by Voss, Louise
I laughed too. ‘Yes, well, I think he knows the kind of trouble he’d be in if he didn’t report any gossip immediately to Donna. She got it written as a clause into their prenuptial agreement, didn’t she? Anyway . . . for what it’s worth, I’m really sorry, Richard. I never met Wendy, but Megan liked her and, you know, I’m sure it was good that you had someone . . . .’
I tailed off. It seemed inappropriate, if not downright arrogant, to say ‘It was good that you had someone to take your mind off the fact that I left you.’
‘Thanks, Jo,’ he said quietly. ‘Yeah. She’s a great girl, but . . .’
For some strange reason, there were butterflies banging away in my stomach—butterflies! Richard had rarely given me butterflies before, but he was now, without a doubt. I felt mystified, and excited. Probably just the drink, I thought—although I wasn’t all that drunk. In fact, I’d never felt more sober in my life.
He was single again. I was single again. He was my most favourite person in the whole world, apart from Megan. He was always, always there for me.
I gulped.
‘Richard,’ I began. ‘Um . . . obviously, say no if you don’t fancy me—I mean, it; say no if you don’t fancy it, but I wondered if you’d like to go out to dinner next week? Without Megan, just the two of us, for a grown-up dinner somewhere?’
There was a pause and I found myself holding my breath. What if I’d got this all wrong? What if he’d only dumped Wendy because he had someone new? That would be so mortifying.
Steph and Donna were starting to gesticulate at me. ‘Hurry up, I’m freezing,’ called Donna, banging her arms against her sides and stamping her feet. ‘Who is it? Call them back later!’
I made a face at her. ‘Won’t be long,’ I mouthed back, and they rolled their eyes and went back to discussing the practicalities of cropped trousers when summer was long over.
When Richard finally replied, I could hear the smile in his voice, and joy flooded through me.
‘I’d love to, Jo,’ he said. ‘I’d really love to.’
‘Who was that?’ Donna demanded once I’d got off the phone and rejoined them, beaming all over my face.
‘Oh, just some hot guy I’ve got a date with next week,’ I said airily. ‘I invited him out to dinner.’
‘You tart!’ said Stephanie. ‘I thought you said you were off all men and didn’t want to date anybody?’
‘Well.’ I just couldn’t stop smiling. ‘Technically, I’m only off men that I’ve never been married to before . . .’
Acknowledgements
A huge thank you to the lovely Emilie Marneur, my editor at Thomas & Mercer, and the rest of the team, especially Sana Chebaro and Neil Hart. Particular thanks go to Katie Green for the heroic editing skills that have massively improved this book, and to Jennifer McIntyre whose copyediting comments on the manuscript often really made me laugh, as well as feel infinitely more confident about it.
Thanks to Mark Edwards for the encouragement, for being my first reader, and for coming up with the title (knowing well how rubbish I am at thinking of good titles!). Others who have been encouraging, supportive, or helpful in some way include Martin Toseland, Rachel Abbott, Lucy Vickery, Gracie Voss, Helen Russell, and my and Mark’s excellent Facebook fans.
About the Author
Photo © 2012 Louise Voss
Louise Voss was born and raised in Salisbury, England. She began her writing career in the mid-1990s when, while living in New York, she enrolled in a creative writing course.
Her first novel, To Be Someone, was published in 2001 by Transworld, and was the first book to come with its own CD soundtrack. This was followed by three more contemporary women’s fiction novels until she switched to writing thrillers with Mark Edwards in 2011.
She and Mark were the first UK self-published authors to reach #1 on the Amazon charts with Catch Your Death. Their fifth co-written novel, From the Cradle, was published in 2014 by Thomas & Mercer.
Louise currently lives and writes near Hampton Court. She is an avid tennis player, knitter, singer, upcycler and jewellery-maker, and adds that she can stand on her head and write backwards. Although not at the same time.
She can be reached at @LouiseVoss1 on Twitter. Her website is www.vossandedwards.com.
