Page 125 of The Sunrise Sisterhood

‘I haven’t forgotten. I’m some way short of the full amount. But I’ll give you what I can.’

‘Oh well, it’s better than nothing, I suppose,’ he grumbled.

She blinked at him in surprise; she’d been expecting more resistance than that.

‘Shall I transfer it to your personal account?’ she asked, relieved.

‘No, don’t do that!’ He cleared his throat and looked around to check no one was listening. ‘To be honest with you, what would really help is if you could pay a bill directly for me. Avoid the paper trail coming back to me.’

Liz narrowed her eyes, smelling a rat. ‘I’m confused.’

He checked on Harriet again. ‘As I said, it’s Harriet’s twenty-fifth birthday coming up and she’s always wanted to fly business-class to New York.’

‘Who hasn’t?’ said Liz drily.

‘So I said I’d treat her. I need the money to pay for the tickets.’

For a long moment, Liz was so stunned that she couldn’t speak.

‘So …’ Mike looked warily at her. ‘Would that be OK if I use your bank card to pay for the tickets?’

Finally, she spoke, fury making her voice shake. ‘You mean to tell me that I’ve been slaving away all summer rather than enjoying time with Clare and Ivy to pay for flights to New York for a twenty-five-year-old girl?’

‘You do owe me the money,’ he said indignantly.

She shook her head. ‘You are the limit, you really are. And what does Nilla think about this?’

Mike grimaced. ‘That’s the other thing I need to tell you. Nilla and I are splitting up. She’s met someone else, so she won’t give two hoots.’

‘I’m sorry to hear that.’ Although Liz wasn’t in the least surprised. Every time her name came up, he’d either squirm or change the subject.

‘Don’t be. We stopped getting what we wanted from the relationship long ago. It’s time for us both to move on.’

‘And what do you want?’

Mike released a satisfied breath and let his eyes roam to the young woman sitting out on the patio. ‘Harriet’s sexy and sassy and she makes me feel young. Walking into a room with my hand on her waist does wonders for my ego.’

‘You don’t need any help with your ego, Mike, you never have.’ Liz shook her head in disappointment. ‘I’ve stood by you for years, even when you behaved abominably towards Jen and Clare by swanning off with Frankie, but this … do you know, I think we may have come to the end of the line.’

‘We both know that’s not true,’ he laughed, taking a step closer. ‘You’ve always had a thing for me.’

‘I have not,’ she spluttered, feeling herself getting hot.

‘Oh, come on. When I started going out with Jen, you looked like you were about to burst into tears every time I came to pick her up.’

‘That’s not true.’ It was true, but only the first few times; she couldn’t believe he’d remembered that.

‘You cried at our wedding.’ Mike smirked.

Liz’s heart squeezed, remembering how glowing Jen had looked, what a beautiful bride she’d made. She couldn’t have loved her more if they’d been sisters. ‘Everyone cries at weddings. What is your point?’

He stepped closer and took her hands in his.

Liz sucked in a breath. In another time and place, she would have loved this, but now all she could think was that she didn’t want him near her. That he wasn’t worthy of her, or Jen, or even that young girl who was – as Mike had so eloquently put it – doing wonders for his ego.

‘My point is,’ Mike continued, smoothly, ‘that you have always been there for me. Wives come and go.’

‘Mike!’ She was appalled. That was a callous thing to say about the women who’d given birth to his children and shared his life, his home. Not to mention the fact that one of those wives had been her dearest friend. ‘How dare you?’