Page 103 of A Secret Escape

This had happened because Nicole had come to the hospital to give her support. She needed to try and fix it.

“Don’t let her leave the house.” She was out of bed and pulling on clothes as she spoke. How on earth were they going to extract Nicole from this? “I’ll drop Zoe at school early and come straight over. Nanna Peg will stay with my mother.” She comforted herself with the fact that her mother had seemed fine the evening before.

“Be careful,” Joel said. “They might follow you.”

“I doubt they know who I am, but just to be sure I’ll park far away from your house and approach from the trail. No one will see me.”

An hour later she was driving back to the village, wondering why photographers would be at the boathouse. That didn’t make sense. If someone had followed Nicole from the hospital then they’d be outside Joel’s cottage, surely?

She checked her mirrors constantly, but there was no sign of anyone following her, so she pulled over and parked outside an outdoor store at the edge of the village, grabbed her bag and headed up the narrow unmarked trail that passed behind Joel’s cottage.

She slipped in through the gate, crossed his sunny garden and tapped gently on the French doors.

Joel opened them, and she stepped inside.

“I didn’t see anyone. And this doesn’t make sense to me. If someone at the hospital saw her, why would they be at the boathouse?”

“I don’t think it was anything to do with the hospital. We’re assuming it might be the couple we met the day before yesterday on our walk. They recognized me.” Nicole was tucked into one corner of the sofa. Her legs were smooth and tanned and endless from beneath cutoff shorts, and everything about her seemed so perfect it was hard to believe that less than ten minutes’ drive away a crowd of photographers and journalists were hovering in the hope of uncovering some scandal they could expose.

“You should have tried harder to behave like a normal person, Wendy,” Joel said. “You’re a terrible actor.”

The two of them exchanged a smile, and Milly had no idea what they were talking about, but she was relieved Nicole didn’t seem more stressed.

“I’ll make us coffee,” Joel said and headed to the kitchen.

Milly sat down next to Nicole. “I’m sorry this happened. We were trying so hard to hide you and protect you.”

Nicole gave a brief shake of her head. “It’s not your fault. We’ll figure it out. How is your mother doing?”

“Her ribs hurt, but I think she’s doing okay. Nanna Peg is staying with her today.”

The door opened again, and Joel paused, three brimming cups of coffee on a tray. “I had an idea.” He put the coffee down on the table. “I was thinking we could find a photo of Nicole at Heath-row and post it as a sighting. Throw them off the scent. Send them in another direction.”

“Not a bad idea.” Milly picked up one of the mugs and handed it to Nicole. “Or I could drive home innocently and look blank when they tell me they’re looking for you and say,Nicole who?”

Joel settled himself on the chair opposite them. “But someone must have followed us to know she was staying in the boathouse. So that probably won’t work.”

“We could just say nothing,” Milly said. “I don’t talk to them. They don’t know you’re here, so you just stay indoors. They’ll get bored.”

“I have a better idea.” Nicole finally spoke. “I use their presence to announce my retirement from acting. Or at least the fact that I’m taking a break.”

Milly looked at her. “So all those things you said at the hospital—”

“About moving here? Yes, I meant them.”

It seemed like such a huge step. “Are you sure you’re not rushing this decision? Shouldn’t you let the idea sit for a while in case you change your mind?”

“I won’t change my mind. I already emailed my agent.”

“Won’t she be upset?”

“Possibly, although I’m not exactly hot property at the moment.” Nicole didn’t seem at all stressed about that fact. “But it doesn’t really matter what she thinks. This is about me. What I want. What I need.”

Milly put her cup down. “But acting is all you’ve ever wanted to do. This was your dream.”

“Dreams can change.” Nicole exchanged a brief glance with Joel, and Milly wondered exactly what had happened between the two of them.

Something had, that much was obvious.

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