He nodded and saluted her with his glass before taking a sip. ‘Have you made a decision about Kinsley’s offer yet?’ he asked.
He was stalling, making idle chat.
‘I turned it down,’ she told him. ‘He’s still not quite taking no for an answer, but my mind’s made up. I’m OK with staying here.’ She wouldn’t get into anything about her new idea; it wasn’t what this was about, and really, she just wanted it over with now. ‘So how have things been with you?’ she asked, hedging again. ‘Everyone OK at home?’
He sat forward to put his glass on the coffee table and took several moments before answering. ‘I’ve handled everything really badly between us,’ he told her. ‘I know that. I mean, I like to think I’m pretty good in most situations, but it turns out … Well, I guess this proves I’m not.’
When he didn’t elaborate, she said nothing. Why make it easier for him?
‘I just … I didn’t want to burden you with what was happening,’ he said. ‘It came right out of the blue, and when you called that night …’
‘I still don’t know what I said,’ she reminded him. ‘I know I should, but … Well, whatever it was, it was obviously bad, so once again, I’m sorry.’
He nodded briefly. ‘I’m not sure what you said either,’ he confessed. ‘I had such a lot going round in my head. I knew it wasn’t the right time to tell you; you were obviously stressed, busy with a new series, trying to work things through with Kinsley … I guess I ended up thinking we needed to have some space while I got things sorted my end, and now, I’m honestly not sure how it’s managed to go on for so long, or if it was the right thing to do. No, Iknowit wasn’t the right thing. I’ve missed you, and I probably would have handledeverything better if I had talked to you, but like I said, it didn’t feel like the right time for you, and I was so damned angry when it happened …’
Realizing at last that she might have read everything wrong, her heart began racing as she found herself daring to feel hopeful. ‘When what happened?’ she asked carefully.
He swallowed. ‘Olivia’s been causing some problems.’
Her shock could hardly have been greater. ‘Your sister-in-law Olivia?’ she asked, needing to be sure, because Olivia to her was the woman who’d hired someone to kill his wife and tried to lay the blame at his door. Two other women had lost their lives that day, almost eighteen years ago now, and two years ago, the murders had been the subject ofHindsight’smost successful series to date. It was how she and David had met, when she’d gone into the case believing he was a killer who’d escaped justice, only to end up clearing his name.
‘Yes, that Olivia,’ he said hoarsely. ‘She’s been trying to block Rosie and Anna receiving their share of the proceeds from the sale of Kellon Hall.’
Knowing this was his wife’s ancestral home, she said, ‘But how can Olivia block anything? I mean, apart from being in prison … Oh God, please don’t say they’ve let her go already.’
‘No, no, she’s still there, but she’s instructed lawyers to challenge the inheritance. I’m told they’ve advised her that she doesn’t have a case, but instead of backing off as any normal person might, she threatened to tell Rosie things I’d rather Rosie never knew.’
Horribly aware of what those things were likely to be, Cristy said, ‘I don’t understand why she would do that. What on earth could she gain from it?’
‘Nothing, apart from hurting me even more than she already has. I can live with that, but not with her writing direct to Rosie.’
‘Oh God,’ Cristy gasped. ‘Please tell me she didn’t …’
‘Fortunately, Mum saw the letter first and gave it straight to me. The things Olivia said, to her own niece, for God’s sake. Olivia knows she has Down’s …’ His voice faltered as emotion got the better of him. ‘She told Rosie that I’m not her real father … I guess we know that’s true, but I’vealwaysconsidered her mine.’
Cristy knew very well how much Rosie meant to him – it was perhaps one of the things she loved most about him, the way he’d accepted his eldest daughter as his in spite of, or maybe even because of, the way she’d been conceived. She said, ‘Thank God your mother got to the letter in time.’
He nodded. ‘Especially considering the graphic detail she went into about the gang rape Lexie suffered. She told Rosie it was time for her to go out there and find out who her real father is.’
‘Jesus Christ,’ Cristy murmured, hardly able to believe anyone could be so cruel – and to her own niece.
‘She’s written again since, asking Rosie to come and visit her so she can explain certain things about me and why she needs to get as far away from me as she can. We intercepted that letter too.’
‘She’s lost her mind,’ Cristy stated, feeling no doubt of it.
Not disagreeing, he said, ‘My lawyer’s on it, obviously. He’s managed to get a restraining order to protect Rosie, but then she wrote to Anna, and that one got through.’
‘Oh God, no,’ Cristy muttered.
‘Thankfully, there’s no doubt about Anna being mine, but I ended up having to tell her everything about the rape, and you can probably imagine how upset she was to think of what her mother had been through. And she was so angry over what her aunt had tried to do to Rosie that she got in touch with her cousin, Olivia’s daughter, and toldhereverything. It’s been a nightmare on so many levels, but Ithink –hope– it’s over now. I’ve just come from seeing Sam, who I’m sure you remember is Olivia’s husband, and he’s going to try managing things from his end.’
‘Oh God, David,’ Cristy murmured, going to sit with him. ‘I should have been there for you … I would have, if you’d told me; you have to know that.’
Taking her hands in his, he said, ‘Yeah, I guess I do, and I’m sorry I didn’t give you the chance. I called it all wrong, and now I’m afraid I’ve ruined things between us …’
‘No. Of course you haven’t. Nothing like. I admit I thought you had changed your mind about me, but I never, for a minute, changed mine about you. Oh God.’ She laughed, as tears welled in her eyes. ‘This is what comes of us living so far apart. If we were in each other’s lives every day, we’d always turn to one another; we’dknowwhen something was wrong.’
His eyes were gently teasing as he said, ‘Is that you suggesting we live together?’
