by Susan Lewis
Charlotte was regarding the grape-free vines, taking in Zoe’s words and wondering what more she might say.
‘I wish you and I could have got to know each other better,’ Zoe continued. ‘I think we might have if you’d felt able to trust me.’
Charlotte studied her carefully.
‘You were right not to,’ Zoe admitted. ‘Your husband is a very attractive man.’
Not much wanting this to continue, but unsure how to stop it, Charlotte opened her car door.
‘He turned me down,’ Zoe told her.
As her heart flipped, Charlotte said, ‘And you’re telling me this because?’
‘I guess because I want you to know how lucky you are.’
‘You think I don’t already?’
Zoe shrugged. ‘I’m sure you do. And I’m sure I’m not the first woman to try and seduce him.’
‘You’re the first to admit it.’
Zoe smiled.
Deciding this had gone far enough, Charlotte said, ‘Have a good journey back to Auckland, and thank you again for bringing the brochure to show me.’
As she turned the car around and headed towards home she was remembering a little homily she’d read on Facebook a few days ago: The best revenge is simply to smile and move happily on, leaving karma to take care of the rest. That being said, it was good to know that Anthony had put her, their marriage and their children before one of the sexiest women alive. If he hadn’t, well, she wasn’t going to trouble herself with imagining where they might be now, because it hadn’t happened and so there was no point.
‘Mum! There you are,’ Chloe cried as Charlotte came up over the terrace to find her entire family busying themselves about the kitchen. Even Ron and Maggie were there, having arrived two days ago to start their search for a beachfront idyll in Hawkes Bay. Unsurprisingly, Rick and Hamish were in charge of the picnic, while Anna was attempting to coat a wildly cycling Cooper in sunblock, Rowan was struggling Elodie into a playsuit, Bob was loading drinks into a chilly bin, and Maggie was chatting with Sara Munds about properties for sale in Haumoana.
‘Look what Olivia gave me for my birthday,’ Chloe demanded excitedly, dodging round Cooper to show Charlotte a very pretty pearl and shell bracelet. ‘It’s my favourite and I’m going to treasure it forever.’
‘We got it at a special shop in Napier,’ Olivia confided, her cute freckly face pinking with pride, ‘and I chose it myself.’
‘Then you have excellent taste,’ Charlotte assured her, noting the birthday cards that had been set up around the fireplace.
‘I’ve had eighteen so far,’ Chloe informed her, ‘which is the most I’ve ever had. I even got one from Wendy and Julia back in England.’
As thrilled for her as she clearly was for herself, Charlotte hugged her hard. ‘Nine today, you’re growing up so fast.’
Wriggling free, Chloe ran to get the new smartphone Charlotte and Anthony had dared to give her on the proviso she allowed them to check it each night, and that she didn’t use it for the Internet unless one or other of them was there to supervise.
‘I just want to take selfies for Instagram like everyone else,’ Chloe had assured them, which was precisely what she began doing now, first with Charlotte, then with Olivia, while assuring everyone else that she’d get to them in turn.
‘Where’s Daddy?’ Charlotte asked.
‘I don’t know,’ Chloe answered, putting an arm round Elodie to get a shot with her.
‘He was here a moment ago,’ Bob told her.
‘I think he went upstairs,’ Anna said.
After having her fingers slapped away from a tasty-looking vol-au-vent, Charlotte ran up to the bedroom and found Anthony standing on the balcony staring out at the almost perfect day.
‘Is everything OK?’ she asked curiously.
Turning to her, he said, ‘I was thinking of how lucky we are with the weather, and trying not to imagine how we’d be feeling today, her birthday, if she weren’t with us.’
Charlotte’s eyes closed as the thought of it buried deep into her conscience.
‘Thank god it’s turned out this way,’ he murmured, folding her into his arms.
‘I keep wondering,’ she sighed, ‘how we even let it get so far.’
