How To Save A Marriage In A Million. Leonie Knight

and protected herself from painful memories had been to block them out. She couldn’t return to that aching place full of sorrow and guilt that had imprisoned her for so long after Sam’s death.

      She hadn’t thought Richard coming back would have this effect, though.

      ‘I’m going home,’ she said, reaching up to run her fingers through her hair—before she realised her scalp was covered in less than a week’s stubble, and there was something sticky and warm near her ear. She quickly dropped her hand to her side, hoping Richard hadn’t noticed. As she turned to leave, Richard grasped her wrist and pulled her around to face him.

      ‘Where do you live? I don’t think you should drive. And you need someone to deal with the cut on your head.’

      She smiled. Feeling her confidence return, she realised she now had an out.

      ‘I only live around the corner and I walked, so you don’t need to worry,’ she said defiantly.

      ‘That solves the problem. I can walk with you.’

      * * *

      Maybe it was a culmination of a busy working week, restless nights or possibly a simmering resentment at how easily he’d been persuaded to go public again with his sax playing—whatever the reason, he had become so immersed in the music he hadn’t even noticed Joanna arrive.

      What on earth had come over him to result in him playing that song?

      It was a personal and very private part of a past he’d shared with the woman he was certain he’d carelessly hurt badly. No wonder she’d attempted a hasty exit.

      ‘It’s not necessary. I told you I only live a street away. I’m quite capable of getting myself home in one piece.’

      He wasn’t about to be put off by Joanna’s stubborn tone. Even if she hadn’t stumbled and bumped her head, he firmly believed it wasn’t wise for a woman, and certainly not his Joanna, to walk home alone after dark.