by Sandie Jones
Her windpipe feels as if it’s being squeezed by the people she loves the most, as it occurs to her that Noah was the only one of them not to have been injured. She doesn’t want to allow the thought to infiltrate her exhausted brain, but as much as she tries to push it away, it only comes back at her even louder.
‘Rachel said she was going to tell Noah what was going on as well,’ Jack adds, almost as an afterthought.
‘And did she?’
‘I’m tired,’ says Jack, sidestepping the question.
‘I’m sorry, I won’t keep you from rest for much longer,’ says Da Silva. ‘Just a couple more questions, then I will leave you to sleep.’
‘I begged her to wait until we got home, so as not to ruin my brother’s wedding, but she was insistent that he know.’
‘So, she told him?’
‘Yes,’ says Jack. ‘She must have done, because the last I saw of him he was walking up the hill, away from the restaurant. I guess he’d gone to let off some steam.’
‘You were happy that he was leaving?’ asks Da Silva.
‘I was relieved that he wasn’t going to make a scene,’ says Jack. ‘I’ve been on the wrong side of his temper before and believe you me, I’d happily avoid it.’
‘So, he’s known to get angry?’ asks Da Silva.
‘With me, yes,’ says Jack.
Rachel listens in disbelief as one lie after another trips off of Jack’s tongue.
‘Because he’s always seen me as the one who took Rachel away from him. They were college sweethearts and he’s never got over losing her. So, finding out that I’m now having an affair with his wife would have sent him over the edge.’
If he realizes his Freudian slip, he doesn’t apologize for it.
‘Oh my God,’ wails Jack suddenly, sounding like a wounded animal. ‘This can’t be happening. None of this makes any sense.’
‘I’m really sorry to push you, Mr Hunter, but just one more question, if I may. Can I ask if you recognize this?’
Rachel wants to throw herself off the bed and through the curtain to see what Jack’s being shown.
‘That’s . . .’ starts Jack before clearing his throat with a cough. ‘That’s my watch. Wh-where did you find it?’
‘It was in the footwell of the car, Mr Hunter.’
29
‘It was a beautiful service,’ says Rachel to Ali’s mum.
‘Thank you for coming,’ says Maria, tearfully. ‘I know it couldn’t have been easy. It’s not easy for any of us.’
Maria hugs her tightly, as if she never wants to let her go.
Rachel hugs her back even tighter. ‘I can’t thank you enough,’ she says.
‘What for?’ asks Maria.
‘For everything.’ Her eyes meet Maria’s. ‘If it wasn’t for you and Ali . . .’
Maria nods as a tear falls onto her cheek. ‘I knew, as soon as she told me about Jack and Paige, that he didn’t deserve you. She knew it too. She couldn’t bear to see them hurt you, but she really didn’t know what to do for the best. She honestly thought that threatening to expose their affair was the right thing to do, but look how that turned out.’
Rachel takes hold of Maria’s hand. ‘But if you hadn’t overheard Jack and Paige talking on the terrace just before, we’d never have known what happened.’
Maria sniffs and wipes a tear with a tissue. ‘As soon as she told him it was over, I knew he was going to do something. He was so mad, though I could never have imagined in my worst nightmare that he was capable of such . . . such horror.’
‘I wonder why she called it off,’ says Rachel, almost to herself, like she had a thousand times before.
‘It sounded as if the incident with Noah the day before made her realize just how much she loved him,’ says Maria.
Rachel can’t help but flinch at the irony that it made her realize the very same thing.
‘Though, she wasn’t to know that Jack wasn’t going to take no for an answer,’ says Maria.
‘But to tell her that if he couldn’t have her, no one could . . .’
‘I know,’ says Maria. ‘I hear him saying that in my head all the time and it chills me to the bone.’
‘I can’t stop myself from thinking . . .’ says Rachel, choking back tears.
Maria gives her the strength she needs by giving her hand a squeeze.
‘About what Paige must have thought when she got in that car with him. Did she think they were just going to talk? That he was going to drive her somewhere to make her see sense? Even as he drove at speed towards the terrace, did she think that it was just scare-tactics and he’d stop before it was too late?’
‘Yes to all of those, I’d imagine.’
‘I hope she didn’t know that he was going to keep going,’ says Rachel. ‘I hope it all happened so quickly that she had no idea of the coward that he was.’
‘I would imagine, like the rest of us, she knew exactly what kind of man he was even before he jumped out. It was just too late for her to do anything about it.’
The battle to hold back her tears proves futile. ‘I’m so sorry,’ says Rachel. ‘It’s all my fault. None of this would have happened if it wasn’t for me. If I’d just stopped digging, forcing people to tell the truth . . .’
