Page 49 of A Secret Escape

And it wasn’t as if she wanted him to be unhappy exactly— although the way she was feeling at the moment she might have wished the occasional bad day on him—but she didn’t see why his happiness should come at her and Zoe’s expense.

Something needed to change.

Grabbing her bag, Milly stalked out of her office.

She resisted the urge to vent her frustration by slamming the door, and instead she walked briskly along the path and even managed to offer a polite greeting to a couple of guests who were passing.

The sun was beating down, but here in the shade of the tall trees the heat was less intense. She heard birdsong and the soft lap of the water against the shore. Normally it calmed her, but today it didn’t seem to be working.

She unlocked the door of the boathouse, yelled “It’s only me,” and then slammed the door hard.

Tiger leaped up from his favorite position on the rug in a patch of sunlight, his back arched and his fur vertical as he prepared to defend his territory.

Nicole was sitting cross-legged on Milly’s yoga mat in the living room, her hand pressed to her chest and her eyes wide. She was wearing yoga pants and a bright blue tank top.

“You made me jump.”

“Sorry. I shouldn’t have slammed the door. I might need anger management classes.” Milly kicked off her shoes and sent them skittering across the floor.

“You?” Nicole watched her. “You’re the calmest person I know. I’ve never seen you truly angry.”

“Well, take a good look, because you’re seeing it now.” Milly dropped her keys and bag onto the table. She could feel her heart racing.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Honestly? No, I want to break something.” She paced across the living room and back again. “But I don’t want to clean up the mess after, so I’m internalizing my fury.”

“That doesn’t sound healthy.” Nicole stood up in a single graceful movement. “I borrowed your mat. I hope you don’t mind. I always stretch in the mornings or I stiffen up. I should never have insisted on doing my own stunts in that superhero movie. I’ve been paying the price ever since.”

“No problem. I don’t use it anyway. I bought it the week Richard walked out because I was determined to get lean and toned, but every time I saw the mat I thought of Avery and it upset me, so it mostly lives in that spot by the cupboard.”

Just thinking of Avery sent her blood pressure soaring again.

Avery, who was struggling with the fact that Richard had responsibilities.

Avery, who was responsible for upending Milly’s entire life.

No, that wasn’t true. She forced herself to breathe. Richard had done that.

Nicole eyed her and bent down to roll up the mat. “By the look on your face, you should have bought a punching bag.”

Clearly feeling at risk from Milly’s pacing, Tiger sprang from the floor to the sofa.

“He said my whole focus was on duty and responsibility!” The words exploded out of Milly. “He said that all I think about is boring chores. He said I’ve turned my life into a never-ending to-do list!”

Nicole was still holding the mat. “I assume theheis Richard?”

“Yes. And it’s true I have a to-do list—who doesn’t?—but that’s because there are things that need to be done and he doesn’t do them, so that leaves me! And whenever he does do something, which is so rare I can’t even quote you a time when he did, apparently he is ‘helping’ me.”

Nicole’s eyes widened. “He said that?”

Milly forced herself to breathe. “You’d be angry too?”

“I’d be steaming.”

Milly felt a little better. “I’m sorry. Here I am ranting, and we should be talking about you.” She felt a stab of guilt. “All morning I’ve been waiting for you to call so that we can carry on the conversation Zoe interrupted last night, and then Richard called me, and now I want to kill him.”

“I want to kill him too. And forget about me—there’s plenty of time to talk about that. First we need to calm you down.”

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