‘I didn’t deserve one day of normality in those sixteen years,’ I reply. ‘I’m a danger to be around. He delayed the inevitable. Put everyone around me at risk.’
‘Had I not dared you to do that swim, you wouldn’t have died and seen Callum. And that’s what started all this. I feel responsible.’
‘No, I’m to blame, not you. If he hadn’t appeared then, he’d have emerged another way. It was only a matter of time.’ A moment passes before I speak again. ‘Can you forgive me, Mel?’
She hesitates before answering. ‘Yes,’ she replies, as though surprised. ‘I think so. And you? Do you forgive me for the ways in which I hurt you?’
‘Of course. I always will.’
‘But you hated me a few days ago.’
I will never stop loving this woman. ‘No matter what you do to me, you will go to your grave with my heart in your hands.’
She looks behind her across the hallway at the closed bedroom door. ‘Did you bring them here?’
‘Yes. They’re in the spare bedroom.’
‘Can I see them?’ she asks hesitantly.
‘I can’t stop you if you think you really want to.’
‘I think I should.’
I nod then lead the way, stretching out my arm to push open the door. Here, Melissa regards her own and Adrienne’s lifeless bodies lying on a bed, wrapped from head to toe in plastic sheeting and secured with tape.
I turn to gauge her reaction, but my hallucination of her has vanished as suddenly as it appeared.
Chapter 95
Three Days Earlier
Melissa
‘I don’tblameMel for having that abortion.’
‘Whatdid she say?’ Damon asks Melissa.
The temperature between the three of them plummets. Damon’s gaze narrows, his glare switching from Adrienne to Melissa. A flicker of something passes through him again and lingers before he can conceal it. Adrienne also seems to sense it and takes a step back, allowing space between them. She turns to Melissa, who is shrinking inside herself.
‘What is she talking about?’ Damon asks her.
She opens her mouth, but she cannot find the words.
‘Mel?’ he continues.
She watches his face pale as the truth begins to settle.
‘You had an abortion?’ he says. ‘When?’
She says nothing, her focus falling to the half-finished driveway below her. She waits for the penny to drop.
‘There was no training course in Harrogate, was there?’ he asks. ‘You told me we lost the baby there. But you had a termination instead, didn’t you?’
‘Yes.’
‘Why?’
‘Because I wasn’t ready. Not then.’