‘Me too. It was like we lost all sense of what mattered, or who she was and how much she means to us. How could we have done that? OK, she was no angel, there were times when I actually felt scared of her, but she’s just a child – our child – and we came so close to completely screwing up her life.’
‘But in the end we didn’t,’ she said forcefully, ‘and we can’t let our guilt spoil today.’
‘No, of course not,’ he agreed. ‘It just comes over me at times … You’re right though, we need to change the subject. Tell me what you thought of the brochure.’
Kicking off her sandals, she said, ‘Well, it makes us look a lot more upmarket than we are, but I guess that’s no bad thing.’
‘It’s all about the wine,’ he reminded her. ‘The visuals are just gloss.’
‘Of course, and they’re gorgeous, especially the ones by the waterfall. I think it’s Maraetotara where we’ve taken the children a couple of times.’
He nodded. ‘Yes, I’m sure it is.’
After a moment she said, ‘Zoe told me something before she left. Would you like to hear it?’
‘I don’t know. Would I?’
Charlotte smiled wickedly. ‘She said she tried to seduce you, but you resisted.’
Raising his eyebrows in amazement, he said, ‘She told you that?’
She nodded.
‘It’s true,’ he acknowledged, pulling her to him. ‘I mean, why on earth would I want her when I’ve got you?’
‘We were going through a pretty rough time,’ she reminded him. ‘You must have been tempted.’
His eyes were searching hers as he said, ‘Never enough to carry it through. However, if you were to throw yourself at me the way she did, I can promise you it would have a very different outcome.’
Loving the sound of that, she pulled him down on the bed and started unbuttoning his shirt as she sat astride him.
‘Dad! Where are you?’ Cooper yelled, banging in through the door. ‘Oh, can I play?’ and rushing at them he landed with a thump on Anthony’s chest.
‘I didn’t invite you to throw yourself at me,’ Anthony scolded, hoisting him up as Charlotte climbed free.
‘Everyone’s ready to go,’ Cooper told them. ‘They sent me to find you. Dad, you won’t forget to pick up Oliver on the way, will you? Chloe said he could come even though it’s her birthday.’
‘Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten,’ Anthony assured him. ‘Go and get in the car and we’ll be right down.’
Moments after the door closed behind him Charlotte was undressed ready to slip into fresh shorts and top, and laughing as Anthony kept trying to grab her when Chloe said from the door, ‘What are you doing?’
‘Getting changed,’ Charlotte answered, wondering whether to cover herself or not.
‘It’s my birthday,’ Chloe reminded her sulkily.
Not quite sure what she meant by that, Charlotte continued to dress as Anthony took out his phone to answer it.
‘Yes, Maggie, we’re coming,’ he told his sister. ‘That’s right, we’re taking three cars. You guys go on ahead if you like, we’ll bring the birthday girl and Cooper and Elodie with us.’
‘And Olivia,’ Chloe put in.
‘Of course. Is her mother coming?’
‘She’s gone on ahead, and she’s going to set up some games on the beach for when we get there.’
‘OK. Now, we’re going to miss the tide if we don’t get a move on.’
Turning on her heel Chloe disappeared downstairs, leaving Anthony and Charlotte to exchange slightly worried glances.
‘Do you think she was upset?’ Charlotte asked.
‘I’m not sure.’
‘Why did she remind me it was her birthday?’
Charlotte nodded dubiously.
Minutes later they were downstairs ready to leave, with everyone else either already on their way to Cape Kidnappers or waiting outside in the Volvo. To Charlotte’s dismay it almost wasn’t a surprise to discover that the car keys weren’t where she’d left them.
Her eyes went to Anthony. ‘I put them right here on the hook,’ she told him.
‘Are you sure?’
‘Of course I am. After what happened the last time we tried to go to Cape Kidnappers I made sure I knew where they were, and I put them there to show that I trust her.’
Sighing, he said, ‘So she did hide them the last time?’
Remembering that she’d tried to take the blame herself, Charlotte had to admit it. ‘So what do we do now?’ she said, looking at the time. ‘I don’t want to risk accusing her of anything in case it ruins the day, but if we don’t find them in the next two minutes we’ll miss the tide.’
