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Christmas , I repeated in my head. Why didn’t I think of that? I’d picked the perfect time to leave my husband and skulk home to my father. I didn’t even need to come up with an elaborate lie. I was home for the holidays.
    I grinned at her. “Yes. Yes I am.”
    “Cool. Where’s Adam?”
    “In New York.”
    “When’s he getting here?”
    “Lily, did you do something different with your hair?” Sometimes it was a blessing that Lily Tate had the concentration span of a gnat. It made changing the subject a breeze.
    “I did,” she crooned, fluffing her fingers through her mid length shag. “Is it that obvious?”
    I narrowed my eyes, pretending to ponder her question. Lily Tate’s once brassy blonde hair was now dark chocolate brown. A blind man would have considered the change obvious. “It’s pretty, Lil.”
    The pump clicked in my hand. The car was good to go. I began walking into the shop to pay. Even without turning around, I knew she was tottering along behind me.
    “Charli,” Lily called, just as I got to the door.
    I drew in a long breath and turned to face her. “Yeah?”
    “Did you know Nicole is back too?” A scandalous grin crossed her almost-pretty, overly made-up face. I frowned, but it had nothing to do with her question. It occurred to me that I had an opportunity to milk Lily for information.
    I’d assured Nicole that I wasn’t interested in hearing anything to do with her life on the run. That was a lie. I was desperate to know one thing. “Lily, what happened to Ethan? Did he come home too?”
    I wanted to hear that he’d left Nicole high, dry and penniless in some dodgy foreign country. Hearing that he was holed up in prison somewhere would also have appeased me.
    Lily’s grin morphed into an unattractive duck-face pout. “Nicole came home alone. All we know is that the day after she got here, she went to the police station and took out a restraining order on him. Even if he does come back, he can’t go anywhere near her.”
    “Yeah, right,” I scoffed, dismissing her claim as shameless gossip. Even if it was true, there’s no way Nicole would have told the Beautifuls.
    “It’s the truth!” she shrieked. “Jasmine’s fiancée told us and –”
    “Wait,” I stuttered, putting my hand up. “Jasmine’s engaged?”
    Forget Ethan Williams. I wanted to know which poor sucker had agreed to take on Jasmine Tate for a lifetime.
    Lily nodded so ardently that her huge silver hoop earrings got caught in her hair. “Yes, she is. Remember Norm and Floss’s grandson?”
    I cast my mind back to the meek constable who’d busted me for speeding a few days earlier. “Flynn Davis?”
    She burst into a fit of hysterical giggles. I had no choice but to wait for her to compose herself to hear the answer. “Not Flynn, silly. The older one, Wade.”
    I couldn’t recall ever meeting Wade. I barely remembered Flynn. I was curious to know more, but grilling the junior Beautiful for more information would have been an ordeal. I offered my congratulations and made a quick excuse to leave.
    “I’ll tell Jasmine you’re back,” called Lily as I walked away. “We can all catch up. It’ll be just like old times.”
    I cringed. I hadn’t missed the old times one little bit.
    * * *
    Postmistress Val was remarkably pleasant to me. She welcomed me home, told me how grown up I looked, and chastised me for wearing too many layers of clothing on such a lovely day.
    “I’m acclimatising,” I told her, forcing a smile in case she thought I was giving her attitude. Thankfully she smiled back. In fact, her expression didn’t sour once until she asked me to pass on her regards to my father.
    I waited until I was back in the car before opening my mail. The first parcel, a big manila envelope, was full of paperwork pertaining to Billet-doux. Little yellow ‘sign here’ stickers dotted every page. A handwritten note in Ryan’s angry scrawl was pinned to the front page.
    Tinker Bell,
    For the most