AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I guess. After she left, I started to see everything differently. With hindsight everything is a little clearer. She’d suggested a few times that we wait to have a baby … I think in the end she agreed to it to please me.”
Allie offered what she hoped was a comforting smile. “When did you and Nancy split up?”
“When Emmy was two and a half.” A muscle in his cheek twitched and his eyes flashed with pain. “We were living in Exeter and Nancy was commuting to London three days a week for work. She’d been doing that since Emmy started childcare when she was nine months. Nancy was offered a transfer to the Paris office and wanted to take it.”
“You didn’t want to go with her?”
“I would have,” he said. “Nancy suggested she go alone to start with, to see if she liked the job and scout things out. We kept talking about Emmy and I joining her.” He tucked a lock of Allie’s hair behind her ear. “It took me quite a while to figure out that she didn’t want us to join her. When I finally confronted her, she told me we’d got married too young and she hadn’t really known what she’d wanted then. But now she had this life in Paris and she knew exactly what she wanted.” His eyes were shadowed, with a vacant look. “Then she told me she’d met someone. Louise.”
“That must have been a shock.”
“Yep.” His eyes met hers again and he smiled. “But it all worked out okay in the end.”
Allie rested her hand against his cheek. “I feel as though you just skipped part of the story.”
“I did.” He licked his lips before kissing her.
Allie was tempted to pull back and get him to tell her the story properly. Because she didn’t want the broad strokes of his life story. She wanted it all.
But Hugh’s deep, probing kisses were entirely distracting and she couldn’t bring herself to put a stop to them.
Finally, his phone vibrated. He ignored it the first time, but pulled back when it went off again, giving her an apologetic grimace as he sat up.
Quietly, Allie studied his profile and caught the way his brows drew together as he read the message.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
He glanced over at her. “Hmm?”
“Is Emmy okay? You look worried.”
He shook his head. “It’s not Em.”
“Who’s got you looking so worried then?”
“No one.” His attention went back to his phone. “It’s nothing.”
“Very mysterious.”
“No … I just … it’s um … no one.”
Allie wrinkled her forehead. “Now you’re making it more intriguing.”
“Sorry.” He rubbed at his forehead with the back of his hand. “It’s Rebecca.”
“You say that as though I should know who Rebecca is.”
“She was there when we first met.”
Allie’s brain whirred until she remembered he’d been on a date the first time they’d met. “Rebecca?”
He nodded. “Apparently her little girl really was ill. Quite seriously by the sound of it. She ended up in hospital. Rebecca was just explaining and apologising for not being in touch sooner.”
“I don’t know if you’re messing with me,” Allie said, sitting up.
Hugh handed the phone over. “I feel a bit crap now that I didn’t message her to check everything was okay.”
With a feeling of disbelief, Allie read the message. She also felt quite sorry for Rebecca, who’d obviously had a rough time of it since that night in the restaurant.
