Page 68 of A Secret Escape

“Not crazy at all.” Nicole sounded wistful. “I’ve always envied what you have.”

Milly turned to look at her, surprised. “You enviedme? Why?”

“Because you’re loved. You’ve always been loved. And I have no idea how that feels because no one has ever loved me, not even my own mother.” There was a pause, and then Nicole cleared her throat. “And now this is getting maudlin. Sorry.”

Milly was so overwhelmed by emotion it took her a moment to respond.

She swallowed hard. “Well, that’s just not true, is it? And you know it isn’t. Because I love you.” She put her arms round her friend. “I’ve always loved you. You’re my best friend.” She felt the pressure of her friend’s arms as Nicole hugged her back.

“Still? Despite everything?”

“Always, no matter what.”

There was a long pause, and Nicole drew breath as if she was about to say something else.

“Milly—”

“What?”

There was another pause. A moment when she could hear Nicole breathing.

“Nothing. But if you smudge that makeup I spent hours on, I will kill you.”

Milly pulled away. She had a feeling that wasn’t what Nicole had intended to say. Was she worrying about being pregnant, was that it? “Perhaps I should cancel tonight. We could stay in together and have toast and cereal in our pajamas.”

“Sounds tempting, but you are not canceling tonight. You always do this. You’ve always been the same. I had to drag you to parties.” Nicole stood up briskly and headed back to Milly’s wardrobe. Whatever she’d been about to say obviously hadn’t been important.

“And then you’d abandon me the moment we arrived and vanish into a dark corner with Mark Wilson.”

Nicole laughed. “Mark Wilson. I haven’t thought about him for years. I wonder what he’s doing?” She knelt down and started rummaging around in the bottom of the wardrobe. She emerged triumphant with a pair of strappy sandals that Milly had worn to a wedding about five years before and hadn’t touched since.

“I can’t wear those. And last thing I heard, Mark Wilson was married to Trisha Day.”

Nicole sneezed as dust found its way up her nose. “The same Trisha Day who blew up the physics lab?”

“That’s the one, although I’d forgotten about that. I think she has changed since then. She works for an insurance company. Probably persuading people to insure against explosions.” Grinning, Milly reached for her flat shoes, but Nicole snatched them out of her hand.

“You are not leaving the house in those.” She thrust the sandals at Milly. “You’re wearing these.”

“I will be in pain all evening. They hurt my feet.”

“It will be worth it because they are going to look great. And you only have to walk from the car to the restaurant.The pain will be brief.”

There was no point in arguing, but it occurred to her, as she crammed her feet into the sandals that had been one of her purchasing mistakes, that if Nicole went to these lengths every time she left the house, then it was no wonder she was hiding from her life.

Chapter17Nicole

She waved Milly off, watching nervously as her friend wobbled her way down the path in the shoes. On reflection maybe the shoes had been a mistake—or maybe they’d turn out to be an icebreaker when she lost her balance and landed in Brendan Scott’s arms.

Once Milly was out of sight, Nicole turned the key in the lock.

She took a deep breath.

She’d so nearly told her. In that moment when Milly had assured her that they’d always be friends, a small part of her had wanted to test that. She’d wanted to sayThere’s something I have to tell you, but she hadn’t been able to bring herself to say the words, and now she was relieved that she hadn’t. If she’d said them, she probably would have ruined the friendship, and she definitely would have ruined Milly’s evening. She didn’t want to do that. This was a huge step for Milly, and Nicole was delighted she was going out, and not just because it made her feel a tiny bit less guilty about everything.

The silence enveloped her, and she glanced around, feeling a little lost.

If she was honest, she would have loved an evening in her pajamas watching movies together, but having been the worst friend possible she was determined not to put a foot wrong from now on.

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