by Andrea Drew
“She turned up here yesterday,” said Leah, her voice cracking.
“Are you serious? What for?” Rita and I hadn’t exactly been on the best of terms since her little electronic love tryst had been uncovered nearly a year ago. What was Rita thinking? The few times she had mentioned it to me we’d clashed, purely because she thought having an affair by mobile phone with a married man was hilarious, a bit of a giggle. Chloe and Matt, the two other members of the book club, had tried to talk me around but I’d never gone back. I’d maintained my friendship with Chloe, but the topic of Rita was off limits and had never been brought up again.
I had only been able to resume civilized relations with the woman in the last few months. I clenched one hand into a fist, wanting to let Rita have it.
“She came to see me yesterday. She must have been bloody stalking me. How else would she know I was home?”
Heat rose in my face.
“But why was she there? What did she say?” I said, incredulous.
“She said she was curious and wanted to meet me in person. The conversation lasted all of two seconds. I told her to never contact us again and slammed the door in her face.”
Plus a few choice verbs, knowing how Leah unleashed her temper during fits of anger.
I wondered what sort of fresh hell the news had injected into their marriage. Paul had been dutifully contrite and remorseful, but it had taken four months of marriage counseling before their relationship was able to regain its equilibrium.
“I’ll go and see her,” I said, hearing the hard edge in my voice.
“No don’t, please don’t. I’ve already had it out with Paul and he says he knew nothing about it. For once, I believe him. He doesn’t have the same phone number anymore. I don’t think she’ll show her face again.”
“Want me to come over?”
“No, not now. We’re having a casual barbecue here on Sunday. Come over then, it’d be nice to see you. Renee misses you.”
I grinned and imagined a small smile creeping across Leah’s face. She knew that using Renee for advantage would work with me, every time. “Okay, well, stay in touch. I’ll see you tomorrow. I’ll bring something with me. Take care, hey?”
“Yeah, okay.” The phone beeped as Leah hung up.
I pushed myself up from the office chair and dropped the phone to my desk with a clunk. As I paced the small room, I fought the urge to grab my keys and race over to see Rita. What was she thinking? I should give myself time to calm down, but damn it, someone needed to shake some sense into the woman.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 9
2 31
3 50
4 60
5 72
6 92
7 112
8 118
9 125
10 140
11 160
12 174
13 193
14 211
15 224
16 238
17 256
The adventure continues . . . 262
