The Secrets Sisters Keep: A heartwarming, funny and emotional novel (The Devlin Sisters Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

wine and smiled as I listened to him talking about his years living in Hong Kong. I felt good. I felt attractive. I felt like a real person for once. Not just a mother or career woman or sister or daughter – an actual woman.
    Julian smiled at me. ‘Enough about me. Let’s talk about you. So, what happened with your ex, if you don’t mind me asking about it?’
    ‘No, it’s OK, all water under the bridge now. Well, when we lost everything our lives were turned upside-down. He was at home with Jess while I went out to work. It took him a while to get a new job and back on his feet. When he did get a job, it was in London, and those two years when he was commuting back and forth, we grew further apart. As break-ups go, it was pretty amicable. We get on quite well and Jess is our priority.’
    ‘Was it difficult to lose everything?’
    ‘Awful, really traumatic, but we’ve built our lives back up and I’ve learnt a lot.’
    ‘Like what?’
    ‘Like making sure that my daughter studies hard and has her own career and money.’
    Julian smiled. God, he was sexy. ‘I prefer women who work. They’re more interesting and less needy,’ he said.
    ‘So,’ I was keen to change the subject and get back to more flirty chat, ‘I’m really glad we met up. I’m having a lovely time.’
    He nodded. ‘Me too. I’ll have to call Grace in the morning and thank her for setting this up.’ He was referring to our friend-in-common who had played Cupid.
    ‘She was very keen for us to meet. She was positive we’d get on well, and she was right.’ I winked at him playfully.
    Julian glanced at his watch. ‘Gosh, look at the time. I didn’t realize it was so late. The evening flew. I’d better get the bill.’
    I wasn’t normally so forward, but I really liked him and I hadn’t had sex in ages, so I took a deep breath and said, ‘Would you like to come back to my place for a nightcap?’
    Julian handed his credit card to the waiter. Then, turning to me, he said, ‘Sophie, I’ve really enjoyed dinner. You look great for your age, you’re good company and good fun, but to be honest, you’re a little older than I thought. I’m looking for someone younger. Sorry.’
    My lip began to wobble uncontrollably. I pushed my wine glass against it to stop it and pretended to take a sip. I managed to say, ‘No problem,’ then bent down to busy myself with my bag and try to stop myself crying.
    Somehow I was able to walk to the door on shaky legs, accept a kiss on the cheek and climb into a taxi before I buried my head in my hands and sobbed.
    It was utterly crushing. At forty-two I was too old for a forty-eight-year-old man. Would I have to go on dates with sixty-year-olds? Was that it? God, it was so humiliating. I wanted to crawl into bed and never get up. I was a fool, a complete and utter fool.
    I sat up, looked out of the taxi window and wiped my eyes with a tissue the taxi driver had handed me. He was completely unperturbed by my embarrassing outburst. You’d think he had weeping forty-something women in his car every night of the week. He gave me the well-worn line that it couldn’t be that bad, and I smiled gratefully and pretended he was right. But he was wrong. Things were that bad. The thought of being on my own for the next thirty or forty years was terrifying. It made me feel physically ill.

    T he next morning I dragged myself out of bed, dropped Jess at school and went into work. I made myself a strong cup of black coffee, picked up my diary and walked into Quentin’s office for our morning briefing. He was sitting in his throne-like chair with Stella on his knee. The poor dog was so fat from being overfed and over-pampered that she could barely walk.
    ‘Morning, darling,’ Quentin said. ‘Loving the suit, but you look exhausted.’
    I was wearing the only designer trouser suit I had left. I’d sold almost all of my clothes and jewellery on eBay to make some money when Jack lost everything. But I’d kept this