by Blake Pierce
“No way! She never said that to you! Please, Cassie, tell me you didn’t believe her.”
Cassie remembered she’d doubted some of what Harriet had said, but not that.
“I believed her. She was genuinely devastated.”
“Well, it seems to be her modus operandi, as I found out yesterday.”
Ryan’s voice was hard.
“Her modus operandi? What do you mean?”
“The Robinsons also hired her for a few months. Vaughan told me over drinks that she stole a number of valuables from their home during that time. When his wife confronted her, Harriet burst into screaming hysterics and said that Vaughan had made passes at her and that she wasn’t comfortable working for them any longer, and was considering pressing charges.”
“Really?”
Cassie was disturbed by how plausible this sounded.
“Given that she’d already asked me out to the pub, and that Trish couldn’t find her gold bracelet yesterday, I decided to nip this in the bud. I called the agency first thing today and asked if they could send someone else. Unfortunately they could only make the change from Friday, but we locked the jewelry away while she was here. I’m glad you’ll no longer have to put up with her rudeness—it was unacceptable and out of line.”
“Oh. Wow.”
Cassie didn’t know what to say. It seemed that Ryan had canceled Harriet and not the other way round.
It was a possibility. Everything he’d said made sense. Cassie felt utterly confused. It was like looking through two ends of a tunnel and seeing two completely different scenarios inside.
Ryan gently released her and smoothed her hair back from her face. The wind was getting stronger and it was becoming bitingly cold.
“Please, angel, can I help you carry your bags back inside?”
“OK,” Cassie agreed.
In a couple of minutes, her bags were stowed in her bedroom again.
She thought Ryan would leave her then, but instead he reached into his jacket pocket.
“You might have wondered how I knew you had gone. It was because I came to find you. I wanted to apologize for what you’ve been through, and explain that it’s been part of a necessary process. Also, I wanted to give you this.”
To Cassie’s amazement, he produced a large, square velvet box from the inner pocket of his jacket.
She opened it, and even though she’d been trying not to show any emotion or surprise, she caught her breath as she looked down.
Inside was an exquisite diamond necklace.
“I chose it for you today. I wanted you to know beyond doubt how much you mean to me. This is how much I value you. It’s a gift that comes with my heartfelt apology for what you’ve been through, and with my commitment that we will be together soon.”
Ryan spoke softly in a serious voice.
Cassie stared down at the diamonds, watching the stones flash with color where their facets reflected the hallway light.
“It’s beautiful,” she breathed.
“Wait till you see it in sunlight. It’s magnificent. Most of all, Cassie, most importantly, it’s given with my love.”
Cassie stood still, holding the box tightly, unable to believe what she’d just heard, because he’d said he loved her.
“Please, will you stay awhile longer? Just so that I can prove to you that what I’ve said now is the truth?”
Cassie’s mind was reeling. It was possible that she’d believed alternative versions, which were lies, and that Ryan had meant what he said. Didn’t they say actions spoke louder than words? The gift of this exquisite piece of jewelry was proof of commitment.
“I’ll stay,” she promised him.
Ryan’s face softened in relief. He drew her into his arms and kissed her deeply, and as Cassie responded with all the suppressed passion she’d been feeling, she realized her eyes were wet with tears.
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
The next morning, Cassie had thought she would wake up full of hope.
Instead, as soon as she raised her head, she felt nauseous. Her stomach was churning and tender, and she felt leaden with exhaustion.
“Ugh,” she said. She sat on her bed and doubled over, hoping that the queasiness would subside, but even the smell of coffee and toast wafting through from the kitchen seemed to be making it worse.
What had Trish cooked last night? Could the food have been off? Cassie wondered. In that case, the whole family would feel unwell.
Then a horrific thought occurred to her, which turned her blood to ice.
She could be pregnant.
What if she was?
Cassie closed her eyes, powerless to reason with herself and to stop her imagination from running away with worst-case scenarios.
She had never felt such fear. This brought home to her, in the most brutal and inescapable way, that her actions had consequences.
She had to check as soon as possible, because she needed to know.
She decided to ride the bus to town with the children. She could stop off at the pharmacy and pick up a test, and if she was lucky she might even be able to catch another bus back.
There was no way she could join the family for breakfast. Not the way she felt now, and definitely not after what had happened last night.
She wanted to spend the rest of the day in her room, staring at the necklace Ryan had given her, thinking of the words he’d whispered to her the previous night, and trying to convince herself that everything was going to be OK. She couldn’t bear anything to shatter the fragile hope she’d regained.
Slowly, Cassie got dressed, made sure there was some money in her coat pocket, and joined the children outside when it was time to catch the bus.
She hadn’t thought she would see them today at all and it felt strange to be continuing as normal, when she had imagined she would be holed up in a guesthouse and planning her escape from town.
“Are you coming with us?” Madison asked curiously, as Cassie took money out of her purse when the bus approached.
“I’m going to a shop,” she said.
