page4 (1/1)

‘Lizzie loves youshe only wants to see you happy,’ her brother-in-law, Cesare, had said to her once ‘If you would just trust her enough to tell her the whole story it would make her feel better’

But Chrissie had never told anyone the whole story of her downfall It had been a stupid short-sighted decision she had h living with her mistakes but it would be even worse if she had to share the truth of theence dive-bomb

‘Obviously, I’ll be in Cornwall,’ Danny reminded her as if she didn’t already know Everyone in the staffroo plans for months

‘I hope you have a great time’ Chrissie eased past him to open her car door

Danny closed his hand round her slender wrist to hold her back and looked down at her ruefully ‘I would have a better tireed to co else on the line Last chance, Chrissie Why not live a little and give it a go?’

Blue eyes flaring with pained annoyance, Chrissie jerked her wrist free ‘As I said, I’ve other plans—’

‘Soht number on you, didn’t he?’ Danny remarked, his face red with discomfiture as he moved away a step and thrust his hands into his pockets ‘But all cats are not grey in the dark, Chrissie If you still want a life, you have to reach out and take it’

Breathing fast, Chrissie slid into the driver’s seat of her car and closed the door She had wanted a life, an entirely different life fro the acade a doctorate and of the freedom that would be hers once she was fully qualified But life, Chrissie had discovered, had a habit of stabbing you in the back when you least expected it, of forcing a sudden rethink just when you were on the apparent brink of success Now she was in no position to reach out and take anything because she had responsibilities that restricted her independence and her liberty To her way of thinking the et by without taking advantage of her sister’s generosity Yet it could all have been so very different, had she only ht decisions

Long before Chrissie had met Jaul, Lizzie and Chrissie had inherited a tiny Greek island froht Lionos from the sisters for a small fortune The sale of the island had taken place before Chrissie’s tere even conceived and so Chrissie had opted to put the majority of her share of the money into a trust that she could not access until her twenty-fifth birthday At the tiht that that was a sensible idea—the amount of money involved had ht have inherited her mother’s spendthrift ways Francesca Whitaker had been extravagant and irresponsible with cash and Chrissie had wanted to carefully conserve her windfall for what she had assumed would be a more settled time in her life

Now here she was, twenty-four years of age, and for the past year she had had to acknowledge that had she had the ability to use that money she had put away, she could, at least, have been financially independent Instead, to enable her to follow a teaching career she’d had to share her sister’s nanny, Sally, to look after her own children—affording Sally’s services solely on her earnings as a teacher would have been impossible

On the other hand, by following Cesare’s advice, she had ood decision when she had used some of the money to purchase a two-bedroom apartment before she put the rest of it ahere it couldn’t be touched Furtherht, which meant she could afford to run a small car and at least contribute a healthy amount towards Sally’s salary Of course to hear Lizzie tell it, Chrissie was doing Cesare and Lizzie a favour by keeping Sally gainfully employed while they were abroad In the same hen her sister and her brother-in-law and their children flew into London for one of their frequent visits, Chrissie moved into their town house with theain because it was more convenient for everyone that way