asked where Maisie was. Hannah had told them she’d probably made herself a glass of warm milk, found a story book and taken herself off to bed. They’d thought she was joking.
Hannah sighed. In the past, despite her behaviour – the many failed relationships, jetting off on foreign holidays at a moment’s notice and leaving Maisie in the care of her friend, sofa-surfing on Lili’s couch more times than she cared to remember – she knew Lili had made sure social services would never have reason to step in and take Maisie away. But Lili couldn’t protect her from Maisie’s father – or her grandfather. She’d Googled him too. He was a retired police officer. And what was she? A thief. Hannah swallowed. That thought sent shivers down her spine.
Carrying the box, she followed Kyle down the hall, thinking she must do her part, protect herself, and persuade Lili to go to Corfu as soon as possible. The flower was in the car, along with the many other items she’d stolen from the shop. There was no good wishing she hadn’t done it. He was right; that horse had already bolted. And they were bolting too, to a nice island somewhere in the Far East – and Maisie wasnotgoing to be packed off to a boarding school.
