Anybody But Him Read Free Page A

they were so much older than their friends’ parents since they’d waited till their forties to have children, but now …
    â€˜I think Una’s right about them deteriorating.’
    â€˜Oh, really? I’m so sorry.’ Lainey sipped her coffee, then glanced at the kitchen clock. ‘I have to collect Rosie from school soon. I can drop you home on the way if you want to wait while I take this stuff off,’ she said, gesturing at her legs, ‘and put some clothes on. We’ll have to catch up for longer than this one day soon, okay? It seems ages since Christmas, and emails just aren’t the same.’
    â€˜I’m counting on it. How else will I stay sane around here?’

    When Lainey’s car turned into East Road, Nicola spotted the Jack Russell that had caused her fall earlier. She couldn’t swear to it being the same one, but what were the chances of two similar dogs running loose in a town the size of Redgum Valley? She twisted in her seat and saw the dog disappear through an open gate. ‘Stop the car. I want to have a word with the owner of that dog.’
    â€˜What? Why?’
    â€˜I’ll explain later, but it’s not going to be a friendly word.’ She undid her seatbelt and opened the door. ‘I’ll walk home from here. Thanks for the ride.’
    â€˜Don’t forget to email your CV to Corinne.’
    â€˜I’ll do it as soon as I get in.’
    â€˜And let me know when you’ve had the interview.’
    Nicola promised, then waved as Lainey did a three-point turn and drove off to collect her daughter. It was still incomprehensible to her that Lainey was a mother, even though she’d had twelve years to get used to the idea. They were both twenty-eight, but their lives were so different.
    After she’d passed through the gate she made a point of shutting it behind her. If its owner had kept the gate closed, the dog wouldn’t have been roaming around, causing havoc wherever it went, would it? Simple, really. Which meant she was probably going to find herself talking to someone who couldn’t understand the fundamental relationship between cause and effect.
    The front door stood open too. Honestly, did these people have no idea? Admittedly crime rates weren’t what they were in the city, but still, basic security wasn’t a difficult concept to grasp.
    â€˜Hello?’
    When there was no answer she called again and stepped inside. She glanced into therooms on either side of her– bedrooms – then walked down a central hallway. At the end, the house opened up into what had to be a recent extension. She’d had no idea from the traditional frontage that inside there would be a massive kitchen, with open-plan dining and seating areas, and in one corner, near the floor-to-ceiling windows, a large desk and computer. A man was sitting there, intent on a huge monitor. From the back, all she could see of him was his curly black hair.
    â€˜Hello?’
    Still no response, so she took a few more steps, and when she saw the white earphones, she moved to the side into his line of sight, catching his attention at last.
    He took the earphones out. ‘Who are …?’
    He stared at her, his eyes wide. Actually, they weren’t just wide, they were a striking, intense blue and reminded her of something. Not the sea or the sky. Nothing so poetic.
    A slow smile spread across his face. ‘ Nicki Doyle ?’
    At the sound of his voice, recognition crawled up her spine, and not in a good way.
    Him . Bloody Blair Morrissey.
    So that was what his eyes reminded her of. Her past.
    He rolled his chair back from the desk and got to his feet. ‘You look a bit different, but it is you, isn’t it?’
    Pressing her lips together, she drew a long breath through her nose as she’d practised over the years. A bit different? She looked nothing like she had at high school. And he knew it. He’d taken