Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 89183 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 446(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89183 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 446(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Josie glanced around. “It feels as though someone, sometime in the past, left in a hurry, and nobody’s been in until now.” She recalled the story of the family who’d lived here and the widow and her son who’d left, never to return. The cottages would be so much better once they’d given them some TLC and elbow grease.
Over the next hour, Fiona took copious notes on the furnishings and the handful of other embroidered pieces. When they had gone through all the rooms, she said, “I have a friend who sells secondhand curtains and rugs that have come out of grand homes. They’re gorgeous and a fraction of the price of buying new. And of course I’m happy to do whatever work might be necessary to get everything fitted in the space. It will just depend on how much time I can carve out—” Her phone rang, cutting her off. “Excuse me, I should get this. It’s Lewis.”
To Josie’s ear, she sounded a little nervous as she quickly took the call.
“Hello, darling.”
From Josie’s end, it sounded like Fiona’s husband was barking orders at her. There was no sweet greeting such as Fiona had given him, and the call was over before his wife could say more than, “Yes,” and “Certainly, I’ll take care of it immediately.” Fiona hung up and tucked her phone away in her bag. “I’m afraid I have to run. Lewis needs me to set up a cocktail party for a group of Norwegian businessmen in town for the night. If I leave now, I should just have enough time to get everything in order for it.”
“Can’t he have someone else do that, Fiona?” Malcolm asked. “Especially since he threw it at you at the last minute?”
“Oh no, I’m happy to do it,” Fiona said. She gave him and Josie a kiss on each cheek, and then she was off, her expensive perfume the only thing lingering behind.
Alice had waved through the window earlier as she’d headed to work, so it was just Josie and Malcolm again.
“God, her husband infuriates me,” Malcolm said. “All of us. I don’t know what she ever saw in him. The way he treats her…”
“She seems fairly happy, doesn’t she?”
“No. When we were kids, you should have seen her laugh. She was the wildest one of all of us. But as soon as she met Lewis, she let him turn her into a perfect society robot. Instead of rebelling, she gave in to his every whim. And the problem is, I’ve heard things about him. Bad things. Whispers in the business community.”
“You mentioned that yesterday.”
“What I didn’t mention is that I’m sure he has a mistress. At least one.”
“That’s horrible,” she managed. Her heart was hammering. It was all hitting too close to home.
“The woman he’s cheating with should be ashamed of herself. She’s just as disgusting as he is,” Malcolm said.
Josie felt her cheeks flame. “Maybe that woman doesn’t know he’s married.”
Malcolm scoffed at that. “How on earth could anyone not know that the guy they’re seeing is married?”
Josie voice was barely above a whisper as she said, “I didn’t.”
Malcolm gawked at her, clearly stunned by what she’d said. “You were with a married man?”
Her mouth had gone completely dry. This was why she hadn’t wanted to say anything to him about it. She hadn’t wanted him to judge her.
“I didn’t know,” she said in a hoarse voice. “I swear I didn’t know. I thought I was in love with a good man. He’d even started talking about marriage.” How her chest burned to even repeat those lying words. “And then one day, a woman showed up at my door, carrying their baby. She was his wife. So, yes, I think it’s possible that Lewis’s mistress doesn’t know he’s married.” She felt cold all over, just remembering. “If I could undo every moment I spent with him, believe me, I would. I never intended to hurt anyone. And I’ll never stop hating him for all the lies he told me. Every single word was a lie.”
Malcolm was silent for a long moment, and she knew that he was disgusted by her now.
“It wasn’t your fault, Josie. It was his fault. All of it.” His voice rumbled in his chest.
“I should have known. You’re right. I should’ve seen the signs.” The words of self-blame came from her throat before she could stop them. She couldn’t forgive herself. Not yet.
“No. You’ve made me see how judgmental I was being to a woman I know nothing about. How could you have known a man you trusted was lying to you? If he’s anything like Lewis, he’s a master of deception. Probably thrived on the lies. Maybe he got extra kicks knowing that you believed every single lie he told you. That’s what guys like that are all about. Who they can fool. Who they can cheat.”