‘Bacon sandwich at table three,’ Pip said, pushing the plate towards Harper as she stood behind the counter, staring at the windows.

Harper twisted the diamond engagement ring on her finger, still and silent, her gaze trained on the sun-dappled fields beyond the tearoom.

‘Oi!’ Pip nudged. ‘I cook – you wait. That’s the deal.’

Harper turned to her. ‘Sorry, what?’

‘Bacon sandwich, table three. I take it he still hasn’t called,’ she added.

Harper shook her head as she reached for the plate.

‘He’s just sulking,’ Pip said sagely. ‘Gone into his man cave.’

‘I hope so,’ Harper said. ‘I just want to hear from him; clear the air.’

‘Hold fast,’ Pip said as Harper started to walk away from the counter. ‘And don’t you dare apologise first,’ she added.

Fat chance of that, Harper thought. Mustering her best smile, she popped the sandwich down in front of a whippet of a man sitting with two young boys who must have been his sons. The boys were already munching on slices of chocolate cake – the children’s breakfast of choice.

But Harper wasn’t strong like Pip. Last night her argument with Shay had gradually swallowed all other thoughts until she’d driven to his house that evening – telling Pip she was going to the wholesalers in Salisbury – only to find he wasn’t in. She left phone messages, but he didn’t answer. This morning, the first thing she’d done was check her phone but still there was no word from him.

But all thoughts of Shay were pushed from her mind as she looked up to see the tearoom door open and Will Frampton come in. Far from entering with his usual assured stride, he hesitated at the threshold before making his way to the counter.

‘Will!’ Pip said. ‘What brings you here?’

In his arms he was cradling an enormous vase, pastoral scenes painted in vignettes around its circumference, delicate gold brocade around its lip. The china was discoloured with age, and there was a hairline crack at its foot. But Harper recognised it as an item from Silver Hill House that she’d been particularly taken with during their visit. He turned to her with a smile that looked very unused.

‘I wanted to… you know… what you said about friends.’ He rested the vase on the counter and swallowed. Turning to Harper, he pushed the vase towards her. ‘You said how much you liked it. And I thought… well, I have lots of vases and they’re all the same to me. I don’t know that it’s worth much, I’m afraid. But I thought you might like it.’ He looked at Pip. ‘Sorry,’ he added, ‘but you didn’t mention anything you liked so…’

‘Oh, God, don’t worry about it!’ Pip said, throwing a grin at Harper. ‘It’s Harper who’s the vintage fan anyway. I’d much rather have a nice pair of noise-cancelling headphones than an old plate. Not that you have to buy me a set, of course. I was just saying it’s OK, I’m not that bothered about old things.’

‘I don’t know what to say.’ Harper took the vase and turned it over in her hands, examining the china with a broad smile. ‘It’s beautiful, but your family—’

‘Oh, none of them are going to miss it,’ he said. ‘Mother would hardly know it’s gone and Hugh doesn’t exactly get a say. Please, take it with my compliments.’

Harper sniffed back a tear. She couldn’t even say why the gesture had filled her heart so full of emotion, but it had really touched her.

‘Oh, Lord…’ Will looked alarmed at the sight of Harper’s eyes filling with tears. ‘Have I done something wrong?’

‘I’d say you’ve done something very right,’ Pip said, leaning over the counter to kiss him on the cheek. He leapt back, an even greater look of alarm on his face as Pip erupted into laughter.

‘I love it,’ Harper said. ‘I couldn’t love it more if I tried; it’s a wonderful gift. Thank you.’

He nodded shortly. ‘Right… well I’ll go.’

‘Stay for breakfast,’ Pip said. She glanced at Harper who nodded in agreement.

While Shay was still very much on Harper’s mind, perhaps it would be nice to shake the melancholy with a visit from someone she was beginning to like very much indeed, despite what others might seem to think.

‘I’m sure I couldn’t impose on you—’ he began, but Harper held up a hand to stop him.

‘We would love it,’ she said. ‘We’re not that busy this morning and we could sit in the tearoom here and keep an eye on things. Perhaps later, if you’d like, we can return the favour and show you around the farm. It won’t be quite as grand as Silver Hill House, but we have Terence, the best goat psychiatrist in the country, and I’m sure you’d enjoy meeting him.’

‘Goat psychiatrist?’ Will asked, looking utterly bemused. ‘Someone who counsels goats?’

Pip laughed. ‘He is a goat. And he counsels us!’

At this Will looked even more confused, but Harper smiled and gestured to an empty table. ‘Sit down and let us spoil you for an hour. Pip makes a mean bacon sandwich, and we get incredible cakes delivered from a nearby bakery. What do you say?’

Will paused, but then he nodded, an uncertain smile on his face. ‘I must admit, I haven’t had a bacon sandwich in rather a long time.’

‘Right then,’ Pip said, cracking her knuckles. ‘Bacon butty it is!’