‘Listen to me,’ says Maria. ‘You can’t allow yourself to think that what happened was your fault. There was no one else to blame but Jack.’
‘Yes, but if I’d just left it alone, then we’d all be none the wiser, and Ali wouldn’t have . . .’ She chokes on her words.
‘She was always going to do right by you, no matter what,’ says Maria.
Rachel smiles gratefully. ‘Here she is,’ she says as Ali approaches them in a flowing white dress that falls in rivulets to the floor. ‘You look absolutely gorgeous.’
‘Though, hopefully a little more conservative this time,’ says Ali, laughing as she looks down at the sweetheart neckline that just shows the very top of her cleavage. ‘But it’s all for Grandma Nettie, so it’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.’
‘I’m so pleased she got to see you and Will do it all over again. How are you? How have you been?’
Ali wrinkles her nose. ‘Not too bad, considering the extent of my injuries. I’m still getting the odd headache, but apparently that’s very common after a brain trauma.’
Rachel nods solemnly.
‘But,’ says Ali, smiling widely, ‘my physio says there’s no reason why we can’t start trying for a baby.’
‘Oh, that’s wonderful news,’ says Rachel, welling up at the thought of her and Will as parents.
Ali laughs. ‘Chrissy cried when I told her as well.’
‘How’s she doing?’ asks Rachel.
‘She’s getting stronger all the time. She wanted to come back for today, but I told her it would be too much.’
‘So, she’s still in Portugal?’ asks Rachel.
Ali nods. ‘Yep, still in Portugal. Still in love with Paulo’s son!’
Her optimism, as she offers a winning smile, is infectious. ‘What about you?’ she asks, with a nod to Noah, who’s talking to Will behind her.
Rachel can’t help but grin. ‘It’s still early days, but I’m as happy as I can ever imagine being. And I’ve just started my teacher training.’
‘I’m so thrilled for you,’ says Ali. ‘And Josh and Chloe?’
‘They’re doing okay,’ says Rachel. ‘The anniversary last week was really hard because, whichever way you look at it, Chloe’s lost her mother and, essentially, Josh has lost his dad.’
‘Has he?’ asks Ali, tilting her head to the side.
Rachel knows what she’s implying. ‘Yes,’ she says. ‘He has.’
Ali offers an awkward half-smile, as if she doesn’t know if that’s good news or not. If Rachel were honest, she’s not quite sure herself. But at least it means the past twenty years haven’t all been a lie.
‘I was just saying to your mum, if it weren’t for you two . . .’
; Ali takes her hand as Rachel chokes on the words. ‘He would have been found guilty no matter what,’ she says.
‘Perhaps,’ says Rachel. ‘But thank you for taking the stand and telling the truth. It couldn’t have been easy.’
‘I wasn’t going to let him get away with saying what he said about me,’ says Ali. ‘I’ve had a lifetime of it and I’m not going to put up with it anymore.’
Rachel can’t help but be buoyed by her chutzpah. ‘But if you hadn’t shown him for the liar he was . . .’
‘I don’t think me telling the court that I’d never kissed him and had certainly never slept with him, got him convicted of manslaughter,’ says Ali.
‘But by all of us working together we were able to show what he was capable of,’ says Rachel. ‘We got justice for Paige.’
‘I think the watch got justice for Paige,’ says Maria. ‘He was never going to be able to explain how it came to be in the car.’
Rachel steels herself, knowing she needs to tell them that she could.
‘I . . .’ she starts.
‘That’s because there was no other explanation,’ interrupts Ali, taking Rachel’s hand and looking at her so intently that it feels as if she can see straight through her.
Perhaps she can.
EPILOGUE
Up until that moment, I thought I’d wanted Rachel to tell me what I already knew. But just as she was about to, I suddenly realized it wasn’t important anymore.
It didn’t matter that I’d seen her put Jack’s watch into Paige’s bag when she was standing at the bar. I’d greatly admired her for it at the time, cheered by her courage to call Paige out by showing her what she’d done and what she stood to lose. I’d hoped that Paige would read the inscription on the back and be reminded of the grave error of judgement she’d made. It would never have made things right, but knowing Rachel as I know her, she would have gone to the ends of the world to try and forgive her husband and best friend for their betrayal.
But they didn’t deserve to be forgiven and if my silence made her see that, then I’m only too happy to have helped seal their fate.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
As always, the first thank you goes to my agent Tanera Simons at Darley Anderson, who makes me feel as if I’m the only author she looks after. Nothing is ever too much trouble and she always has my best interests at heart. I’m not much of a businesswoman; it’s the reason I make up stories for a living, using my fictional world as an excuse to escape the real one. But she has one foot firmly in both camps and I will be forever grateful to her for always having my back.
