Page 81 of A Secret Escape

Milly was staring at him in exasperation. “Told me what? You’re making no sense, and I think you should leave now. I won’t have you being rude to my friends, especially as you arrived here uninvited.”

“You wouldn’t be protecting her if you knew the truth.”

Milly stepped past him and opened the door. “Good-bye, Richard.”

“She’s the reason we’re no longer together. If it weren’t for her, there’s a good chance we’d still be married.” Ignoring the open door, Richard turned back to Nicole and took a step toward her. “Time to tell her the truth.”

“That’s enough!” Milly grabbed his arm and pulled him back. “The reason we’re not together is because you had an affair and left me. Remember that tiny detail?”

“I had an affair, that’s true, and I’m not proud of it. I take full responsibility for that, but I never intended to leave you.” Two red blotches appeared on his cheekbones. “It was—I don’t know what it was. A moment of wild stupidity. It probably would have blown over, and you never would have known about it if it hadn’t been for her.”

Milly let go of his arm. “What are you talking about? I have no idea what’s going on.”

Nicole curled her fingers into her palms. Unfortunately she knew exactly what was going on. This was the moment she’d dreaded. Why, oh why hadn’t she just said something before now?

She should have told the truth and explained everything to Milly, but she’d been afraid.

She’d been a coward.

And now she was paying the price because Richard showed no signs of holding back.

“Remember that time we were staying with her in LA? She overheard me talking to Avery, and she gave me an ultimatum. Leave Avery, or leave you. She forced me to choose.”

It shouldn’t have been so difficult to hear it because she’d replayed that conversation in her head so many times.

She knew it was bad, but somehow it sounded even worse when he said it.

The guilt was so intense she almost doubled over.

Richard was watching her. “And she threatened to tell you if I didn’t. And I knew she wasn’t bluffing, because you and she have always had an unnaturally close relationship.”

Milly’s breathing was shallow. “It’s calledfriendship, Richard. There’s nothing unnatural about it.”

“The two of you were closer than sisters. From the first moment you introduced us I could tell she didn’t want me around.”

Nicole felt the ground shift.

“That isn’t true.” She somehow managed to find her voice. “That isnottrue.”

“Isn’t it? Why don’t you just admit it, Nicole? Milly is the only person in your life who has stuck by you. None of your relationships last. Your own mother didn’t want anything to do with you. Milly was all you had, and you didn’t want to share her with anyone. You were jealous of me. Of my relationship with her. Of what we had together. You have always been jealous because you thought I came between the two of you.You wanted me to leave her so that you could have her all to yourself.”

His words made her shrink.

“That’s not what happened.” Outrage drove her to defend herself. “You were betraying her trust. I wanted you to be honest with her, that’s all. To make a choice. Is that so wrong? I didn’t want you lying to Milly. I wanted the best for her.”

His words rang in her head.Your own mother didn’t want anything to do with you.

She wanted to cover her ears with her hands to block it out. It was as if he’d jabbed a knife deep into the most vulnerable parts of her and then twisted it.

“But it wasn’t your decision, was it?” Richard’s tone was flat. “It wasn’t your place to intervene in our relationship. But you did it anyway, and this is where we are now.” He turned to Milly. “You’ve known her forever, and you think she’s your best friend, but would a true friend really do that? She destroyed our marriage, Milly. You might want to think about that when you’re protecting her from the fallout of having done exactly the same thing to someone else.”

Without giving them a chance to respond he left the boathouse, slamming the door behind him.

Silence descended. Nicole couldn’t breathe. Her vision was blurred by tears.

She needed to say something, do something, but what?

Where should she start? How could she possibly make this right?

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