“Who’s going to pick us up from school?” Madison asked after they had boarded the bus.
“I don’t know. I guess your mother will,” Cassie said.
She noticed that Madison didn’t brighten when she said that, as she’d expected her to. Instead she frowned.
“Mum said she was going away.”
Cassie’s heart leaped.
This was it, at last—the moment that Ryan had promised and that she’d been waiting for. Hope surged in her as she realized that there was an end in sight to this living hell, and that it would be sooner than she’d expected.
He hadn’t lied.
That necklace had come with a proper certificate, saying that the diamonds were genuine. You didn’t give genuine diamonds to somebody unless you cared. After all, diamonds were forever. They were a symbol of true love.
“Then I guess I’ll pick you up,” she said to Madison.
“Yay.” Madison’s face brightened.
Cassie felt confused, wondering if she had misinterpreted the young girl’s behavior all along. Could it be that Madison was upset about her mother being home?
For now, she had bigger worries on her plate, and her nausea flooded back as she remembered why she was heading to town.
To be pregnant now would be an absolute catastrophe.
In the pharmacy, Cassie searched for a while without success before realizing that the tests were behind the counter, where she would have to ask for them. That meant she had to wait until the shop was empty of customers. Then she sidled up to the pharmacist.
“Please, could I have a pregnancy test?” she asked.
“What kind, love?”
Cassie didn’t know. She wasn’t aware there were different kinds. Surely pregnancy was pregnancy?
“The cheapest one will be fine,” she said.
She paid for it hurriedly and stashed the box inside her coat.
The bus was o
nly due in an hour, so Cassie walked back, feeling better after being out in the fresh, crisp air. Even so, as she approached the house, her nervousness about the pregnancy test returned.
As soon as she got into the house, she rushed to the bathroom.
From down the corridor, she heard Ryan’s voice, filled with concern and understanding.
“Are you all packed up, Trish, love? You have everything?”
Hope buoyed her as she heard his words. It was happening. After a rollercoaster ride where she’d started believing her happiness was false and her reality was based on lies, it was all unfolding as Ryan had promised.
She locked herself in the bathroom and opened the box with shaking hands. This was the only thing that could still complicate the situation. Cassie prayed that it was a false alarm, and her sudden nausea had been due to stress, or else just a stomach bug.
She read the instructions carefully before squatting over the toilet, holding the test clumsily in her unsteady hand.
At that moment there was a loud knock on the bathroom door.
“Cassie?” Ryan called, sounding anxious. “You in there?”
In her fright, Cassie dropped the test stick into the toilet bowl.
She fumbled for it in a panic.
“Cassie?” Ryan called again.
“Yes, I’m here. I’ll just be a moment.”
What an embarrassing disaster. She dried the stick as best she could with toilet paper before trying again. The test had said wait two minutes, but she couldn’t keep Ryan waiting.
Since she couldn’t exactly come out holding it, she wrapped it up in more tissue and hid it in the bathroom cupboard.
Then, feeling sick with nerves and anticipation, she opened the door.
“Good morning, Cassie.”
Ryan sounded as cheerful as ever, and she picked up from his formal tone that Trish was nearby.
She waited, heart pounding, for him to announce the news that Trish was leaving.
Then he looked around.
“Ah, darling, you’re all set?”
Trish walked past, carrying an outsize shoulder bag—but where was her suitcase? This wasn’t the departure that Cassie had expected.
Ryan caught Trish around her waist as she passed and pulled her close for a tender kiss.
Cassie felt her world shatter all over again. What the hell was happening?
Trish looked immaculate as always. Her hair was perfectly blow-dried, and she was wearing navy jeans and a crimson coat.
“See you in the car,” she said, squeezing Ryan’s arm as Cassie gaped in consternation. Her perfume lingered in the air as she passed.
“We’re heading out to the countryside today. A combination of work and play,” Ryan told her, and Cassie couldn’t believe the casual way he announced it.
“We’re going to visit one of the area’s most famous vineyards—with a view to holding one of Trish’s events there. So it’s all tax-deductible research.” Ryan winked at her.
“What about the children?”
“You can use Trish’s car for the school run. Everything’s on the timetable as usual. Here are the keys.”
Ryan handed her the keys to the smart black Volvo.
He glanced behind him, and Cassie realized that he must be checking whether Trish was watching.
Then he leaned close to her and whispered in her ear.
“Everything will be OK. I promise you. This is the last hurdle. I need you to trust me, Cassie.”
He hand cupped her face, and before she could summon the strength she needed to push him away, he kissed her, deep and lingering.
“My beautiful,” he whispered.
Cassie could smell Trish’s perfume on his skin.
As Ryan walked away, Cassie wanted to vomit. Her nausea flooded back and she swallowed hard, leaning against the wall.
She was about to run into the bathroom and try to throw up in the hope it would make her feel better, when she realized that Ryan and Trish hadn’t yet left. They seemed to be having an altercation outside—or at any rate, a spirited argument.
