Page 92 of The Island Villa

Adeline sat up straighter, startled. “At least think about it.”

“I don’t need to. You can’t use my name.”

Some of the joy left Cassie’s face. “Of course. That’s no problem.” Her smile was stiff and forced. “We can publish it under my real name. Or use a pseudonym or something.”

“Wait...” Adeline leaned forward. “Why can’t she use Swift? Maybe it’s cashing in on your success, but as it’s Cassie who is the ultimate beneficiary, does it matter?”

“It matters to me.” Cassie frowned. “I’d rather do it by myself.”

“I’m not only talking about the name,” Catherine said. “You can’t publish this book, Cassie.” Watching her daughter’s expression change caused a physical pain. Never had she hated herself more. “I’m sorry. I know how much it means to you. I know how exciting it all is. But you can’t do it.”

“Stop.” Adeline stood up, the angry scrape of her chair mirroring her visible outrage. “How can you say that? This isn’t about you!”

“It’s no use being upset with me, Adeline, and I’m afraid it is about me. That’s the point.” She’d come so close to fixing things with her eldest daughter, but now she was going to have to crush those vulnerable new shoots. “I can assure you that however upset you are with me, I’m even more upset with myself.”

“You read it and you hated it.” Cassie looked mortified. “You hated my book.”

“No. I loved it. It’s a wonderful, emotional story that somehow managed to break my heart and be uplifting at the same time. That takes real skill, Cassie. I can understand why publishers have been fighting for the right to publish the book.”

Cassie exchanged bemused glances with her sister. “But if you loved it, then why are you telling me I can’t publish it?”

“Because both the book and the publicity that will undoubtedly surround it risk throwing a spotlight onto my relationship with your father, and I can’t handle that. I can’t go through that again. I can’t go back to that time.” Her heart was pounding so hard she thought her ribs might crack.

Andrew moved his chair closer to hers and put his arm round her.

“I’ve upset you?” Cassie was horrified. “Now I feel terrible. I didn’t realize it was still so raw. I know how much you loved him, and I thought this would be a way of celebrating that love.”

“You don’t understand. And that’s my fault.” Emotion gathered in her throat like a storm waiting to burst. “I don’t want people talking about my relationship with your father. I don’t want any sort of...celebration. I’d rather it was forgotten.”

“You mean because of Andrew?” She shot a look of apology toward her soon to be stepfather. “I didn’t know about Andrew when I wrote it.”

And that was her fault too. Not sharing the fact that she and Andrew had rekindled their relationship was another mistake in a long list of mistakes.

“It’s not because of Andrew, although I have no doubt he would prefer not to have that particular chapter in my life raked up again. That isn’t the reason.”

“Then why? If I’ve made any mistakes, then I can fix them,” Cassie said. “It’s a fictionalized version of reality, obviously. I based the story on everything you told me, so why can’t I talk about that?”

There was a heavy pause. It was like standing on the edge of the cliff, waiting to dive.

“Because it’s not true. None of it is true.” Catherine’s mouth felt so dry it was almost impossible to force the words out. “The man I described to you was the man I wanted him to be. The man I thought he was when I married him. The man you deserved to have as a father. But that wasn’t who he was. Rob Dunn was controlling, manipulative and violent. Abusive. Your father was as far from a romantic hero as it is possible to be.”

20

Cassie

Cassie felt lightheaded. Abusive? Her dad?

It was a moment before she could speak.

“You told me he was the most perfect man you’d ever met. You said that you knew right away that he was the right person. That what you shared was special.”

“And at first that’s how I felt. But people can deceive, and Rob was one of those. I was trusting. Naive, I suppose,” her mother said. “I’ve thought of it often, and wondered why I didn’t see it. Believe me, I have blamed myself for a long time.”

Andrew frowned. “Cathy—”

“I know.” She lifted a hand to stop him finishing his sentence. “You’re going to say that it wasn’t my fault, and I try to convince myself of that. I didn’t see who he truly was because he didn’t allow me to see it. He was cunning and clever. But still, it’s hard not to blame myself.”

Cassie felt every beat of her heart as it punched hard at her ribs.

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