her, but then she had always known that he wouldn’t. No, it had been for her own benefit that she had given in to her driven need to tell him the truth, not his.
She started to turn away from him and then stopped as she heard him saying harshly. ‘If what you’re saying is true—’
If ! The anger reignited inside her. She turned her head and looked at him, her mouth curling with a passable imitation of his own disdain.
‘ If ? How can it be, when you were there? When you saw everything . When you have already decided that I was just a cheap little tramp who—’
‘I never thought that...’
His denial took her by surprise. She stared at him, her expression momentarily unguarded and vulnerable.
‘But you...’
Grimly Rosie compressed her lips, biting back the words she had been about to say.
‘It doesn’t matter now,’ she told him distantly. ‘It was all a long time ago...’
‘So long ago that you’ve forgotten all about it, is that it?’
Rosie tried not to shiver as she heard the sarcasm in his voice.
‘Of course,’ she lied bleakly. ‘After all, it’s hardly the kind of thing I’d want to remember, is it?’
CHAPTER FOUR
‘W HAT DO YOU mean, you’re not going? Of course you are. The Simpsons are some of Mum and Dad’s oldest friends,’ Chrissie said firmly.
Rosie tried to hold on to her temper. Chrissie’s pregnancy seemed to be making her bossier than ever, or was it simply that with her outburst to Jake Lucas she had somehow lost a little of her protective coating...her control? Rosie wondered uneasily.
She had noticed a disturbing tendency recently for her emotions to swing far more violently from one extreme to the other. She was constantly tense and on edge, looking over her shoulder, half expecting to find Jake Lucas watching her disapprovingly.
She cringed to think of that awful confrontation she had had with him. Why had she told him about Ritchie? What had she hoped to achieve? What had she expected him to do? Apologise... Show regret, remorse, guilt? He hadn’t even believed her. He had made that plain enough.
‘Rosie...’ Guiltily she realised that Chrissie was still talking to her.
‘The Simpsons’ lunch party... You’ve got to go... I can’t, because we’re spending that weekend with Greg’s mother.’
‘Chrissie-’
‘You’re going ,’ Chrissie told her firmly. ‘Or are you trying to tell me that you’ve got some hot date? That you’re sneaking off to spend the weekend romantically tête-à-tête with someone special?’
Rosie knew when she was beaten. Though she could have pleaded work, she told herself later in the week when she surveyed her desk tiredly.
She had heard nothing from Ian Davies and she knew better than to telephone him, but she had plenty of other work to keep her busy. There had been a spate of burglaries in the area, necessitating house calls on her clients, while she helped them to fill in their claim forms.
It was a time-consuming and non-profit-making task, but she was glad to be kept busy. It kept her mind off Jake Lucas. Or at least it should have done.
Instead of relieving her tension and enabling her to put the past firmly behind her, her furious outburst against his cousin only seemed to have reactivated her pain and despair.
Would she have felt any different if he had believed her?
She frowned. No, of course she wouldn’t. She didn’t need absolution from him. And anyway, how could he believe her when doing so would mean having to admit that he had misjudged her? No, she didn’t need his understanding, his acceptance. She didn’t need anything from him, she told herself fiercely as she bent her head over her paperwork.
* * *
‘A ND SO I said to him, well, if you don’t tell her, then I’m going to have to, whether she’s your sister or not... I’m not having her telling me how to bring up my children...’
‘Rosie...I am glad you could make it.’
A little guiltily, Rosie returned Louise Simpson’s
She started to turn away from him and then stopped as she heard him saying harshly. ‘If what you’re saying is true—’
If ! The anger reignited inside her. She turned her head and looked at him, her mouth curling with a passable imitation of his own disdain.
‘ If ? How can it be, when you were there? When you saw everything . When you have already decided that I was just a cheap little tramp who—’
‘I never thought that...’
His denial took her by surprise. She stared at him, her expression momentarily unguarded and vulnerable.
‘But you...’
Grimly Rosie compressed her lips, biting back the words she had been about to say.
‘It doesn’t matter now,’ she told him distantly. ‘It was all a long time ago...’
‘So long ago that you’ve forgotten all about it, is that it?’
Rosie tried not to shiver as she heard the sarcasm in his voice.
‘Of course,’ she lied bleakly. ‘After all, it’s hardly the kind of thing I’d want to remember, is it?’
CHAPTER FOUR
‘W HAT DO YOU mean, you’re not going? Of course you are. The Simpsons are some of Mum and Dad’s oldest friends,’ Chrissie said firmly.
Rosie tried to hold on to her temper. Chrissie’s pregnancy seemed to be making her bossier than ever, or was it simply that with her outburst to Jake Lucas she had somehow lost a little of her protective coating...her control? Rosie wondered uneasily.
She had noticed a disturbing tendency recently for her emotions to swing far more violently from one extreme to the other. She was constantly tense and on edge, looking over her shoulder, half expecting to find Jake Lucas watching her disapprovingly.
She cringed to think of that awful confrontation she had had with him. Why had she told him about Ritchie? What had she hoped to achieve? What had she expected him to do? Apologise... Show regret, remorse, guilt? He hadn’t even believed her. He had made that plain enough.
‘Rosie...’ Guiltily she realised that Chrissie was still talking to her.
‘The Simpsons’ lunch party... You’ve got to go... I can’t, because we’re spending that weekend with Greg’s mother.’
‘Chrissie-’
‘You’re going ,’ Chrissie told her firmly. ‘Or are you trying to tell me that you’ve got some hot date? That you’re sneaking off to spend the weekend romantically tête-à-tête with someone special?’
Rosie knew when she was beaten. Though she could have pleaded work, she told herself later in the week when she surveyed her desk tiredly.
She had heard nothing from Ian Davies and she knew better than to telephone him, but she had plenty of other work to keep her busy. There had been a spate of burglaries in the area, necessitating house calls on her clients, while she helped them to fill in their claim forms.
It was a time-consuming and non-profit-making task, but she was glad to be kept busy. It kept her mind off Jake Lucas. Or at least it should have done.
Instead of relieving her tension and enabling her to put the past firmly behind her, her furious outburst against his cousin only seemed to have reactivated her pain and despair.
Would she have felt any different if he had believed her?
She frowned. No, of course she wouldn’t. She didn’t need absolution from him. And anyway, how could he believe her when doing so would mean having to admit that he had misjudged her? No, she didn’t need his understanding, his acceptance. She didn’t need anything from him, she told herself fiercely as she bent her head over her paperwork.
* * *
‘A ND SO I said to him, well, if you don’t tell her, then I’m going to have to, whether she’s your sister or not... I’m not having her telling me how to bring up my children...’
‘Rosie...I am glad you could make it.’
A little guiltily, Rosie returned Louise Simpson’s
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