Casey and Drew played on one table while we played doubles on another. Kate and I teamed up against Gary and Mez. Gary took his time to show Mez how to play. Then Drew insisted on being next in line for tutelage, forcing Tina to take third place. Casey didn't seem to care that she didn't play well, and retired between turns to fill her sketchbook with pictures of her friends at the pool table.
While she was taking her shot, I leafed through her pictures. She had drawn Gary standing beside Tina. She had captured that dazzling flirting-with-you smile on Tina's face, and Gary's utter obliviousness to it.
Gary leaned over my shoulder. "Why has she drawn Tina with that goofy face?"
"Who knows?" I closed the sketchbook. "How's it going?"
"Not bad. Mez is picking it up. Drew is too short tempered, and I don't think Tina's paying attention."
"Sounds about right. So. Are you having fun?"
Gary thought about that. "Yeah. I am." He flashed a sudden, teasing smile. "It's better than sitting through Showboat again, at any rate."
"Ha. For that I'm going to make you rewatch Mamma Mia."
"You're really cruel."
"Says the man who made me watch Vampires Anonymous."
His grin widened. He glanced around at the gang and leaned closer to me. "Which vampire tried to eat James Bond?"
I could guess, but let him have his fun.
"Ghoulfinger," he announced, with such a flourish that it made me laugh anyway.
Then Kate arrived with a couple of beers, and we sat together to observe the cue ball action. Drew called Gary back to the table for the next shot, and Gary went, a bounce in his step I'd never seen before.
Contentment buzzed through me like a champagne high. There was no better thing to be doing right now than this: kicking back with good mates, a beer, and my two best friends in the whole world.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
And to all those, without whom…
Writing a book is a bit deceptive. I mean, it's just my name on the cover, so it looks like just one person did the whole thing. It's true that I did an awful lot of it. But just like a racing car has one driver but a whole support crew, there are a lot of people on my back-up team.
First of all, I would like to thank Lindy Cameron of Clan Destine Press, who pounced at giving Walking Shadows a new home. I appreciate the support, Lindy, and thank you for believing in me and this book. Thanks also to my CDP editor, Kylie Fox. You were a treat to work with! And a shout out for CDP co-conspirator, Mandy Wrangles, who is an integral part of the crew; and to our proofreader, Steph O'Connell.
Huge thanks also go to John Richards and Diane Waters, for invaluable early input into the manuscript. Thanks also to Ron Serdiuk and Alex Adsett for their commitment to the first book, The Opposite of Life.
Daryl Lindquist created a gorgeous cover for this book, and I thank him very much for that. Thanks go to Heath Miller, too, who posed as a pseudo-Gary for some of the earlier cover ideas. The pictures weren't used, but Heath and I spent an entertaining hour while he climbed indoor rock walls, striking Gary poses while wearing a Hawaiian shirt.
I'd also like to thank the good people of Sovereign Hill, who answered a bunch of questions on the two occasions I visited their gold rush era re-enactment town. I like Sovereign Hill, and you should all visit it, if only for the excellent vanilla slices at the bakery.
My unending thanks go to Jehni Thomas-Wurth and Yvon Hintz for their support of not just the manuscript (early, late and in between) but of me. Thirty years of friendship have flown by, and I don't know how I would have done any of this without you guys.
And of course, my love and thanks, as always, to Tim Richards, husband, partner and friend, who also helped with earlier versions of the book, was a sounding board for everything from plot points to business advice and who generally keeps me sane, which is a much more difficult job than anybody except him knows.
Finally: my thanks to all the people who enjoyed and supported The Opposite of Life and took Gary and Lissa to heart, particularly Mary Borsellino, Audrey Fox and Julie Salisbury.
Gary, Lissa and I are all quite fond of you too.
Narrelle M Harris
CLAN DESTINE PRESS
is proud to release
this ebook
and hopes you enjoyed the story.
http://www.clandestinepress.com.au
First ePublished in Australia 2012
by Clan Destine Press
PO Box 121, Bittern
Victoria 3918 Australia
Copyright © Narrelle M Harris 2012
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The Australian Copyright Act 1968 (The Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or 10 per cent of any book, whichever is the greater, to be photocopied by any educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the educational institution (or the body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) under the Act.
National Library of Australia Cataloguing-In-Publication data:
Author: Harris, Narrelle M.
Title: Walking Shadows
The moral rights of the authors have been asserted.
Edition: 1st ed.
ISBN: 978-0-9873419-1-4 (ebook)
Cover Design © R&D Studios, Queensland
Design & Typesetting Clan Destine Press
Walking Shadows Page 32
