Regretting The Wife He Threw Away

In truth, Lorna understood the situation better than anyone.

"I'll handle the rest with the police," she said, looking gravely at Briony.

Briony nodded.

Cedric Clarke's eyes were rimmed red as he glanced at her. "What about the kids? How are you going to tell them?"

Briony hesitated a moment, then spoke softly. "Let's keep it from them for now. Today, Stewart just told them he had to go abroad for a while and they're already upset. Let them settle down a bit. I'll wait for the right moment to tell them the truth."

Cedric struggled to keep his composure, but his voice still caught. "Stewart always said he didn't want a funeral. He just asked me to scatter his ashes at Pearbrook. But now..."

There was nothing left of Stewart to bury-his life had ended in a violent crash, with not even a trace of him remaining.

Not even his last wish could be fulfilled.

The abandoned pier was far, far from Pearbrook-so far it might as well have been another world.

But could they really let Stewart drift with the tide into the endless sea?

accept that the stubborn, headstrong man he'd known was truly

"but you still have two

silent for a long moment. At last she said, "Let's give him a cenotaph,

That way, when the kids are older, they'll have somewhere to go each year to remember their father-a place to mourn,

can't be buried in

like a stone, and

whole existence. I grandmother always said that when a person passes, their soul follows the path they took in life, and

off, unable to continue, burying his face in his hands. The tall man, usually so

bit of his success

was the rarest of mentors,

couldn't accept that a man like Stewart-proud, aloof, misunderstood-should meet such a lonely,

all the more real for

brimmed with tears-even

listened quietly as Carl

a moment,

Wentworths were never really to Stewart. He has two dren-that's his real