A Slippery Slope Read Online Free

through with the party after this. I
couldn’t bear it.’ She raised tearful eyes to Lucy and Laura. ‘I’m really
sorry. I know how much work you’ve done to organise it but I can’t pretend to
be happy and excited when I feel so ... so bloody miserable!’
    ‘We
can cancel it, darling ... can’t we?’ Laura glanced across at Lucy to check,
and when Lucy nodded she continued, ‘Don’t worry about a thing. I’ll get a
couple of my pals on to it.’
    Verity
heard her phone beep, announcing an incoming text and she automatically
rummaged in her handbag to find it. It took her some time and when she
eventually retrieved it and looked up, she saw both Laura and Lucy frowning at
her.
    ‘You
really need a smaller handbag, darling,’ Laura advised.
    Verity
shrugged and read the text. It was from Tony. It read:
    I’m
in love with Daniella. Sorry.
    ‘Is
it from Dad?’ Lucy asked angrily.
    Verity
nodded. She couldn’t believe her eyes and as she struggled for words, it felt
as if they were barbed wire ripping at her throat and strangling her at the
same time. ‘He ... he says that he’s ... in love with her!’
    ‘What!’
Lucy clearly couldn’t believe it either.
    Verity
stared at the phone as it beeped again and another text from Tony appeared.
    And
I’m leaving you. I’ll stay until after your party.
    Verity
blinked several times. ‘He ... he says that he’s leaving me! After the party.’
    ‘We’ll
see about that!’ Laura said, her pale blue eyes flashing with anger.
    A
third beep heralded a third message.
    But
we need to talk.
    Verity
repeated the texts over and over in her head as Lucy and Laura berated Tony.
What was there to talk about? He’d told her everything she needed to know, and
far more brusquely than she could ever have imagined possible.
    Not
that she had ever imagined this scenario. She knew they had been drifting apart
over the years – married couples often did that – but it never occurred to her
that she and Tony would split up, in spite of her mother’s opinion on the
subject.
    Verity
had intended to talk to him to see what they could do to regain the magic they
once shared. But she couldn’t actually remember the magic, or when they had
lost it, and she wasn’t really sure what to say or do about it.
    It
never crossed her mind that one of them would fall in love with someone else.
Although perhaps it should have; her mother did it all the time. But Verity
wasn’t her mother – and neither was she the one who was having an affair.
    Another
beep and this time a longer text.
    I’m
sorry. I was going to tell you after the weekend. We have to decide about the
house and stuff. Text me. We really need to talk. And soon.
    At
least he hadn’t used abbreviated text, she thought, somewhat ludicrously, but
she wasn’t sure she understood. “Decide about the house and stuff.” What did
that mean? She thought about it for a second.
    ‘Oh
shit!’ she said, suddenly realising that her life would never be the same
again. She glared at the text and took a deep breath. ‘No we bloody well do not !’
    She
threw her phone across the room with such force that it hit the wall and
smashed in two – a bit like her marriage just had.

CHAPTER
FOUR
     
     
    ‘Mum, we’re
here,’ Lucy said, gently shaking Verity.
    ‘How
long have I been asleep?’ Verity asked, not quite sure where ‘here’ was,
exactly.
    ‘You
fell asleep a few minutes after we left Chambery airport, so about an hour and
three- quarters. Etienne said we should’ve been here at least half an hour
earlier but after the heavy snowfall today, some of the traffic was struggling
up the mountain roads and it’s taken a lot longer than normal. I’m surprised
his swearing didn’t wake you. Even I learnt a few new words.’
    Lucy
grinned and glanced towards the man in question as he retrieved their luggage
from the roof of the minibus.
    ‘Well
I’m almost sorry I slept through that,’ Verity said. ‘I knew he couldn’t