“We’re heading out to the countryside today. A combination of work and play,” Ryan told her, and Cassie couldn’t believe the casual way he announced it.
“We’re going to visit one of the area’s most famous vineyards—with a view to holding one of Trish’s events there. So it’s all tax-deductible research.” Ryan winked at her.
“What about the children?”
“You can use Trish’s car for the school run. Everything’s on the timetable as usual. Here are the keys.”
Ryan handed her the keys to the smart black Volvo.
He glanced behind him, and Cassie realized that he must be checking whether Trish was watching.
Then he leaned close to her and whispered in her ear.
“Everything will be OK. I promise you. This is the last hurdle. I need you to trust me, Cassie.”
He hand cupped her face, and before she could summon the strength she needed to push him away, he kissed her, deep and lingering.
“My beautiful,” he whispered.
Cassie could smell Trish’s perfume on his skin.
As Ryan walked away, Cassie wanted to vomit. Her nausea flooded back and she swallowed hard, leaning against the wall.
She was about to run into the bathroom and try to throw up in the hope it would make her feel better, when she realized that Ryan and Trish hadn’t yet left. They seemed to be having an altercation outside—or at any rate, a spirited argument.
Then she heard the click of heels, and Trish marched down the hall toward her.
“Please give me those keys,” she said. “No offense, but I’m not willing to allow anyone except Ryan and me to drive the Volvo. Here are the Land Rover’s keys. You can use it to fetch and carry the kids.”
She held out her hand and Cassie gave her the car keys, accepting the others in return.
A moment later the front door slammed and she heard the purr of the Volvo pulling away.
In the blink of an eye, everything had changed.
Ryan’s reassurances seemed worthless now. Her sense of security had evaporated and she knew that deeply, instinctively, she had never believed his version.
She was back where she’d been the previous day.
The only difference was that she now had the additional worry that she might be pregnant, which made her predicament a thousand times worse.
Cassie headed back to the bathroom and unwrapped the pregnancy test. Her hands were so shaky that she almost dropped it again.
Taking a deep breath and steeling herself for the worst, she stared down at the test.
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
Peering at the window of the pregnancy test, Cassie frowned.
According to the instructions, there should be either one or two lines in the window. One would mean she was not pregnant and two would mean she was.
Instead, the window was gray and blurred and there were no lines visible at all. It shouldn’t be like that, and it must mean that the test had malfunctioned.
Cassie let out a gasp of frustration.
She’d messed it up by dropping it in the toilet bowl, and now she would have to go back and buy another test. She could do it on the way to fetch the children. Probably, she should buy two, just in case, because she couldn’t keep going back to the damned pharmacy. This was a small town and people would remember her. Cassie could imagine the gossip.
“The girl with the auburn waves came back three times for tests. Three times! I’m sure I’ve seen her in town before. Who does she work for?”
Cassie felt shredded by stress. She hadn’t realized how much Ryan’s support had meant until it had been torn away. Now she was entirely alone. There was nobody she could talk to or trust, and she couldn’t hold back the tears.
She lay prone on the bed and sobbed. She was roused a few minutes later by the ringing of the landline.
She climbed off the bed, scrubbing her eyes as she made her way to the hall.
“Hello, Ellis residence,” she said.
“Is that Mrs. Ellis?”
“No—no. She’s just left. It’s Cassie speaking. Can I help you?”
“It’s the school secretary phoning. We’ve had a small fire break out in one of the classrooms, due to an electrical short. Nobody has been hurt and the fire is under control, but there’s a lot of smoke in the building. We’re calling to ask you to collect your children immediately. School will be closed tomorrow while we effect the repairs and ensure the air quality complies with the required standards.”
“All right. I will.”
“Your promptness will be appreciated. Thank you, ma’am.”
Damn, Cassie thought. So much for purchasing the next pregnancy test at her leisure. She’d have to ask the children to wait in the car while she ran in and grabbed it.
She wondered if she should tell Ryan about the fire and decided to wait until the children were home. When she checked her phone as she was about to leave the house, she was astonished to find a text from him.
“We’ve decided to make our trip an overnight stay. You can expect us back late tomorrow. Thanks—R.”
Overnight stay?
Cassie’s jaw clenched so hard as she read the words, she thought her teeth might break.
This wasn’t ending things. Quite the contrary. From this text it was clear that Ryan and Trish’s relationship was business as usual, and the lighthearted message was just rubbing her face in it.
“Screw you, you bastard,” she muttered as she put her phone away, remembering that these were the exact words that Harriet had spat at Ryan on her way out.
Cassie realized there was no worse feeling than being the victim of a serial liar. It had annihilated her self-worth and left her feeling cheap and completely disposable. She wondered if she would ever be able to trust again, after having been deceived so badly.
*
Outside the school’s entry gate, it was organized chaos. Two traffic police had been deployed to manage the influx of cars. A fire engine was still parked outside the building, even though Cassie could see no smoke or flames.
Dylan and Madison ran
