Read Online Betrayed in Cornwall by Janie Bolitho - Free Book Online

bit odd. Maybe she knows something. Would you mind if I didn’t come with you?’
    ‘Of course not,’ Arthur said firmly, trying not to show how sad he felt for her. It seemed such a shame that this news had to follow the previous happy and successful night. ‘Come on, love, we’ll take ourselves off and leave them to chat.’
    Evelyn picked up her handbag which had been lying on a chair and followed her husband out of the room. They said hello to Sarah on their way through the kitchen but left it at that, feeling it was better to say nothing to the girl as they knew neither her nor her family. Any words other than a simple greeting would have been meaningless coming from strangers.
    ‘We’ll be back around three,’ Arthur said. ‘I’ll buy your mother some lunch.’ He kissed the top of his daughter’s head.
    They heard the car start and reverse down the drive. ‘Are they your parents?’ Sarah asked, her face still tear-stained.
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘At least you know they love you.’
    ‘Now, let’s have that coffee, shall we?’ Rose said, trying to sound businesslike. There were undercurrents in the Chynoweth family she had no idea existed. She wondered if there were any biscuits. She did not eat sweet things but occasionally bought them for guests, and they were supposed to be comforting.But by the anxious way Sarah was picking at the hem of the baggy T-shirt she wore outside her jeans, it was doubtful she would be able to face food. ‘Sugar?’
    ‘No, thanks. Just black, please.’
    Rose placed the two mugs on the table and cursed silently when the telephone rang again. This time it was Jack Pearce calling to give her the news she had so very recently received. ‘I know, Jack. I’ve just heard. Sarah’s here. She came to tell me. Can we talk later?’ Rose wanted to hear his side of the story, but it would have to wait, Sarah’s needs were more immediate.
    ‘I don’t know what to do, Rose,’ Sarah said when she returned to the kitchen. ‘I don’t even know if I ought to say anything at all. I can’t speak to Mum, and especially not now.’ She paused, unsure where to begin. ‘It’s about Mark, my boyfriend.’
    Rose was not aware she had one and did not think Etta was either. Mother and daughter had something in common because Rose did not think Etta would have told Sarah about the man she was seeing if he was married. So how had Sarah found out?
    ‘Well, he takes me out and, well …’ Colour came into her face then drained away just as quickly.
    ‘You’ve had sex with him?’
    Sarah nodded, amazed that someone of Rose’s age could say such a thing so easily. ‘Yes. But sometimes I feel he doesn’t like me at all. I thought he might be seeing someone else as well. I – oh, Rose, I tried to follow him.’
    Rose had no idea where this was leading or why it should have upset her so much. It was no more than typical teenage insecurity. ‘Go on.’
    ‘I was supposed to be staying with Amy. Mum doesn’t like her much, or Roz, but she doesn’t stop me seeing them. She can’t, can she? Not after what she’s doing.’ The bitterness was obvious.
    Had Joe known about Etta’s affair? Rose wondered. ‘Amy and Roz, they’re friends of yours?’
    ‘Sort of.’
    Sort of friends, sort of boyfriends. How different things arefrom the days of my youth, Rose thought before recalling her relationship with Jack. Wasn’t he a sort of boyfriend? ‘But you didn’t stay with Amy?’
    ‘Oh, yes, I did. I stayed the night with her, but she was meeting someone, a boy, and told her mother she was going to the cinema with me. I made myself scarce until the time the film was supposed to end then I met her and we went back to her house together.’
    Rose almost smiled, recalling similar incidents during her own teenage years. Then she remembered Joe and the reason why Sarah was there.
    ‘Where did you go?’
    ‘I feel so stupid now. I’d decided to try to follow Mark to see if he was meeting someone