---

Greg hadn’t even afforded Allie the courtesy of a moment to go home and get changed, despite acknowledging that Josh was on the mend and almost ready to go home. Her tiny black dress and smudged make-up had earned her some invasive stares as she’d tottered after Greg’s long purposeful strides down hospital corridors, but they’d bounced off her. There were far longer knives out for her, and what did she care if a few strangers thought she looked like an off-duty prostitute? Her soul was already so sick, so full of hurt, that there was no room to let anything else in.

At least Josh hadn’t noticed anything amiss. Or if so he hadn’t shown it. He was just happy to see his mum, pleased to be going home and full of his night’s adventures. Kids were resilient and Josh was no different. But were they? While he’d snuggled up to Allie in the back seat of the car, what memories was he storing? What would he carry from this day; what new and harmful connections was he building to understand how the world worked? Even worse, how would being parted from Allie affect him? Greg worked away so often – how was he planning to care for Josh? Did that mean granny rearing? An au pair? Boarding school? How would those things change Josh? Would he become someone Allie no longer knew or understood?

At home, Allie had wrapped her son in a blanket and sat him on the sofa to watch TV before hurrying upstairs to wash her face and change into some jeans. As she pulled an old sweatshirt over her head, she turned to find Greg staring at her. His expression was full of loathing and Allie shrank from it. But as he silently appraised her, she saw something else in his eyes too. Helplessness, she thought, because she felt it too – a situation that was slipping away, spiralling out of anyone’s control. The death rattle of a marriage that had so much to live for if only they could find a way to save it. She still loved Greg, and in her heart she knew she always would. She continually messed up, but could he still find a last ember of love for her in what had once been a fire of passion? And if he could, was there a way to grow it again? She couldn’t lose Josh, no matter what, but she didn’t want to lose Greg either.

She made a move towards him. ‘Greg, let me—’

‘Don’t come near me,’ he said, his expression closing up again. ‘I don’t want to hear your pathetic excuses. You did it again – how am I supposed to believe anything you say now?’

‘I know, but I—’

‘How long has it been going on?’

‘What? You mean…’

‘Have you been sleeping with him since last year? All those times you said it was one night, have you been screwing him all along? Every week, laughing at me as you rolled around in his bed?’

‘It was just last night and it was a mistake!’ she cried. ‘You have to believe me! I was miserable and I got drunk and he just happened to be in the same pub…’

‘You expect me to believe he just happened to be in the same pub? Not the Rising Sun, because I called them to find out if you were there last night and they hadn’t seen you.’

‘No, somewhere out of the village.’

‘So you went to a bar out of the village instead of your local and by some miraculous coincidence he went there at the same time when the Sun is his local too?’

‘Yes.’

‘For God’s sake, Allie, don’t insult me! You intended to meet him! You take the piss out of me and you wonder why I don’t want to make love to you!’

‘Greg, I love—’

‘Stop it! I don’t want you to say that to me! I don’t want to hear it ever again. Right now, I don’t even want to look at you.’

‘I’m sorry,’ she said, tears falling hot and fast now. ‘I didn’t mean to hurt you.’

‘Does his girlfriend know?’

‘Harper? Of course not.’

‘Don’t you think she ought to be told?’

‘But…’

‘I think you should tell her, because I’m sure that coward won’t.’

‘They’re getting married.’

‘All the more reason for her to find out now. If you don’t tell her, I will.’ He stared her down. ‘So what’s it to be?’

‘It’ll break her heart.’

‘Better to break it now than later. I know that more than anyone.’

Allie’s legs buckled, dropping her to sit on the bed. ‘I’ll go and see her,’ she said quietly.

‘Today,’ he said. ‘And then I want you to pack your things.’

‘Where will I go?’

‘I don’t care. I’m sure Shay has room in his bed and you seem to like it there.’

‘Can’t we give it some time? Talk things over before you do anything rash.’

‘You think this is rash?’ He started towards her, and for a moment she thought he might lash out. But then he halted, his hand curled into fists at his sides. ‘You think this is rash?’ he repeated, struggling to level his voice. ‘I gave you a chance, and we’ve spent the last year trying to work it out. At least I have. It seems you’ve been having your cake and eating it. I won’t be taken for a mug any longer.’

‘What about Josh? Where will he go?’

‘I’ll figure it out, but as long as it’s away from you I’m good with that.’

‘I’m his mother!’

‘You might have thought about that last night when he needed you.’

Without another word, he turned and strode from the bedroom. Allie stared after him. And then she curled into a ball on the bed and began to sob.

---

Harper read the text and glanced up at Pip and Will, who were engrossed in an anecdote from Will’s days at a private boarding school when he’d snuck out for a lock-in at the local pub and returned to find half the Dorset police force were out looking for him.

She tapped a reply.

