best. He said it laughingly, but—yes, I can imagine.’
‘So can I,’ Freya said cynically. ‘I don’t think it ever crosses Jackson’s mind that he might be wrong.’
Janine stared. ‘Darling, what’s got into you? You’re even more upset than you were when Dan betrayed you.’
‘I’m not upset, I’m furious,’ Freya said quickly.
‘It’s more than that. This has hit you hard—even harder than Dan.’
‘No! Of course it hasn’t—it’s just different. Please, I don’t want to talk about it any more. And I think it’s time I went back to London, got another job and made a new start.’
She didn’t say that she wanted to delete Jackson from her life, but no words were necessary. Each knew what the other was thinking. They hugged, and then Freya left the room to head upstairs.
Neither of them saw the man standing back in the shadows, where he’d hastily retreated to avoid being discovered. Amos knew he needed time to consider everything that he’d overheard. And that perhaps all the time in the world would not be enough.
* * *
There was a flight to London later that morning and Freya secured a seat. When she appeared for breakfast she was already dressed to depart. She found Jackson at the table alone.
‘We need a nice long talk,’ he said to her in a low voice.
‘I’m afraid not. I’m leaving in an hour.’
‘What? Freya, you can’t leave things like this. We have to sort it out.’
‘There’s nothing to sort. I’ve seen the truth about you now, and I don’t like it. This is where it ends. You should be glad. I won’t be a nuisance to you any more.’
He turned away and strode around the room, tearing at his hair.
‘No, I’m not accepting this,’ he said, returning to stand before her.
‘I don’t care what you accept. I didn’t ask your permission,’ she said furiously. ‘I’m returning to London and I don’t want to see or talk to you again.’
‘You’d do this because I made one little mistake?’
‘You treated me with contempt and I don’t see that as a “little mistake”.’
‘Why must you be so unforgiving?’ he demanded. ‘I was wrong, I’ve admitted that. Now I want to put things right.’
‘But they can’t be put right. Ever. And that’s final.’
Jackson stared at her as though seeing her for the first time. Or as though someone else had appeared in her place.
‘I can’t believe this is really you,’ he breathed. ‘I’ve never known you like this before—so hard and unforgiving.’
‘I’m not hard. I’m just someone who’s been pushed around and manipulated enough and I’m not going to put up with it any more. You think this isn’t really me? It’s the me I am now. She’s different to the old one. Don’t mess with her.’
Jackson met her eyes, trying to look deep inside and rediscover the woman he knew. But she’d vanished into thin air, leaving behind an enemy. There was a stab of pain in his heart, but at the same time his temper began to rise.
‘Right,’ he said. ‘Then I won’t mess with her. She’s cold-hearted, ill-natured—well, never mind the rest.’
‘Cold-hearted?’ she echoed in fury. ‘You dare call me cold-hearted after everything that’s happened? I’m the one who’s been knocked down and kicked around by people I trusted. But perhaps you’re right. It’s time I became cold so that it can never happen again.’
‘And you think you can protect yourself from pain for ever?’
‘Yes, because people who feel nothing can’t be hurt.’
‘That’s the coward’s way out. I never thought I’d see it in you, but if you can’t find it in your heart to forgive a mistake from someone who’s truly sorry then you’re not the woman I thought you were. Just who you are is something I won’t stick around to find out. But I’ll say this. Heaven help anyone you meet in future. Heaven help the man who’s fool enough to fall in love with you. Because you’ll kick him in the guts the first time he gets muddled.’
‘That’s all you think it was? A muddle? Oh, no! You just thought you knew better than anyone else.’
‘Yes, I believed I was doing the right thing,’ he shouted. ‘Is that a crime?’
‘It can be.’
‘You’re saying I was wrong to try to protect you from more pain? I failed, but I still think I was right to try.’
How like Amos he looked, with his face set and unrelenting.
‘You’re so sure you know best,’ she challenged.
‘That’s why people do things. Because they think it’s right at the time.’
‘But some people always think they’re right. Look, we’re never going to agree. Let’s leave it there.’
‘Freya, why are you so determined to think the worst of me?’
‘I don’t have any choice.’
‘Of course you do. Something’s making you attack me far more than I deserve.’
‘I’ve just reached a turning point, that’s all. You said it yourself—there’s another side of me coming out.’
‘Then banish her fast, or she’ll haunt you for ever.’
‘Good. She’ll keep me safe.’
‘She’ll destroy you.’
‘That’s my decision. And this time I know best. So let’s get that clear and draw a line under it.’
His face grew even more tense, and she thought he was about to say something else, but the sound of Janine’s voice outside startled them both and made them turn away from each other.
‘There you are,’ she said, entering the room. ‘Have you seen Amos?’
‘He’s out there,’ Jackson said, pointing through the window to where Amos could be seen sitting in the garden, staring out over the bay.
He was very still, unlike his normal restless self. They all watched him for a few moments, but he didn’t move.
‘It’s time I was going to the airport,’ Freya said.
‘Perhaps Jackson could take you.’
‘No!’
They both said it, speaking so swiftly and sharply that
