Page 18 of A Secret Escape

Peggy had always been an active part of the local community, but still Connie couldn’t believe her eighty-two-year-old mother had joined a hiking group.

Milly smiled at Zoe. “Are you ready for school?”

“Almost.” Zoe finished her breakfast and stood up. “Give me two minutes to brush my teeth and grab my stuff.” She vanished from the room, and Connie put a mug of coffee in front of her daughter.

“Have you had breakfast?”

“No. I’m trying to be good.”

What was good about starving yourself? Was that because of Avery? Connie was acutely aware of how humiliated Milly felt that her husband had left her for a much younger woman.

“You can’t head into a busy day with an empty stomach.” Connie slid one of the pancakes onto a plate,added some fresh blueberries and put it in front of her daughter. “Eat.”

“How was your evening?” Peggy caught Connie’s glare. “What? At my age you can’t blame me for wanting to hear about other people’s sex lives.”

“Talking of sex lives, I see poor Nicole has been hitting the headlines again.” Connie made a desperate attempt to change the subject, and Milly paused with her fork halfway to her mouth.

“Nicole?”

“You didn’t see it? The story is everywhere. She’s been having an affair with that actor. Oh, what’s he called? He played the young King Henry VIII in that movie where everyone seemed to be naked the whole time, at least the women were.” Connie rubbed her forehead. “I’m terrible with actors’ names.”

“Justin,” Peggy said. “His name is Justin.”

“That’s right! Justin Fisher.”

Peggy helped herself to the last pancake. “I never liked him. He’s too smooth, and his eyes are close together. I never trust a man whose eyes are close together. He looks shifty.”

“He’s won plenty of awards.” Connie watched as her daughter toyed with the food on her plate. “He was described by one critic asa national treasure.”

Peggy sprinkled sugar on the pancake. “Apparently Nicole has been treasuring him a bit too much, and his wife wasn’t happy about it. The media was full of images of him holding hands with his wife saying they’d never been happier, although it was obviously a lie because the words didn’t match the facial expressions. You would have thought an actor would have managed a more convincing performance.”

“Poor Nicole.” Connie felt a flash of sympathy. “She doesn’t have a good track record with relationships.”

“I blame her mother.” Peggy finished the pancake. “She was a cold fish.She operated on my varicose veins, and there was more empathy in the scalpel. That kind of upbringing has to have an impact. And it can’t be easy having no privacy. The girl can’t get away from scrutiny. It’s hard to have a proper relationship when everything you do happens in public.”

Connie noticed that Milly still hadn’t touched her food. “Have you talked to Nicole lately?”

“I—” Milly glanced at the clock on the wall and put her fork down. “Is that the time? I really need to go. Zoe!”

“I’m here.” Zoe appeared in the doorway, and Milly almost knocked the chair over in her haste to leave the kitchen.

“Thanks again. See you later. I love you.”

Connie glanced at the food on Milly’s plate. “But you haven’t eaten your—”

The front door slammed, and they heard the sound of the car pulling away.

Connie looked at her mother.

“Well, that was weird.”

“It was weird. She changed when you mentioned Nicole. Did you notice that?”

“I only mentioned Nicole because you asked her about her date, and I was trying to change the subject.”

“Judging from her reaction, I’d say it wasn’t a good change of subject. Maybe it was sensitive for her, all those headlines about Nicole having an affair with a married man. Not that I believe headlines. They make everything up these days. It’s all about clicks. And I’m sure she and Nicole are fine. Those two were inseparable as children.”

“I know. But talking about friendships, how worried should we be about Zoe and Cally?”

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