Page 49 of A Very Happy Halloween

Eisen and Marissa.

My family.

Marissa might have won the lottery, but I was the luckiest woman on earth.

Eis went to keep Edie company, and I stayed to watch the boys. This was all I’d ever wanted—for them to be happy. Most of the kids from Harry’s class had shown up in the end, even Kyle Alderman, the boy who’d been holding the other party. Serena had brought three make-up artists along, and they were painting the younger kids’ faces, no Sharpie in sight, thank goodness. We had butterflies, pumpkins, clowns, dolls, frogs… The list went on. Harry was a pirate, and Alfie had insisted on dressing up as a spider.

“Ma’am?” One of the men from the security team touched me on the shoulder. “You have a visitor at the gates, but his name isn’t on the guest list.”

“What’s his name?”

“Steven Osman. He says he’s your husband?”

Steven? Steven had shown up? How did he even know where I was?

“Tell him to leave, please.”

“We did try that, but he says he’s here about an important matter, and you’ll want to speak with him.”

The divorce papers? Could it be the divorce papers? Oh, happy days if it was. This would be the best Halloween ever.

“Fine, I’ll speak with him.”

Twenty

The conversation with Steven wouldn’t take long. It wasn’t as if we had much to say to each other. The sooner I was Ms. Taylor again, the better. Obviously, we’d still need to talk about the boys when necessary, but drop-offs and pick-ups were the only time I wanted to see him, full stop.

I trailed the man in black down the driveway, irritation building. Steven was fidgeting in front of a second guard, shifting from foot to foot and glancing around warily. He broke into a grin when he saw me coming. Honestly, I’d thought hiring security was overkill, but now I was glad I’d listened to Eis.

The first clue I got that Steven wasn’t bringing divorce papers was the bunch of flowers in his hand.

The second clue was the absolute bollocks that came out of his mouth.

“Janie? Why are your ears pointy?”

“Because it’s Halloween?”

“Right, never mind. I’ve been doing some thinking, soul-searching if you will, and I realise now that I made a terrible mistake.”

“A mistake?”

“I never should have left you. You were everything I wanted in a woman. Everything I needed. A momentary infatuation impaired my judgment briefly, but I’ve come to make things right.”

“I see. Does this have anything to do with your Jaguar getting repossessed and Luisa shagging another bloke behind your back?”

“You know about that?”

“Of course.”

“But…but how?”

“The boys told me. It’s amazing what you learn if you actually listen to them. Such as the fact that Harry doesn’t like football, for example. How did you know I was here?”

“I figured you’d be with Alfie, and his phone’s here.”

“You turned on the tracking app again?”

I mentally added “acquire new phones” to my to-do list, right above “kick Steven off a tall building.”

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