Torn Apart
Prologue
Saskia Hartley knew she was the luckiest woman alive. She had a man who worshipped her and a son who told her daily she was the best mummy ever. After arriving at the school gates, she got out of the Range Rover to stretch her legs. She’d had a long day, and traffic had been annoyingly heavy for some reason. She couldn’t believe she’d made it before the school bell rang.
A couple of the other mums were chatting away and laughing outside the gates, but she wasn’t keen on joining them. They’d never really shown any interest in getting to know her anyway, which was fine by her. She had a hard time figuring out why that was, and she flipped between thinking they disapproved of her Russian background or the fact that she had married into English gentry. Either way, they could stick their friendship where the sun didn’t shine. Shallow people really pissed her off.
A petite blonde pulled her sports car to a stop beside Saskia. Jilly Soames waved as she got out of the car and came to meet her. “Hi, Saskia. Well, are you looking forward to the summer holidays?”
Shyly, Saskia smiled. “I love the holidays with Laurence. We have a full itinerary over the coming months. It’s our special time together.”
Jilly looked at her in disbelief. “Really? You mean you don’t farm Laurence out to your other relatives during the holidays?”
Shocked, she replied, “No! Why would I want to do that? What’s the point in having children if you don’t want to spend time with them?” The bell rang, and she started towards the gates.
Jilly broke into a trot to keep up with her. “Well, two weeks with my kids, and you’d soon understand my point of view.”
Saskia laughed softly. “You are funny, my friend.” She waved when she saw Laurence struggling across the playground with his school trunk. He burst through the gates, dropped the trunk, and flew into her arms. She clutched him tightly and whirled him around, much to the nine-year-old’s delight. “Darling, I’ve missed you so much.”
“Not as much as I’ve missed you, Mummy.”
Releasing him, she bent down to help him with his trunk, but her son, being the little gentleman that he was, refused to let her help carry it. “See you soon, Jilly. Have fun.”
Jilly waved and mumbled, “Fat chance of that happening. You two enjoy yourselves over the holidays.”
“We will,” Saskia called over her shoulder. She pressed the key fob to unlock the car, hoisted his trunk in the boot, then settled Laurence in the backseat before jumping behind the wheel and setting off.
“Mum?” Laurence asked hesitantly.
“Yes, love.” Saskia had an idea what was coming next.
“Can we stop off and get a McDonald’s?”
She smiled and gazed in the rear-view mirror at the large grin lighting up his adorable face. They went through the same ritual at the end of every term. After being cooped up in boarding school for weeks on end, every boy in the school craved a burger the second he was set free. Oh, how she had missed her Laurence.
“If we must. We’ll stop at the one up the road before we head for the motorway again.”
She heard Laurence rustling around in his bag for something, then watched as he plugged in his iPod. She was glad to have him back. Her heart felt lighter somehow. She’d been excited about seeing him for weeks, much to her husband’s amusement. Rupert teased her constantly about the way she doted on her son.
