The taxi pulled up outside the shabby façade of the hotel in Brighton, Daniel helped Oriel out and paid the driver, then escorted her inside.
The woman at the desk, a dilatory creature who drank from a glass while addressing them, said that the occupants of room 14 were out at present. Daniel said they were expecting him and he would wait. He was in the act of shepherding his befuddled companion to a chair when another taxi pulled up outside. His alert gaze scoured the vehicle, and his heart plummeted in disappointment. Nat and Bright were alone. Thank God he had not told Oriel about the children.
She had seen her parents getting out of the taxi and went nervously to greet them.
It was as he went with her that Daniel saw another small head start to emerge after those of the adults, heard Oriel’s joyful intake of breath as she ran to the door, hurling it open and throwing herself at her children. Rushing after her, his anxious eyes went to Nat for confirmation, which was delivered in one simple nod. Relaxing, he allowed himself to smile, sharing the joy of his beloved, whilst his heart was filled with envy and sadness for a loss that would never be healed.
First published in the United Kingdom in 1997 by HarperCollins Publishers
This edition published in the United Kingdom in 2018 by
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Copyright © Sheelagh Kelly, 1997
The moral right of Sheelagh Kelly to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781788630764
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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A Complicated Woman Page 58