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Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
The News Building
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain in ebook format in 2017 by HarperCollinsPublishers
Copyright © Cressida McLaughlin 2017
Cover design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2017
Cover illustration © Alice Stevenson
Cressida McLaughlin asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
Ebook Edition © December 2017 ISBN: 9780008273361
Version: 2018-09-24
Table of Contents
The atmosphere at the table inside the Riverside Inn was almost as frosty as the early December night. Summer sipped her pint, trying to stay calm, feeling the tension radiating off Claire, sitting beside her. As much as she tried, she couldn’t help glancing at her phone, calculating the minutes that Mason and Tania had been gone.
Mason and Tania.
Summer had never expected Tania to come back into Mason’s life. Until today, she had been a figure rooted firmly in the past, a woman of almost mythical status. She forced herself to move her phone away from her, unable to stop the sigh from escaping.
Claire put her hand over Summer’s. Summer felt a flash of anger but pushed it back down.
‘I am so, so sorry, Sum,’ Claire said. ‘I didn’t realize she’d be here. She assured me, when she organized the moorings for us, that she would be gone for the whole month. She said specifically that she didn’t want to cause an atmosphere, so I have no idea what she’s playing at!’
The remorse on Claire’s usually cheerful face changed it completely, and Summer’s anger began to fade, replaced by worry at the thought that Tania had misled Claire on purpose. ‘I know it’s not your fault,’ she said quietly. ‘But that doesn’t make it any easier.’
Claire took a sip of wine. ‘Of course it doesn’t. God, I had such high hopes for this trip. When I found out we had the opportunity to come to Little Venice for a week, so close to Christmas, and that there would be enough visitor moorings for all of us, I jumped at the chance. And I couldn’t imagine being here without you and the canal boat café. I know it’s been over a year since we were roving together, and that I manage fine with my band of brothers, but this was too special to miss. And I was going to tell you that Tania had sorted out the moorings for us, but as she’d promised she wouldn’t be here, I didn’t think it mattered. Especially when you told me Mason