The same can also be said for the rest of the team at Darley Anderson; Mary Darby, Georgia Fuller, Kristina Egan, Sheila David and Rosanna Bellingham, who all somehow manage to turn my scrawled ramblings into a paid occupation. I’ve got the best job in the world – thank you!
This is the fourth book I’ve worked on with Catherine Richards, my amazing editor at Minotaur Books (US), and it feels like we’re really getting into the swing of things now! As ever, she has waved her magic wand over the initial drafts of The Guilt Trip, but I hope that with each book, I’ve honed my craft, so that I’m closer to delivering what she’s expecting the first time around! Thank you for your patience!
Also to Gillian Green, my editor at Pan Macmillan UK, who seamlessly picked up where Vicki Mellor left off. Thank you for your support and enthusiasm. I feel very lucky to have had the valuable insight of two brilliant editors.
Writing a book is easy compared to what goes on behind the scenes. Many thanks to Nettie Finn, Joseph Brosnan, Sarah Melnyk, Matthew Cole and Becky Lloyd for everything that you do.
A big thank you to all the Alis out there! We probably all know someone as spirited and irrepressible as her and, if we’re honest, might even have gone out of our way to avoid them. But I have thoroughly enjoyed writing her character and I vow to be ‘more Ali’ in the future!
To my friends and family for once again allowing me to go into my writing hole and not come up for air until I was done.
After months of scratching our heads for a title, The Guilt Trip quite literally tripped off my son’s tongue over dinner one night. It says everything that this book is about and is absolutely inspired. Thank you, Oliver!
And lastly, saving the biggest thank you for you – for buying this book, reading it and talking about it. You have no idea how much I appreciate your ongoing support and I hope you enjoyed it.
PRAISE FOR SANDIE JONES
‘One of the most twisted and entertaining plots’
Reese Witherspoon
‘An absolute corker – wickedly relatable story, wonderful characters and a great twist. Should definitely be on your reading list for this summer’
T. M. Logan, bestselling author of Lies
‘A nice twist. I enjoyed the increasingly barbed exchanges between the mother and the prospective daughter-in-law – I think a lot of readers will probably identify with events in the book!’
Jojo Moyes
‘A twisty, deliciously fun read’
Sarah Pekkanen, bestselling author of The Wife Between Us
‘What an incredible read. Pammie was such a compelling and unique villain . . . It’s a definite must-read this summer!’
Hollie Overton, author of Baby Doll
‘Knocked my socks off! Psychological suspense at its most addictive, with a shocker of an ending. I couldn’t put it down!’
Michele Campbell, author of It’s Always the Husband
‘Thoroughly entertaining. Pammie is the mother-in-law from hell!’
Michelle Frances, number one bestselling author of The Girlfriend
‘Addictive . . . will keep you glued to the page’
Good Housekeeping
‘A compulsive, claustrophobic read. It made my heart rate climb, speaking to my darkest fears as a wife and mother’
Emma Kavanagh, author of The Killer on the Wall
‘A fast, easy read with skilful twists’
Sunday Mirror
‘Fun and fiendishly clever with a twist you will not see coming. Make room in your beach bag for this one’
Wendy Walker, bestselling author of All Is Not Forgotten
‘An absorbing thriller with a great twist. A perfect beach read’
Kristin Hannah, number one New York Times bestselling author of The Nightingale
‘Devoured this in two days. Compulsive, superbly plotted and all too believable! Earmark it now for your TBR pile’
Michelle Davies, critically acclaimed author of Gone Astray
‘A twisty, dark psychological thriller you’ll want to race through’
Best
‘Character-driven and intense, Sandie Jones pushes this perfect family to the limit’
Woman
THE GUILT TRIP
SANDIE JONES is the author of The Half Sister, The First Mistake and the bestseller The Other Woman, which was also a Reese Witherspoon pick. Previously a freelance journalist, she has contributed to the Sunday Times, Mail on Sunday, Woman’s Weekly and Hello magazine, amongst others. She lives in London with her husband and three children.
Also by Sandie Jones
The Other Woman
The First Mistake
The Half Sister
First published 2021 by Macmillan
This electronic edition first published 2021 by Pan Books
an imprint of Pan Macmillan
The Smithson, 6 Briset Street, London EC1M 5NR
EU representative: Macmillan Publishers Ireland Limited,
Mallard Lodge, Lansdowne Village, Dublin 4
Associated companies throughout the world
www.panmacmillan.com
ISBN 978-1-5290-3306-9
Copyright © Sandie Jones 2021
Cover images © Getty Images / Westend61
The right of Sandie Jones to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
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