Page 118 of The Sunrise Sisterhood

Over a pot of coffee and cheese and caramelised-onion toasties, Skye told her everything. About her weird relationship with her parents, her new bond with Clare and how even though she wasn’t sure about having kids herself, she was besotted with Ivy. She told her how she’d escaped the embittered Marriott family home to go first to university and then travelling, ending up in Uganda, and how her parents were divorced within the year after she’d left home.

‘I don’t know whether I did them a favour or not by leaving,’ she said, sipping her coffee.

‘Maybe without you there to glue them together, they were like two pieces of a broken mug,’ Marta pointed out. ‘Are they both happier now?’

Skye wrinkled her nose. ‘Dad remarried – naturally. I think he’s allergic to being alone. Although Nilla, his third wife, has been staying with her mum in Copenhagen for weeks. My mum seems happier now than she was – still obsessed with what my dad is doing though. She picked fault with me a lot when I was growing up. Wanting me to be as outgoing as she is, which was never going to happen.’

‘OK,’ Marta said perceptively. ‘You’ve told me about everyone else, tell me about you. Why do you think your happiness is about to end? And please let it not be because of our breakfast date.’

‘Of course it’s not that.’ Skye felt the weight of tears forming in her eyes and looked straight at her. ‘I’ve made a bit of a mess of everything. My past has caught up with me and taken me by surprise. I’ve got to do something terrible today and I feel really guilty.’

Marta slid her hand across the table. Slowly, Skye reached hers to meet it until their fingertips were touching.

‘This past, is it a person?’ Marta asked and Skye nodded.

‘Jesse. He arrived unannounced yesterday. We’ve been together for three years.’

‘He?’ Marta raised an eyebrow.

She nodded. ‘He’s my boss. He was the first friend I made in Africa.’

‘But he turned into a friend with benefits?’

Skye felt her face flush. ‘Exactly. But I was happier without the benefits.’

‘I understand,’ Marta said softly. ‘Some relationships work better as friendships, while others are destined to be much more.’

Skye lifted her eyes to meet Marta’s as butterflies danced in her stomach. Neither of them spoke for a moment until Marta broke the spell by pouring them both more coffee.

‘So, tell me about you and Jesse.’ Marta took Skye’s hand in hers and held it lightly.

‘I’ve always had a niggling feeling that Jesse wasn’t my happy ever after, but I was too cowardly to do anything about it. Breaking up with him would have meant breaking up with my life in Uganda and I couldn’t bring myself to do it, I had so much to lose.’

‘But something happened to change that?’

Skye nodded. ‘He proposed. He wanted – wants – to spend the rest of his life with me and suddenly I saw my freedom vanish in a puff of smoke. Looking at him down on one knee holding out a ring forced me to face the truth. I wasn’t sure I wanted a future with him. Even then, I couldn’t come out and say it. That’s why I came back to the UK.’

‘You ran away?’ Marta frowned.

‘No, no, he accepted my decision to go,’ she clarified. ‘I thought that time away from him would help solve my dilemma. Deep down, I thought I’d go back to him. The love I have for him might not be the electric kind you see on TV, but I thought it would be enough to sustain a life together. But I know now that it isn’t enough. It isn’t fair on him, and we both deserve a love that sweeps us off our feet.’

‘And now he’s here and wanting a decision from you?’ Marta withdrew her hand to cut a piece off her toastie.

Skye nodded. ‘He was so sure that I’d change my mind and come back with him. He’s got our future all mapped out. More travel, develop the Hope Foundation in other areas … and I’d have liked to do that if we were just friends.’

‘But no more benefits.’

‘No,’ Skye agreed. ‘I don’t feel that way about him and I can’t pretend I do anymore. But I do love him, and I feel like the worst person alive to have to tell him.’

‘He loves you and this is going to be hard for him, but he needs to hear the truth. You’re a good person, Skye, you have a good heart, you can do this.’

‘You make it sound so easy,’ she sighed.

Marta shook her head. ‘It’s not, but we’ve all been in difficult relationships. Once it’s over, you’ll feel like you can breathe again.’

Skye nodded and felt a tear run down her face.

Marta touched her cheek, wiping away the teardrops. ‘Don’t cry, it’ll work out.’