‘But I should have called ahead,’ she added quickly.
‘Let’s not go inside,’ he said. ‘The weather’s lovely and we should talk.’
Frowning, Anna looked past him towards the staircase; she could hear footsteps coming down.
Sam opened his mouth to speak, but he wasn’t quick enough. The figure who had come from upstairs to join them was unmistakable. It was Jessica Carr.
Breathe, Anna told herself. It was perfectly natural for a former girlfriend to be at his house, to collect belongings or discuss a split of assets, but when Jessica slipped her hand around Sam’s waist, she knew she had made a dreadful mistake in coming.
‘Hey,’ cooed the Hollywood blonde. She turned immediately to Sam with a coquettish look Anna had seen a dozen times on All Woman. ‘Are you going to introduce us?’
‘Jessica, this is Anna,’ said Sam with forced enthusiasm.
‘I’m his lawyer,’ added Anna a little too quickly.
‘Great, she should join us for lunch, shouldn’t she, Sam?’ said Jessica, her smile as rigid as Sam’s.
‘I can’t stay,’ said Anna, stepping backwards. ‘Sorry, I’ve just got a . . .’
Slipping on the gravel, she turned her ankle over, sending pain shooting up her leg. She squeezed her eyes shut and began limping back towards the car.
‘Anna, wait,’ called Sam, running after her. ‘Jess came yesterday. I was going to call you, but I wasn’t sure if you were talking to me anyway.’
She fumbled for her car keys in her bag and put her hand on the copy of The Chronicle.
‘Yes, I’m sorry I didn’t get back to you,’ she said, thrusting the newspaper into his hands. ‘I was busy. The Amy Hart story – pages three and nine if you’re interested. It would never have happened without you, so thank you,’ she said, mustering all the dignity she could.
‘Anna, stop. Let me explain.’
She avoided his gaze.
‘No, it’s fine,’ she said. ‘Nothing should ever have happened between us. It was wrong. Although I hope you got back together with Jessica after you whisked me off to Provence and told me you wanted to spend every weekend together having an adventure.’ She held up her trembling hand. ‘No. On second thoughts, I don’t want to know.’
He held her shoulders and looked at her with those blue eyes.
‘Anna, I loved every moment I spent with you.’
‘Stop it, Sam. Don’t patronise me.’
‘I’m not,’ he said passionately. ‘It was just . . .’ His voice tailed off. ‘I guess it was just bad timing.’
Hot humiliation burned her cheeks.
‘Fine,’ she croaked. She knew she was too weary to battle with him. And besides, what was the point?
‘She’s pregnant, Anna. Jess is pregnant.’ His voice was barely a whisper. ‘She came to see me yesterday and told me. That’s why I came out here with you; that’s what I had to explain.’
‘Congratulations,’ Anna said softly. His hand reached out to touch her fingers, but she pulled them back.
‘You do understand, don’t you?’ said Sam. ‘It’s the right thing to do.’
His eyes met hers, and she knew he was asking her to tell him he was right.
‘You’ll be a great dad, Sam. I mean that.’
She looked at him with a mixture of sadness and, in some strange way, relief. Her decision had been made for her.
‘Really, I must go.’