Summer Sins

Raymond gave another deep regretful sigh. ‘And yet I have inadvertently stood in the way of his …’

* * *

Hayley came into the lounge an hour later to find Jasper pacing the room, his face like carved stone as he swung to face her. ‘Where the hell have you been?’ he barked at her furiously.

‘I was visiting Raymond. I wanted to—’

‘Would you care to explain to me the meaning of this?’ He thrust the crumpled pregnancy-testing kit package at her.

She froze as she looked at it. ‘Where did you find it?’

‘I didn’t find it,’ he bit out. ‘Rosario came dancing down the stairs with it in absolute raptures, congratulating me effusively. I can only assume from her reaction that the test you conducted turned out to be positive.’

She swallowed. ‘Yes … yes, it did …’

‘I’ve taken the liberty of packing your things for you,’ he said coldly. ‘I’ve already sent Eric around to your flat with them. I will be serving divorce papers on you as soon as possible.’

Hayley couldn’t seem to locate her voice. She could hardly believe what she was hearing. Shock and pain had turned her stomach into a churning pit of despair. She was frightened she was going to be sick or even faint. Her fingertips felt icy as the blood drained away from her extremities to thud through her brain with

skull-cracking force.

‘You warned me you were going to make me regret marrying you, didn’t you?’ he said. ‘But little did I think the way you would do it was to foist another man’s child on me. The irony, if only you knew, is particularly astounding. But I’m not coming to the party. I want you out of here and if I ever see you again it will be a minute too soon.’

‘Jasper …’ she managed to choke out ‘you surely don’t think I would—’

‘I’m not hanging around here to listen to your pathetic attempts to weasel your way out of this,’ he cut her off. ‘Now I know why you so readily agreed to marry me instead of Lederman—you thought I was the bigger fish to land. No doubt you’re going to run away with him now on the spoils of your divorce from me. I heard him mention something about a baby when you met him in the bar that night. You must have cooked this up between you all along. He fathered your child while I’ve been primed to pay for it.’

‘I can’t believe you’re—’

‘That was a nice touch telling me you loved me,’ he went on bitterly. ‘You nearly had me fooled which shows just how hard-nosed you’ve turned out to be. But you forget I’ve seen it all before. I’m no stranger to the manipulative wiles of women who have dollar signs for eyeballs.’

Hayley was perilously close to tears but her pride insisted she hold back until she was alone. She needed time to think without this bombardment of shattered emotions disrupting her brain. So much had happened in such a short time she felt totally shell-shocked. Jasper, too, needed time to let the dust settle. He hadn’t given her a chance to tell him what she’d stumbled upon this evening, but all she could hope was that when he did hear of it, it would make him rethink some of his assumptions about her.

She watched in desolation as he left the room without a backward glance. She let out the tight breath she’d been holding and, tugging off her engagement and wedding ring, left them on the coffee-table near the sofa.

Then, with her heart breaking, she picked up her bag and keys and walked out of his life.

Three months later …

‘Your next client is here,’ Lucy said as she poked her head around the waxing-room door.

Hayley glanced at the clock on the wall. ‘But I don’t have another client until three. I checked the book just before Mrs Pritchard came in for her eyebrow and lash tint.’

‘It was a last-minute thing,’ Lucy said. ‘It’s a young guy with troubled skin. I think he just needs a deep cleanse or an express facial or something. I would have done it but he asked for you.’

Hayley came out to Reception to see Daniel Moorebank sitting on the edge of one of the chairs. He stood up and smiled shyly. ‘Hello, Hayley.’

‘Hi, Daniel,’ she answered. ‘How are you?’

‘I’m fine. Great, actually … er … except for my skin, of course.’

As far as she could tell there was absolutely nothing wrong with his skin. ‘What can I do for you?’ she asked.

He flushed and pointed to a small, almost invisible blemish on one cheek. ‘I was wondering if you could help me clear this up. Can we … er … talk in private?’

‘Of course,’ she said. ‘Come into the treatment room.’

She waited until he was seated in the consultation chair before she inspected his face. ‘You’ve got great skin, Daniel.’