Lewis - The Secret Keeper

You never forget your first love. 18 years ago, Olivia learned to live without Sean Kenyon.

She moved on, building a life with her husband Richmond and their two children in the picturesque town Kesterley-on-Sea.

But when Sean unexpectedly appears on Olivias doorstep, her world is turned upside down once more.

As old feelings resurface, and new truths come to light, Olivia finds herself questioning everything.

Is her husband really the person she thought he was?

The past and present collide, and Olivia must uncover the truth before its too late.

But if everyone is keeping secrets, how will she know who to trust?

Susan Lewis is the bestselling author of thirty-eight novels. She is also the author of Just One More Day and One Day at a Time, the moving memoirs of her childhood in Bristol. She lives in Gloucestershire.

To find out more about Susan Lewis, visit her website www.susanlewis.com, or join in on www.facebook.com/SusanLewisBooks.

Susan is a supporter of the breast cancer charity Breast Cancer Care: www.breastcancercare.org.uk and of the childhood bereavement charity Winstons Wish: www.winstonswish.org.uk

Also by Susan Lewis

Fiction

A Class Apart

Dance While You Can

Stolen Beginnings

Darkest Longings

Obsession

Vengeance

Summer Madness

Last Resort

Wildfire

Cruel Venus

Strange Allure

The Mill House

A French Affair

Missing

Out of the Shadows

Lost Innocence

The Choice

Forgotten

Stolen

No Turning Back

Losing You

The Truth About You

Never Say Goodbye

Too Close to Home

No Place to Hide

Books that run in sequence

Chasing Dreams

Taking Chances

No Child of Mine

Dont Let Me Go

You Said Forever

Series featuring Detective Andee Lawrence

Behind Closed Doors

The Girl Who Came Back

The Moment She Left

Hiding in Plain Sight

Believe In Me

Series featuring Laurie Forbes and Elliott Russell

Silent Truths

Wicked Beauty

Intimate Strangers

The Hornbeam Tree

Memoirs

Just One More Day

One Day at a Time

OLIVIA. I was sixteen when Sean Kenyon came into my life; he was twenty-two. I suppose it seemed quite a big age difference to some, but not to us. We knew right away that something special was happening between us, and even my parents were soon drawn into the magic of it.

The first time I saw him, my friend Andrea we call her Andee and I were walking along one of the jetties at the marina here in Kesterly. Wed just finished school for the summer and were due for our first sailing lesson with the new instructor everyone was talking about. We were excited, apprehensive, all the things youd imagine of girls our age embarking on a new adventure. Im sure I saw him first, but Andee says she did. It doesnt matter; what I can tell you for certain is that suddenly there he was, leaping from the deck of a sailboat to land in front of us, all six foot two of him with the kind of aura, or presence, or just drop-dead good looks, that halted us in our tracks. His fair hair was thick, wind-mussed, and tangled around his neck; he was hard-muscled and tanned, and his face looked as though it had been carved by someone who adored him. I could give you all the usual clichs, such as he took my breath away, made my knees go weak, set my pulses racing, because Im sure they all happened. Andee summed it up well when she whispered to me, Wow, a real-life dreamboat.

We found that funny of course, thought the play on words was clever, the way you do when youre young and barely know the difference between corny and comedy.

Sean was from London, he told us, but he and his family travelled a lot, so it could be said that he was from everywhere. As he spoke his eyes were mainly on me. I could feel myself blushing, and was aware of how much Andee was enjoying the build-up of chemistry; I think she might have been even more aware of it than I was in those moments. She already had a boyfriend, Martin, who was in the same year as us, but Id never been serious with anyone. Id just had a couple of dates that had never led anywhere, mainly because Id never met anyone who really interested me.

Sean went beyond that; he completely fascinated me, and every time I looked at him I felt myself lighting up inside. It wasnt just the way he looked back at me, although that was something else, his deep, navy eyes seeming to speak in a way that made me blush and laugh and feel so reckless I could have done anything in the world, even fly. He had a way with him that seemed to draw everyone in. He wasnt the least bit arrogant, which he could have been given how worldly he was, far more than the rest of us, thats for sure. Nothing ever seemed to faze him, or if it did he found a way to get over it. His passion was sailing, so of course it soon became mine too.

We were inseparable that summer. As well as teaching me how to handle a boat, he showed me how to surf the way he did, and he got me waterskiing like a professional. He was learning to fly so Andee, her boyfriend Martin, and I went out to the airfield to watch him take off, loop the loop and land. We paraglided with him, dived from rocks, barbecued on the beach and sang songs together, with him and Martin playing their guitars. He turned me from a nave, silly schoolgirl into a confident, determined young woman who couldnt get enough of him or the world he told us so much about.

When the summer was over Andee, Martin and I took our places at the local sixth-form college, while Sean returned to London. His uni days behind him, he was now working his way up through his familys business. I didnt know much about it then, only that they were into large-scale construction projects from hotels to shopping malls, leisure centres, even marinas. Seans degree was in business management, and he was also studying company law, but I know he found being hands-on with his father and the managing partners far more exciting and educational. Even then he was as confident in his instincts as he was in his ability to land a deal. He thrived on the adrenalin of it all, and somehow made more friends than enemies, which seemed unusual for someone involved in big business, and of his age.

I was terrified hed forget me as soon as he returned to London, but thats not what happened. We were in touch every day, unless he was out of the country when hed send postcards to make me smile and of course to make me wish I was there. We hadnt really got going with texts and emails at the time, all that came later.

He returned to Kesterly at Christmas and again at Easter, and again the following summer actually there were two more summers and the closer we became the more certain we were that we were made for each other. When I finished my studies there was no question of me going to uni then I already had a place at St Martins, but I deferred for a year to go travelling with Sean. His father was all for it; he didnt want Sean to become enslaved to the business the way he had been as a young man. He believed very strongly that Seans world experiences were going to count as much in his future as his academic accomplishments, and even his knowledge of the company. It was important, Philip always said, to know as much as you could about other cultures, to see them in action and understand them on a level that was both respectful and informative. His wife had felt the same way, he once told me, and after shed died when Sean was only fourteen, Philips beliefs were reinforced. It was as if she was speaking to him passionately, he explained, wanting to make sure that no matter how successful he was, he didnt forget to be human. She was a woman of much beauty and many qualities, he said, as well as a philanthropist and effective campaigner, for she recognised talents in people that others didnt always see. It was his belief that Sean had the same innate gift for connecting with others and using it to everyones advantage.