that she wouldn’t ring before the evening. That she’d pull herself together before she rang.
And at five to seven she punched the number into her phone with shaking fingers.
Please, please, let her be there.
‘Cassie Rivers speaking.’
‘Aunt Cassie? It’s Amy. I was wondering…can I come down at the weekend and stay for a bit, please?’
Amy’s aunt blew out a breath. ‘Love, you know you’re always welcome here, but I’m afraid Joe and I are off to Australia, the day after tomorrow.’
Of course they were. Her cousin Beth’s first baby was due in a month, and Cassie and Joe wanted to go and spend some time with their only daughter and their very first grandchild. Cassie had been bubbling about it for weeks. What kind of selfish, thoughtless person could forget about something like that?
The same kind of person who’d wrecked her best friend’s life.
She dragged her thoughts back together. ‘Sorry, Cassie. I wasn’t thinking.’
But maybe some of the misery in her voice communicated itself to her aunt, because Cassie said gently, ‘More like you’re too tired to remember. You drive yourself too hard, love.’
And had done so ever since she’d started her neurosurgeon’s training. She’d wanted to be among the best in her field. She’d been bang on target, until she’d screwed up so badly with Ben. And since then everything had fallen apart. Not that she’d talked to anyone about it; even if her parents hadn’t been thousands of miles away in the States, she couldn’t have talked to them about her failure, and she hadn’t wanted to lean on her aunt and uncle. In the circumstances, talking to Laura wasn’t an option: so she’d just had to suck it up and deal with it by herself.
She’d failed at that, too.
‘I’m OK,’ she said neutrally.
‘Look, love, even though we’re not going to be here, you’re welcome to come and spend some time here. How long were you thinking of staying?’
‘I’m not sure.’
‘A few days? A week?’ Cassie suggested.
‘I’m, um, taking a sabbatical. Maybe a couple of weeks, if that’s OK?’
‘A fortnight isn’t a sabbatical, it’s a break. But you’re not on holiday, are you?’ Cassie asked perceptively. ‘What’s happened?’
‘I just need a bit of time to think things through,’ Amy prevaricated.
‘All right, love.’
Amy heard the subtext clearly: I won’t push until you’re ready to talk about it.
Bless her.
‘Stay for as long as you like. We’ll be back in six weeks, and you’re more than welcome to stay after we get back,’ Cassie continued. ‘You can house-sit for us while we’re away. And your being here means we won’t have to put Buster in kennels.’
Typical Cassie. Putting it in a way that made Amy feel she wasn’t doing all the taking—and in a way that she couldn’t refuse. ‘Thanks, Cassie. I’d like that. And I’ll make sure I take him for a walk every day.’ The chocolate Labrador was elderly now, but Amy could still remember her aunt and uncle getting him as a pup, when she’d stayed for the summer holidays before her finals.
‘Joe’s locum is staying, too, but there’s plenty of room—he won’t get in your way.’
Joe’s locum was the real house-sitter, Amy guessed. So Cassie probably hadn’t even booked Buster into kennels in the first place. ‘Are you sure you don’t mind?’
‘Of course we don’t, love.’ There was a pause. ‘Amy, why don’t you throw your stuff in a bag, get in the car and come down right now? It sounds as if you could do with a good meal and a chat.’
Amy almost cracked. Unconditional love and support was something she wanted so badly—but something she knew she really didn’t deserve. Not after what she’d done. Besides, Joe and Cassie were so excited about Australia and the new baby. She couldn’t bring herself to worry them with her own problems when they were about to go to the other side of the world. ‘Thanks, but I have a few things I need to sort out in London.’
‘All right, then we’ll talk now.’
Panic made Amy catch her breath. ‘You must be in the middle of packing. Don’t let me hold you up, Cassie. Honestly, I’m fine. I just need a bit of time off. You know how you’re always nagging me about working too hard.’
Cassie didn’t sound so sure about it, but to Amy’s relief she didn’t push it. ‘Well, we’ll leave the key in the usual place. And I’ll text you when we get to Australia. You know you can me call any time—though remember we’re nine hours ahead of you, in Melbourne.’
‘I will. And thanks, Cassie.’ For the bolthole. For the breathing space. For not pushing her.
‘Any time, love.’
‘Give my love to Beth. I hope she gets an easy de-livery—and I want to see a picture of the baby as soon as you’re allowed to take one, OK?’
‘You can count on it, love,’ Cassie said. ‘Drive safely.’
‘I will,’ Amy promised. ‘Have a good trip.’
Chapter Two
ON Thursday morning, just as the rush hour ended, Amy left London for Norfolk. By lunchtime, she’d reached the large seaside town where her uncle had lived ever since Amy was tiny. The place where she’d spent many happy summers. The place that might just help her to sort her head out.
She parked on the gravelled area in front of Marsh End House; there was no other car there, so she assumed that the locum was on duty at the surgery, unless maybe he didn’t have a car. She went to the fifth large cobble stone in the flower border to the right of the front door and lifted it; as she expected, the front door key sat underneath it. She let herself in and heard a volley of excited barks from the kitchen; as soon as she opened the door, Buster nearly knocked her flying.
She knelt down on the floor and made a fuss of him. ‘You’re meant to be a staid old dog, not a bouncy pup,’ she admonished him with a smile. ‘Look at all the grey in your face. And you’re still just like you were twelve years ago.’
Buster responded by resting his front paws on her shoulders and licking her face enthusiastically.
‘You big old softie,’ she said. ‘OK, let me bring my stuff in and have a cup of tea and then I’ll take you for a run.’
His tail thumped madly, and she grinned. ‘It’s so good to be home.’ Funny, Cassie and Joe’s place had always been home to her—more so than her parents’ house in London or her own flat, even. Marsh End House was a Victorian Gothic masterpiece, built of red brick with arched windows, lots of pointed gables and an elaborate turret that had been the centre of the games she’d played with Beth and her two younger brothers