Anthony threw out his hands. ‘I don’t get this business of sabotaging her own days out. Everything’s been going so well. Why would she do it?’
‘According to Julia it’s about a lack of self-worth and what she feels she does or doesn’t deserve. For some reason she doesn’t seem to think she deserves these treats.’
Pushing a hand through his hair, he said, ‘When are we meeting with the first psychologist? Whenever it is, it won’t be in time to find the keys. Bloody hell, how on earth are we supposed to play this?’
‘I’ll go and look in her room,’ Charlotte said.
‘Come on you two,’ Chloe commanded from the terrace. ‘We’re going to miss the last of the gannets and it’ll be all your fault.’
Glancing at Anthony, Charlotte said, carefully, ‘We can’t find the car keys. Have you seen them?’
‘They’re in the ignition,’ Chloe cried exasperatedly. ‘I put them there so we’d be ready to go. Now please hurry up or I shall get very cross with you,’ and with her hands on her hips she stalked off back to the car.
Charlotte and Anthony turned to one another, not quite sure what to say.
In the end Anthony remarked wryly, ‘I guess we should go.’
‘Yes,’ Charlotte agreed, ‘I guess we should.’
Acknowledgements
NEW ZEALAND
It’s hard to find enough words to express my gratitude to everyone at Black Barn Vineyard of Hawkes Bay who helped in so many ways to make this book possible. From the owners of this magical place, Kim Thorp and Andy Coltart, who so generously threw open the doors; to Dave McKee, the truly inspirational and world-class winemaker; to the lovely Rochelle Palmer who arranged our heavenly retreat (on which Charlotte and Anthony’s house is based); to Francis de Jager, the Cellar Door and Events Manager who taught me so much, along with Mary-Anne Walker-Bain who also runs the Cellar Door. Thank you too to those mentioned above who so bravely and generously allowed me to use their names.
If you feel like spoiling yourself, don’t hesitate. This place and its exceptional wines, not to mention outstanding hospitality, combine to make it nothing short of heaven on earth.
www.blackbarn.com
An equally warm and enormous thank you goes to Michael Bain, Principal of Te Mata Primary School in Havelock North. It was a truly magical experience spending time at the school watching the easy, entertaining and affectionate interchange between Mike, the staff and small students.
Another sincere thank you to Lynne Alexander of Springbank School in Kerikeri, who talked me through some education programmes for eight year olds and helped so much to get me into “Chloe’s world”.
I must also thank Dr Sarah Hampson for inviting me to her beautiful home in the Bay of Islands and talking me through all the medical and social details I needed for the story.
I would also like to thank Becky McEwan of Tauhara Sunrise Lodge at Lake Taupo. This is such a romantic hideaway with all imaginable luxuries that I cannot recommend it highly enough.
www.tauharasunrise.com
A very big thank you, too, to Hannah de Valda, who organised some fantastic interviews for the time I was in New Zealand, and who was such good company during our research chats.
UK
As with the first two books in this series, No Child of Mine and Don’t Let Me Go, Sarah Scully patiently and expertly guided me through the role that social services play in this sort of case. I truly can’t thank you enough, Sarah, for giving your time and knowledge so generously.
I must also thank Madeleine Dunham, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, for giving me the benefit of her expertise in working with children. I must stress that some of the opinions expressed in the book are not necessarily Madeleine’s, but have come from other sources of research.
Last, but by no means least, my thanks once again go to my dear friend Gill Hall for her invaluable input and for introducing me to Madeleine.
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
Epub ISBN: 9781473537668
Version 1.0
Published by Century 2017
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Copyright © Susan Lewis Ltd 2017
Cover images © Arcangel / Hair © Superstock
Susan Lewis has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this Work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published in Great Britain by Century in 2017
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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 9781780896045 (Hardback)
ISBN 9781780896052 (Trade paperback)