AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The look of disgust on Sarah’s face is too much. In all the years I’ve known her, she’s never looked at me that way. No matter what I’ve told her.
‘I’m sorry, Han,’ she says. ‘But that sounds so heartless. Is there something you’re not telling me?’
‘No.’ I swallow the lie, hoping that one day – when the truth is out there – Sarah will be able to forgive me.
She stands up. ‘This is a bit of a shock. But…well, it’s your life and I trust you’ve got reasons for walking away, even if I don’t understand them. You’re supporting me with all the Dean stuff, so I’ll support you with this.’
I nod.
For a moment we’re silent. It’s the first time since I’ve known Sarah that there’s ever been awkwardness between us.
‘Can’t you give Max another chance?’ she says after a while. ‘Talk to him and explain how you were feeling before the accident. You can’t just throw your marriage away.’
I take my time to answer, search the maze of my mind for a way to help Sarah understand, without having to unbury the truth. ‘When it’s over, it’s over,’ I say, turning away from the mixture of confusion and shock on my friend’s face.
‘I’m guessing you haven’t told Poppy yet?’ she says.
‘No, I’ll tell her in the car. I’ve got somewhere we can stay so we can talk while we’re driving there. I’ve packed some things for us.’
‘You really have thought this through, haven’t you?’
I’ve had no choice.
‘Stay here,’ she says. ‘I know there isn’t a lot of room, but Poppy can sleep in Ivy’s room and I’ll sleep on the sofa. It’s less drastic than you having your own place somewhere.’
I stand up and hug her. ‘Thank you so much. But I need to do this. It will make it easier in the long run.’
‘I don’t understand,’ she says. ‘Or at least stay with your mum, then.’
‘I can’t. This has to be a clean break. A friend is letting us stay at his place. He won’t be there for a few days.’
‘What friend?’ She frowns, and I’m glad I can’t read her thoughts. I know it would make me falter.
‘Just someone I know from work.’ I leave my lie as vague as it can be.
‘Okay,’ she says. ‘Well, I know what you’re like when you’ve made up your mind about something, so there’s no point me trying to change it.’
I call out for Poppy, and tell her we have to go.
Surprisingly, she doesn’t try to negotiate more playing time. Instead she yawns and rubs her eyes. ‘Bye, Ivy,’ she says, giving her friend a hug.
Poppy’s compliance only makes having to break the news to her even more devastating.
NINETEEN
Extract from police interview with Finley Adams:
DCI Spears: Can you tell us why you didn’t come forward when we appealed for help from anyone who knew Alice Hughes?
Finley Adams:I didn’t know about it. I’ve been staying in Birmingham with my cousin. Helping him out and stuff. He’s the one who told me.
DCI Spears:Yet you still waited for us to track you down. And we only managed to do that after finding emails between you and Alice from January this year.
Finley Adams:I’ve been busy. And I hadn’t even seen her since April.
DC Langdon:Can you tell us the nature of your relationship?
Finley Adams:We just used to…you know. It was all casual. You know what I mean?