Then she heard the click of heels, and Trish marched down the hall toward her.
“Please give me those keys,” she said. “No offense, but I’m not willing to allow anyone except Ryan and me to drive the Volvo. Here are the Land Rover’s keys. You can use it to fetch and carry the kids.”
She held out her hand and Cassie gave her the car keys, accepting the others in return.
A moment later the front door slammed and she heard the purr of the Volvo pulling away.
In the blink of an eye, everything had changed.
Ryan’s reassurances seemed worthless now. Her sense of security had evaporated and she knew that deeply, instinctively, she had never believed his version.
She was back where she’d been the previous day.
The only difference was that she now had the additional worry that she might be pregnant, which made her predicament a thousand times worse.
Cassie headed back to the bathroom and unwrapped the pregnancy test. Her hands were so shaky that she almost dropped it again.
Taking a deep breath and steeling herself for the worst, she stared down at the test.
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
Peering at the window of the pregnancy test, Cassie frowned.
According to the instructions, there should be either one or two lines in the window. One would mean she was not pregnant and two would mean she was.
Instead, the window was gray and blurred and there were no lines visible at all. It shouldn’t be like that, and it must mean that the test had malfunctioned.
Cassie let out a gasp of frustration.
She’d messed it up by dropping it in the toilet bowl, and now she would have to go back and buy another test. She could do it on the way to fetch the children. Probably, she should buy two, just in case, because she couldn’t keep going back to the damned pharmacy. This was a small town and people would remember her. Cassie could imagine the gossip.
“The girl with the auburn waves came back three times for tests. Three times! I’m sure I’ve seen her in town before. Who does she work for?”
Cassie felt shredded by stress. She hadn’t realized how much Ryan’s support had meant until it had been torn away. Now she was entirely alone. There was nobody she could talk to or trust, and she couldn’t hold back the tears.
She lay prone on the bed and sobbed. She was roused a few minutes later by the ringing of the landline.
She climbed off the bed, scrubbing her eyes as she made her way to the hall.
“Hello, Ellis residence,” she said.
“Is that Mrs. Ellis?”
“No—no. She’s just left. It’s Cassie speaking. Can I help you?”
“It’s the school secretary phoning. We’ve had a small fire break out in one of the classrooms, due to an electrical short. Nobody has been hurt and the fire is under control, but there’s a lot of smoke in the building. We’re calling to ask you to collect your children immediately. School will be closed tomorrow while we effect the repairs and ensure the air quality complies with the required standards.”
“All right. I will.”
“Your promptness will be appreciated. Thank you, ma’am.”
Damn, Cassie thought. So much for purchasing the next pregnancy test at her leisure. She’d have to ask the children to wait in the car while she ran in and grabbed it.
She wondered if she should tell Ryan about the fire and decided to wait until the children were home. When she checked her phone as she was about to leave the house, she was astonished to find a text from him.
“We’ve decided to make our trip an overnight stay. You can expect us back late tomorrow. Thanks—R.”
Overnight stay?
Cassie’s jaw clenched so hard as she read the words, she thought her teeth might break.
This wasn’t ending things. Quite the contrary. From this text it was clear that Ryan and Trish’s relationship was business as u
sual, and the lighthearted message was just rubbing her face in it.
“Screw you, you bastard,” she muttered as she put her phone away, remembering that these were the exact words that Harriet had spat at Ryan on her way out.
Cassie realized there was no worse feeling than being the victim of a serial liar. It had annihilated her self-worth and left her feeling cheap and completely disposable. She wondered if she would ever be able to trust again, after having been deceived so badly.
*
Outside the school’s entry gate, it was organized chaos. Two traffic police had been deployed to manage the influx of cars. A fire engine was still parked outside the building, even though Cassie could see no smoke or flames.
Dylan and Madison ran over to the Land Rover and seemed pleased that she was behind the wheel.
“We had such fun, Cassie,” Madison said. “We didn’t get to do any lessons today. It was thrilling. It was a real fire drill, for a real fire.”
“The fire started in our classroom. There was so much smoke, we could hardly see the door,” Dylan added.
“That sounds exciting, but a fire is always serious so I’m glad you’re OK and that you stayed calm. We’re going to stop by the pharmacy on the way as I need to pick up something.”
She was able to find a parking space just around the corner.
“I won’t be a minute,” she told the children before rushing inside.
The attendant recognized her.
“Back again?” she asked as Cassie gritted her teeth.
“The test didn’t work. I messed it up. I need another, please.”
“How long is it since your missed period?” the attendant asked, turning to the boxes.
“I—er.” Cassie’s mind whirled and for a moment she couldn’t remember. “No, I haven’t missed it yet. It’s due in a couple of days, but I’ve been feeling sick and wanted to make sure.”
“You want the early detection one, then. It should give results as early as five days before your period. There are two brands here—which one?”
“Whichever’s cheaper,” Cassie said faintly.
The woman slid the box across the counter.