Free A Winter Affair by Minna Howard Page A

moment. Eloise fidgeted on the edge of her chair waiting for Saskia to confess that she’d slept with Harvey, before deciding it better to know the worst and get it out of the way.
    â€˜Who did you have an affair with, was it Harvey?’
    Saskia started as if she’d been stung, ‘Oh no… whatever made you say that?’ She fiddled with the stem of her wine glass as if she was moulding it into something. ‘No, it was someone else, someone I met on holiday. It didn’t last long, a few months, and our marriage limped on a bit, but then Toby met someone and we divorced, an amicable divorce,’ she shrugged. ‘I’ve always thought that a silly description, if it’s amicable you can surely keep going, at least until the children grow up.’
    Eloise wondered if she believed Saskia’s denial or not. Once she and Harvey had divorced, various ‘kind’ friends had told her he’d slept with several women they knew. None of them confessed to being one of them themselves, but she found it difficult to trust them. She didn’t want to feel the same way about Saskia, she was her only friend out here and she was glad they had met up again; they’d always got on well before.
    Harvey was like a butterfly, she’d realized after the divorce, alighting for a moment on a flower and then having had his fill flying away to the next one. Life was all about him, and any woman who expected his full commitment would be disappointed. Thinking like this wasn’t helping her to move on, Eloise told herself, she should try and remember the good times. And of course, she had her children and that was the greatest gift of all. She became aware that Saskia was scrutinizing her.
    â€˜You think I went to bed with Harvey, don’t you?’
    â€˜No… well, not really,’ she admitted, ‘but I do wonder about all the attractive women we knew, after all he was so good-looking and made women feel so desirable. I would have probably succumbed to him myself if I hadn’t married him,’ she said in a rush.
    â€˜Well I didn’t. He did try it on once, but I told him off and walked away, though I was tempted,’ she blushed. ‘Perhaps it was a good thing we moved to the country, kept out of harm’s way. Anyway I’ve made it a rule that I’ve never broken – never to sleep with a friend’s man. Good friends are far more important than a quick fling.’ She smiled.
    â€˜That’s true.’ Eloise felt relieved. ‘So how did you meet Quinn?’
    â€˜Through a job I had, working for his publisher. He’d just broken up with someone and was lonely. I know there’s quite an age difference between us, but he’s kind and dependable and nearly always at home, writing his reviews. He lives in lovely places; he has the chalet here, a villa in the South of France and a flat in London, so we move around, though we don’t often go to London, and he can afford people to help in the house.’ She smiled, ‘Call me money-grabbing if you like, many people do, and I suppose I am but, like Denise, I saw my chance and took it. I love him in my way and we look after each other. I was tired of being alone, having affairs that meant nothing, and I felt so lonely when the children left.’
    â€˜I understand.’ Eloise wondered if she would do the same if she met some kind older man who showed an interest in her.
    â€˜It’s the loneliness that gets you in the end,’ Saskia said, ‘having no one to come home to, don’t you find that?’
    â€˜Perhaps, but I haven’t been alone that long. We divorced eight months ago and I was busy moving house and Kit and Lizzie were still around, and now… I’m here,’ Eloise said.
    Saskia smiled, ‘And you’ll have a great time. I’ll give a party, introduce you to people, quite a lot of fun people live out here, for the season