Chapter Fifty-Nine
JESS
It’s hard going across the grass in my long dress.
Halfway to the lake, I pause to catch my breath, but only for as long as I need to before I start jogging again.
I can’t waste a second. Thankfully, the clouds have cleared and the moon’s light is helping me navigate my way to where the dot on my phone shows Luke’s location to be.
Eventually, I reach a path running around the side of a lake – well, large pond, really – fringed with weeping willows and bullrushes.
Once on the path, which is thankfully not too rough on my bare feet, I slow to walking pace, my hand pressed against my breastbone, heaving a few much-needed breaths.
I check my phone again. He’s just round the bend in the path now. It’s not showing on the map, but I can see a small, round stone building facing the lake, where I think his dot is hovering. Thank goodness. We could do with some privacy for what comes next.
I pass a small sign that says ‘The Folly’ and search for a door or something in the smooth sandstone bricks, but as I get close enough to realize the structure is open to the air on one side, I hear voices – one male, one female.
‘I know we’ve always been good friends,’ the female voice says.
I miss the rest as I stumble over a small shrub I hadn’t noticed, and right myself again.
As I round the edge of the folly, I catch a glimpse of two figures silhouetted in the moonlight by one of the pillars.
They’re standing very close. And then, to my horror, I see her loop her arms around Luke’s neck and look up at him with unmistakable intent.
Her voice carries clearly on the night air. ‘You know it’s me you want … not her.’
No! I scream inside my head, but it’s as if someone has pressed a pause button and I’m unable to move, even my mouth. I watch in horror as she lifts herself onto her toes and leans closer towards him. But then someone else says what I want to say.
‘No.’
It’s not a shout, but the declaration is firm, determined. Luke places his hands on her shoulders and gently but surely creates distance between them, then steps away entirely.
That’s all I need. The pause button is released. I stride forward. ‘Hannah?’ I yell as I barge my way into the folly. ‘Get your fucking hands off my husband!’