Sharon Kendrick Collection. Sharon Kendrick

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ of continuing to play the role of full-time mummy.

      She had spent most of her savings on this house, which was her investment for Simon’s future. The rest she had been living off. She had not worked since discovering that she was carrying Cormack’s baby. She had been too plagued by morning sickness even to consider working at the beginning, and then, when the pregnancy had firmly established itself, she had done everything in her power to look after herself.

      She had been mentally and physically exhausted after her run-ins with Cormack, and so she had quite deliberately nurtured her baby in the womb, taking as much rest as she could.

      It was almost seven by the time Simon’s eyelids drooped and he fell fast asleep, his thumb firmly in his mouth. Triss crept out of the room feeling gritty and sticky and uncomfortable, her cheeks reddening as she remembered the reason why.

      Well, she would wash every trace of Cormack Casey from her body, and maybe after that she might feel able to confront him with some degree of calmness this evening.

      She showered and washed her hair, then dressed in a pair of black leggings and slouch-socks. She put a huge black sweater over the top then looked at herself critically in the mirror.

      Hell, but she looked pale! And her shorn hair made her eyes look unnaturally huge in her face. In fact, she was about as far removed from the woman Cormack had fallen for as it was possible to be. And feminine pride meant that this fact rankled more than a little—especially to someone whose whole career had been based on looking beautiful.

      Should she wear some make-up? Perhaps rub a little blusher into those deadly white cheeks?

      She decided against it. If she made herself up, it might look as though she had seduction in mind—when really all she wanted to do was talk to him, establish some kind of practical framework whereby Cormack could have some contact with his son while he was growing up.

      In the end she compromised and put on a pair of large, beautifully worked silver earrings, which Cormack had bought for her in a shop in Greenwich, where they had once spent a blissful weekend. They were studded with small polished ovals of amber and, while they were not the most precious things she owned, they were certainly her favourite—though she didn’t stop to examine too closely her motives for wearing them now.

      She checked on Simon, then went downstairs. She was just deliberating on whether or not she ought to concoct some kind of supper—even though she did not have the slightest bit of appetite—when the telephone rang. She snatched the receiver up as though it were a lifeline.

      ‘Hello?’

      ‘Triss?’

      Her first disappointed thought was that it was not Cormack. Triss recognised the voice immediately—it was Martha, her sister-in-law and dearest friend. A qualified obstetrician, she had cared for Triss throughout her pregnancy, and had delivered Simon with great emotion.

      ‘Martha!’ Triss exclaimed, and then said immediately, ‘Cormack has rung you, hasn’t he?’

      ‘Yes, he has.’ For once Martha sounded cross. Very cross. ‘Oh, Triss—how could you?’

      ‘How could I what?’

      ‘Don’t play the innocent with me, young lady! You know darned well what I’m talking about! He was furious to discover that Simon’s existence had been kept a secret from him. Triss, you told me—’

      Triss found herself flushing guiltily. ‘Yes, I know...’

      But Martha would not be deflected; Triss had never heard her beloved sister-in-law sound quite so angry. ‘You told me that Cormack had said he never wanted to see you again. You told me that he wanted nothing to do with your pregnancy, nor with your child! And now he informs me that he knew nothing of your pregnancy. Absolutely nothing.’ She exhaled an exasperated breath. ‘When I think of all the times I wanted to contact him—only you made me promise not to on pain of death!’

      ‘Martha...’ Triss gulped with genuine remorse. ‘I’m so sorry. Blame my hormones. Or blame my infantile inability to accept that, while my relationship with Cormack was doomed, it didn’t mean that I had the right to deny him our son. I’m only beginning to realise that now.’

      ‘I felt such a heel when he rang,’ said Martha sadly. ‘And such a fool. Because I liked Cormack, really liked him. So did Michael. We still do.’

      ‘If it’s any comfort to you, then I feel a heel too,’ said Triss miserably.

      ‘Darling, you should have confided in me.’

      ‘You would have told him.’

      ‘Ye-es,’ agreed Martha slowly. ‘But would that have been so very awful, Triss? He would have stood by you, supported you—’

      ‘And I could not have taken that impartial kind of support from Cormack!’ declared Triss hotly. ‘Not at that stage! Not when I was still so much in love with him and the relationship was over.’

      ‘Triss, are you quite sure it was over?’ quizzed Martha gently.

      ‘He started having a relationship with someone else!’ sobbed Triss. ‘How sure can you get?’

      ‘Maybe he—’

      ‘Maybe nothing! Because during that relationship he and I met at a party and tumbled into bed together, and that was how Simon was conceived! And if he was capable of committing infidelity while he was in a relationship with someone else, then what the hell was he doing all the time he was with me?’

      Martha’s voice sounded worried. ‘Triss—’

      But Triss raged on, unable to stop. ‘Remember all those photos taken of him with adoring women while I was on the other side of the world?’ she demanded.

      ‘You mean the ones your mother went to so much trouble to make sure you would see?’ enquired Martha caustically.

      ‘And I’m grateful to her!’ declared Triss wildly. ‘Otherwise how else would I have known?’

      ‘Triss—’

      ‘At the time he tried to convince me that they meant nothing, Martha! But how could I ever be sure? That’s the main reason I left him—because I could not stand living with the jealousy he made me feel!’

      All the anger and the bitterness came bubbling out, like poison spilling out of a witch’s cauldron. ‘He hurt me, Martha! He hurt me so badly that I honestly thought I couldn’t keep going—but I had to keep going, for Simon’s sake. And the only thing which kept me going was the thought that one day I would hurt him back.’

      ‘An eye for an eye, you mean?’ queried her sister-in-law acidly.

      ‘If you like.’

      ‘Revenge is a very negative act, you know, Triss—’

      ‘So is betrayal.’

      ‘Triss, have you actually talked to him about it?’

      ‘No.’

      ‘Listen...’ Martha sighed. ‘He’s going to be staying with you, СКАЧАТЬ