Uncharted Waters by Hepworth Sally

Author:Hepworth, Sally [Hepworth, Sally]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery, thriller, Contemporary, Adult, Romance
ISBN: 9781662508158
Amazon: B0B58L5C8J
Goodreads: 61619569
Publisher: Amazon Original Stories
Published: 2022-08-31T07:00:00+00:00

The chili-lime margaritas had a lot to answer for. By the end of dinner—fresh oysters, followed by seabass and sautéed baby squid with capers, olives, and saffron aioli—Stephanie and Vanessa had twice sung the national anthem, Karl had the hiccups, Meera was too drunk to offer a strong opinion on anything, and Jonathan was slurring every second word. Chloe had only had two cocktails, and though she wasn’t slurring her words, even she seemed merry. Finally, under duress, Ella had accepted a cocktail herself, but so far, she’d had only a couple of sips.

It wasn’t difficult for Ella to ensure that she was sitting next to Chloe at dinner. Chloe had saved her a seat. It would have been sweet, had she not been an adulteress.

“So, how did you meet your married guy?” Ella asked as the plates were collected.

It wasn’t entirely out of left field. Earlier in the evening, when the other guests were still able to communicate, conversation had travelled to Stephanie’s cancer treatment, Vanessa’s divorce, Magnus’s estrangement from his mother when he came out as gay (and their subsequent reconciliation). In light of this, and the fact that Chloe had offered this information on the first day, Ella got the feeling that anything was fair game.

Indeed, Chloe didn’t seem suspicious. “He took my Pilates class on a Monday night.”

Ella thought of the reformer Pilates pass she had bought for Mac last Christmas. Six months ago, she’d reprimanded him for not using it. Knowing that was unlikely to prompt him, she’d signed him up for his first class. It was on a Monday night. He’d booked the rest of his classes himself. He enjoyed it more than he expected, he’d said.

“He was the only guy in the class, which made him the butt of a lot of jokes,” Chloe continued. “After class, we often go for a tea or coffee, so I asked him to join us. Turned out we were the only two. We got along famously. He wasn’t wearing a wedding band.”

He never has, Ella almost said. She’d had a few more sips of her cocktail, and she was losing track of what she could say and what she couldn’t.

Mac had never worn a wedding band. His father never had, nor had Ella’s, and she’d never thought to question it. Why would she? Mac had always been so proud of being married. Loved talking about “the Mrs.,” the “ball and chain,” and “the other half.” How could he have done this?

“It was just coffee, that day. Thirty minutes. But . . . I don’t know. He was just so damn charming. He seemed like . . . such a nice guy, you know?”

I do, Ella thought.

“He paid for the coffees, so I said I’d get them next time. Then I suggested we make it a glass of wine. It happened bit by bit. I thought that boded well.”

In her peripheral vision, Ella noticed that Stephanie was slow dancing with one of the stewards. Meera was shouting at another one to put on some music.

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