Page 14 of A Secret Escape

She turned and saw Nicole curled up asleep on the porch swing that had been a housewarming gift from her mother.

Her face was scrubbed clean of makeup, her hair loose around her shoulders.

She looked young and vulnerable and not so far from the girl Milly had befriended on her first day at school.

Milly still remembered the intensity of that connection and the bond that had only deepened over time. The strength of their friendship had felt like a superpower, an invisible layer of protection from everything life might throw at them. They’d been invincible, and yet here they were behaving like two polite strangers.

How had they reached this point?

They’d both had hopes and dreams, and some of those had come true. Milly had gained the family and stability she’d wanted, and Nicole had achieved fame and success. But neither of them had expected things to turn out the way they had.

A divorced woman and a fugitive.

Was it possible to get back what they’d lost?

And how was she supposed to conceal the fact that Nicole was staying with her?

No matter how careful they were, eventually someone would discover she was here, and then what?

With a sigh, Milly went indoors to fetch a blanket for her friend.

Chapter4Connie

So who did she go on a date with? Is he good enough for her?”

“I don’t know, and you’re not to ask.” Connie put a cup of coffee in front of her mother. “When she walks through that door, you’re not to say a thing.”

“Why not? I want to know. As her grandmother, I’m entitled to be worried about her.”

“You think I’m not worried about her? I’m her mother. It’s worse for me.” Connie glanced at the door to check there was no sign of Zoe and dropped into the chair. She’d been awake half the night thinking about Milly, desperately hoping that this might be the start of a new phase for her daughter. The last eighteen months had been incredibly tough on everyone. Milly had been crushed by Richard’s affair and flattened by the divorce, and Connie, witnessing her daughter’s distress, had been crushed and flattened too. It was like going through it all over again, only this time it was worse because this was Milly, and she knew and understood every morsel of her pain. All she wanted was for her child to be happy again. Didn’t every parent want that?

Every day she relived the moment Milly had burst into the house, sobbing.He’s left us. He’s gone.Seeing her kind, competent daughter reduced to a wounded, insecure husk of herself had been more painful than Connie could have anticipated.

And it took her back. It took her right back to when the same thing had happened to her.

She still remembered the feeling of helplessness.

Never again.

“Seeing her in pain is worse than being in pain myself. Do you have any idea how hard it is to watch your child suffer?”

Her mother raised an eyebrow. “I may have a small idea.”

Connie flushed, mortified that only now was she truly understanding how her mother might have been affected by her own ups and downs over the years. “Was it like this for you when I went through it?” It seemed so long ago now, and the memory of all those raw feelings had softened and blurred with time.

“Yes. But you’re a parent so you just have to get on with it. When your child suffers, you suffer too. It’s part of the deal, but you don’t show it. You want your child to know you have confidence in their ability to handle whatever comes their way. You raised Milly to be strong and capable, and she is.”

“I know all that. And I know she can handle it. But I don’t want her to have to, if that makes sense.” Connie stood up and selected a couple of oranges from the bowl on the table. “I want to see her smile again. Really smile, not a forced don’t-worry-about-me smile.”

She sliced the oranges in half and reached for the juicer.

“I understand. But all we can do is offer support.” Peggy paused. “And for the record, I still worry about you, so don’t think that ever goes away.”

“You worry aboutme? Why? I’m not the one whose life has been blown apart.”

“No catastrophizing!” Her mother waggled a finger. “And I worry about you for the same reasons you worry about Milly. Because you’re hurting. Also, I worry that you’ve put your own life on hold.”

Connie stopped juicing oranges. “I haven’t exactly—” She broke off. Had she put it on hold? Yes, in a way she had.

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