Harper’s eyes widened. It wasn’t for him to dictate who came to visit the tearoom and who she decided to make friends with, but in light of their last argument and the subject of a great deal of it, now perhaps wasn’t a great time for Shay to discover they were entertaining Will Frampton.

She was just about to tell him to stay outside when the door opened and he walked in. He stopped dead in the doorway, staring at where she was sitting with Pip and Will, the remains of breakfast and three coffees littering the table. Neither Pip nor Will had noticed him, and Pip was shrieking with laughter as Will finished his tale. It wasn’t until Pip noticed Harper wasn’t laughing that she looked up and saw Shay. She threw an anxious glance at Harper, and at this point, Will saw what was happening too.

‘Thank you for breakfast,’ he said curtly, standing from the table, all traces of his previous warmth and humour gone. ‘But if you’ll allow me to take my leave now, I have a lot of things to do today.’

He strode towards the exit, where Shay’s frame partially blocked the door so that Will had to slide past to get out as Shay stared him down. Harper felt herself relax as Will managed to leave without incident. Perhaps something of what she’d said to Shay yesterday had sunk in after all.

‘What did he want?’ Shay asked as Harper went to greet him. She frowned and he shook his head. ‘Never mind. We need to talk.’

‘I’m so glad you think so,’ Harper said, taking his hand and leading him through the café. She threw a glance at Pip, who looked up from clearing the table they’d just been sitting at and nodded to acknowledge that Harper would need a moment in private. Harper took Shay behind the counter and into the kitchen.

Closing the door behind them, Harper turned to him. She expected him to throw his arms around her, to tell her how much he’d missed her during their spat and was disappointed to find he did neither.

‘Look,’ he said. ‘Let’s forget about what was said yesterday morning. We were both tetchy and a lot is going on right now.’

‘I wasn’t tetchy,’ she began, but he stopped her.

‘OK, I was. Let’s forget it, eh? Move on?’

‘That was all I ever wanted,’ Harper said. ‘I had no desire to drag things out. I’m sorry I sent you away.’

‘It’s OK,’ he said. ‘It doesn’t matter. What did Frampton want?’

She slipped her hand from his grasp and folded her arms.

‘Nothing,’ she said. ‘He just wanted to thank us for being so open-minded about the box of jewellery.’

‘You’re not thinking of giving him the money? After everything we discussed?’

Harper stared stubbornly at the wall behind him. How could she lie? She had thought, quite a lot, about how much he needed it and how she was perfectly happy with her life just as it was. Getting to know Will better was only reinforcing that feeling. And yet, she knew how much it rankled with Shay. She could smooth things over now, tell him a little white lie and all would be good. At least for a while. Perhaps he would never need to know any different. After all, there was a chance that the decision would go Will’s way if it could be proved that the jewellery did rightfully belong to his family. She was beginning to wish that Shay had never found the stuff.

‘There’s something else you need to know,’ he said, interrupting her thoughts. She turned to him, a faint look of surprise now at the change of tone; indignation had become earnestness – he sounded almost beseeching. It was more unnerving than any anger he might show. ‘I take it nobody’s been to see you this morning. From the village?’

‘Should they have done?’

‘No but… it’s something that Allie Wicklow is spreading. You know she’s crazy, right? Unhinged. Obsessed with me. You trust me, don’t you?’

‘Of course I do but, Shay, what—’

‘She’s spreading rumours. About me and her. They’re lies, of course, but if they got back to you, if she comes to see you… I don’t want you to get hurt. They’re lies, and you don’t need to listen. She needs help. I’m going to see her husband and tell him he needs to get help for her. But I don’t want you to get upset – remember that it’s all in her head. OK?’

‘I don’t understand…’

‘I want you to stay away from the village for a while, and stay out of Allie’s way. If she sees you she might flip.’ He ran a hand through his hair. ‘She’s got this weird hang-up about me, and she has this idea that… Well, you get the picture.’

‘You told me it was over before we got together – that it had only been one night,’ Harper said.

‘And that’s the truth. She can’t seem to let go of it, but you have nothing to worry about. I love you, and that’s all you need to know.’

Harper chewed on a fingernail. She wanted to believe him, but something was tap, tap, tapping in a dark corner of her mind, warning her, telling her to beware.

‘You trust me, don’t you?’ he asked. ‘We can’t build a future if there’s no trust, can we? We’re still getting married, right?’

‘I trust you,’ she said. ‘If you say it’s nothing to worry about then I believe you.’

He let out a long sigh. ‘Thank God. I would have hated to think she’d got to you. The woman is crazy, believe me, but she can be plausible and convincing as hell. Just remember that.’ He stepped forward to take her in his arms and smoothed a hand over her hair. ‘I’m glad we’ve had this chance to talk.’

‘Me too,’ Harper replied. Buried in his arms, the things that might threaten her happiness melted away. This was Shay, and he had sworn to look out for her, promised his life to her. If she couldn’t trust him, who could she trust?