The Other Child Read Online Free PDF Page B

have the time, as she had to find a tenant soon. Yet it would be nice to pay the past a visit again. And if she were honest, she was bursting with curiosity about the man who wanted to marry Gwen (her friend Gwen!) .
    â€˜You know what, Gwen, I think that could work,’ she said. ‘A divorce is … well, anyway, the trip would distract me and that wouldn’t be a bad thing. I could come tomorrow. Would that be all right?’
    â€˜Leslie, you don’t know how happy that makes me!’ cried Gwen. She sounded different to how she used to, optimistic. ‘By the way, the weather here is great! It’s all working out so well.’
    â€˜It’s raining here in London,’ said Leslie. ‘Another good reason to take the trip. I’m looking forward to seeing you – and Yorkshire!’
    No sooner had the two women stopped talking than Leslie’s phone rang again. It was Stephen this time.
    As every time he spoke to her now, he sounded sad. He had not wanted the separation or the divorce.
    â€˜Hi, Leslie. I just wanted to see … you aren’t here again today, and … well, is everything OK?’
    â€˜I took three weeks’ holiday. I’m moving house and searching like crazy for someone to take on the tenancy of our flat. You don’t by any chance want it?’
    â€˜You want to leave our flat?’ asked Stephen, shocked.
    â€˜It’s just too big for me on my own. And also … I need a new start. New flat, new life.’
    â€˜It’s not normally as easy as that.’
    â€˜Stephen …’
    He must have heard the growing impatience in her voice, because he immediately conceded. ‘I’m sorry. That’s none of my business, of course.’
    â€˜Right. We should really try to keep out of each other’s lives. It’s hard enough that we cross paths so often at the hospital, but apart from that our lives shouldn’t touch at all.’
    They both worked as doctors in the same hospital. Leslie had thought about looking for a new job for a long time, but she had found nowhere else that would be as ideal as in the Royal Marsden in Chelsea. And then her stubbornness had been awoken: should she also sacrifice her career to the man who had cheated on her and deceived her?
    â€˜Excuse me, Stephen, I’ve got to go,’ she continued coldly. ‘I have to sort out a bunch of stuff, and tomorrow I’m driving up to Yorkshire. Gwen is getting married and the engagement party is on Saturday.’
    â€˜Gwen? Your friend Gwen? Married?’ Stephen sounded every bit as astonished as Leslie had been when she heard the news. She thought, how humiliating that must feel for Gwen. Everyone to whom she tells the news is flabbergasted and can’t hide their surprise. Hopefully she doesn’t fully grasp what hurtful thoughts are concealed by the surprise.
    â€˜Yes, she’s over the moon. And wishes for nothing so much as to have me there for her engagement. And of course I’m keen to meet her sweetheart.’
    â€˜How old is she now? At least in her mid-thirties, isn’t she? It’s about time she left her father and started her own life.’
    â€˜She’s just very attached to him. After all, she only ever really had him, so perhaps the close relationship is quite normal.’
    â€˜But not all that healthy,’ replied Stephen. ‘Leslie, nothing against old Chad Beckett, but it would have been better if he had given his daughter a firm push out into her own life a long time ago, rather than let her wither away on that isolated farm. It’s nice that the two of them have a good relationship, but a young woman needs more in her life. Oh well, it looks like things are moving now. I hope the guy she’s hooked is all right. She’s so hopelessly inexperienced.’
    â€˜I’ll know more by Saturday night at the latest,’ said Leslie, before abruptly changing the topic.