Drawing a deep breath and summoning every fragment of courage she possessed, Cassie got up and followed Trish to the kitchen.
She was pouring herself a glass of water, and the kettle was on.
“Tea?” she asked in a not-very-friendly tone, seeing Cassie come in.
Cassie stared at her. She couldn’t believe how long it had taken her to realize that this woman was Trish. Looking at her features, and her thick, perfectly bobbed hair, she could see the resemblance to both the children, particularly Madison.
“I was rude earlier,” she said. “I haven’t been here very long and for some reason I thought that Ryan stayed here alone. I thought I’d better check with you. Do you live here?”
Trish was regarding Cassie with puzzlement.
“I do live here, most of the time anyway. I travel often. I’m an international events organizer, so I’m frequently abroad.”
Cassie felt breathless with shock, as if Trish had punched her in the face. Somehow she got herself down onto a chair.
“That must be a fun job,” she said.
She was trying for a conversational tone, but she didn’t actually have a clue how she was coming across—whether she sounded normal or if Trish thought she was a raving lunatic, because she couldn’t get past the panicked confusion in her own head.
Trish shook her head.
“I wouldn’t describe my career that way. It’s extremely demanding. I’m a senior manager in a global communications company that specializes in large-scale events worldwide. I work with elite industry leaders across the board, who are top professionals in their field. Scientists, politicians, celebrities, you name it, they know my firm and they use us. I specialize in the hands-on running of these events, and have just coordinated an eight-day speaker tour across the USA. Five experts on the world economy, six cities, a total audience of thirty thousand. That was one of our smaller events.”
She poured her tea and then glanced at the hardware bag on the counter.
“What’s in there?”
In her shock, Cassie found herself babbling.
“It’s rodenticide. I bought it because they were out of traps and there’s a mouse in the house.”
She was about to continue, and explain that Ryan had asked her to return it as poisons affected the food chain, but Trish interrupted.
“Well, are you going to put some out? It won’t kill any mice standing on the counter. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m exhausted. I was supposed to return yesterday morning, but we had to stay on to organize additional press conferences. I’ll be resting now, until I have to fetch the children.”
She walked out of the kitchen with her drinks.
Cassie watched her go, feeling sick with doubt.
She’d had a chance to look at Trish’s neatly manicured hands while she was carrying the tea, and on the third finger of her left hand there was an elegant gold ring.
The evidence was indisputable.
There was a valid reason for Trish’s extended absences. None of her actions since she’d arrived back had hinted that there was any conflict between herself and Ryan, never mind a divorce being in the cards.
Cassie was starting to suspect that she had been misled in the worst, most terrible way. How was any of this possible?
She’d slept with Ryan—slept with him—believing he was genuinely divorced when in fact he was married and had been spinning a sob story.
What would happen if Trish found out?
Cassie buried her face in her hands as the horror of her situation hit home.
Here she was, living as part of the family, under the delusion that the man of the house was divorced and available. She’d kissed him; she’d slept with him and spent the night in his room. She hadn’t made a secret of it because she’d seen no need to.
Had Ryan been lying to her all along?
Cassie never wanted to open her eyes again.
Eventually, she managed to pull herself together enough to stand up. She stared numbly at the hardware store bag on the counter.
Trish had said she must use it, Ryan had said not to. Until she was told otherwise, she was going to go with what Ryan said. She put the bag in the broom cupboard.
Then she walked back to her room, with fresh waves of horror hitting her every step of the way as she thought about her situation, how trusting she had been, how recklessly she’d behaved as a result.
When she saw her phone lying on the bedside table, her heart nearly stopped as she remembered the cheerful email she’d sent to Jess. It was insane that an hour ago she’d believed herself to be in a completely different situation.
At some stage, Jess would open that mail and read its outdated, incriminating content. Her tell-all, when she thought she’d had nothing to hide.
No wonder the children had never shared with her about the divorce. It was because their family was still together, although their mother was away a lot. Which they were presumably used to, and why they hadn’t mentioned her much.
Cassie stayed holed up in her room for the afternoon, hiding away from Trish in a state of utter shock. She’d never felt so miserable, or so alone, in her life. She thought of calling Ryan but didn’t know what she should say, and what if Trish overheard her speaking to him?
When it was time for the children to be picked up, she heard Trish walk down the corridor and the click of the front door as she left. Cassie heard the sound of a car starting up, and she was gone.
The front door opened again ten minutes later and she heard Ryan call out, “Hello!”
At the sound of his voice, adrenaline surged inside her. She didn’t feel as if she was welcoming her lover home, but rather as if she was preparing to do battle with an enemy.
She burst out of her room and marched down the hall to find Ryan taking off his coat.
“Afternoon, gorgeous,” he greeted
