‘It’s not pretty,’ I warn her.
‘Not possible.’ Savannah hangs up. Two seconds later, her sunny face lights up my screen.
‘What happened?’ Concern radiates from her pale blue eyes.
I fill her in on the entire sorry debacle, and another wave of shame crashes over me.
‘Oh, sweetie, I’m so sorry.’ She curls her ash blonde hair round her index finger. ‘I wish I was there to give you a hug.’
‘Me too. I could do with one right now. Tootsie’s good company, but her arms aren’t big enough to wrap around me. Plus, she doesn’t drink Sancerre.’
‘There she is! I knew you were in there somewhere. Maybe you should pour yourself a glass.’ She takes a long sip from a mug in front of her.
‘Is that what you’re slugging in there?’
A less than ladylike snort erupts from her mouth. ‘No way, you should know me better than that.’ She fires a comical wink. ‘It’s mulled wine! It is almost Christmas, after all.’
A low groan rumbles from my mouth. ‘Don’t remind me. I told you I’d be lonely this Christmas.’
‘And I promised you that you wouldn’t be.’
I readjust my legs, folding them beneath me on the couch, shifting the sleeping dog a fraction on my lap from where her tiny paws are digging into my ribcage. ‘How’s the other thing going?’ It sickens me to mention IT or HIM by name.
‘I’m working on it.’ Her tone is grim. ‘I started a social media campaign #amanscorned and you have a lot of support from women across the country, but the videos haven’t been taken down yet.’ She blows out a long breath. ‘I won’t stop until they are, Holly, I promise.’
‘Thanks, Sav. You really are the best.’ My heart balloons in my chest. My parents’ success might have had its drawbacks for our family life, but thank God they moved me to St. Jude’s because otherwise I may never have met Savannah and Ashley, and a life without them is inconceivable.
‘Get a drink. Relax. There’s nothing you can do about any of it. Leave the rest to me. I’m sure lover boy will come around.’
‘I doubt it.’This is all mine. No one else looks or touches it.‘Talk later.’
I place a snoring Tootsie back into her bed and faceplant onto the couch.
Three hours later, the front door bangs open. Familiar heavy boots pad along the corridor. My ears prick to attention. My stomach is a ball of nerves.
If Nate’s here to berate me for not telling him the extent of my situation, he need not bother. No one is more disgusted with me than me.
‘Holly?’ his demanding voice calls.
‘Here.’ I barely lift my head from the couch.
Nate strides round to me and drops to his knees. Tootsie licks his face before hopping to the floor and back to her own bed.
‘Sweetheart, I am so, so sorry.’ Nate takes both my hands in his. I can only imagine what a horror show I look like lying here. Smudged make up. Swollen eyes. Puffy cheeks. It can’t be any worse than that video, though. Different, perhaps, but no worse.
‘What are you sorry for?’ I sniff. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I’m sorry you’re probably about to become a laughingstock by association. I’m sorry the whole damn thing happened that night. And I’m sorry I ever went out with Dan Hargreaves in the first place.’
His thumb roams the back of my hand in soft, soothing strokes. ‘Sweetheart, it’s not your fault. You were violated, maybe not physically, but emotionally. And that can be just as traumatising. I know what it’s like, believe me. It’s horrific looking over your shoulder the whole time to see if someone recognises you. Or if they have a phone in their hand ready to snap a picture to make a few quid. What that dickhead did to you was beyond damaging. It was downright cruel. But he won’t do it again.’
‘What do you mean?’ Hope sparks in my chest.
‘He’s been served papers already. I have the best law firm in the country all over this. That’s the only reason I didn’t run out of the castle doors straight after you. It was imperative we shut this thing down first.’
A fresh round of tears falls from my eyes, but these feel more like relief. Like this nightmare might finally be coming to an end. ‘You were so mad.’
‘Not with you, sweetheart. I was madforyou.’ His lips press against my temple with a reassuring firmness.
‘Do you think less of me now you know what a joke I am?’ I extract one hand from his and wipe the back of it across my damp face.
