StillWaters:Book4oftheSophieGreenMysteries Read Free

menus, her eyebrows raised.
    “What?”
    She shrugged. “Nothing. Aren’t you ever going to tell him?”
    I shook my head firmly.
    “You know, there is a chance—I mean, it could…”
    “No,” I said sharply, “it couldn’t. There’s no chance.”
    She backed off. “Okay.”
    Luke brought the drinks and we scanned the menu. I was impressed. For a pub that had its fair share of locals in fisherman’s sweaters, propping up the bar, it had a pretty decent selection of food. Most of it was local seafood, and as Maria had said, there was lots of shellfish. But there were also three or four veggie options. I could see myself eating here quite a lot.
    Eventually I reverted to comfort food and ordered fish and chips. Maria took our order to the bar, leaving me and Luke on opposite sides of the small table.
    I examined my fingernails.
    “Well done for driving, by the way,” he said into the silence.
    “You see, my driving instructor’s faith was not misplaced.”
    “I meant—” he began, and then stopped. “Forget it.”
    Damn, why does he turn me into such a bitch? Why can’t I be nice when he’s around? I’m a lovely person, I really am.
    This was going to be a long week.
    Our food came, relieving the stilted conversation Maria tried to keep going, and the barman gave Luke an envious look. Sitting next to Maria, of course he’d be envious.
    She had crabmeat, still in its shell, and I had to keep my eyes averted from it. You could see the eyes. It had been alive this morning. My cod was beer battered and boneless and headless and tailless, and it tasted beautiful—sweet and silky—but it didn’t look like it had been alive at any time recently.
    “Go on, try some,” Maria coaxed, holding out her fork to me with a little bit of delicate pink meat on it. “It’s really nice.”
    Sigh.
    “It’s crab,” I said. “It has a shell.” And claws. And antennae. And those eyes. Ugh . “I can’t.”
    Maria shrugged and told me it was my loss. Luke watched us with interest. He rarely misses much.
    “So how’s your new bird?” Maria asked Luke, and the cod suddenly felt like lead in my stomach. “Carrie, Cassie…?”
    “Caro,” he said, not looking at me. “She’s fine.”
    “Didn’t fancy a trip to sunny Cornwall?”
    “Thought this was an SO17 thing.”
    “I’m joking” she bashed him easily. “What’s she like?”
    He shrugged. “She’s nice.”
    “Well, duh. What does she look like?”
    Another shrug. “Blonde hair, blue eyes, quite tall.”
    “Skinny or curvy?”
    “Neither, really.”
    Maria’s eyes slid to me. “I bet she’s curvy,” she said. “Long legs. Big boobs. I bet she has layers in her hair.”
    “Shut up ,” I said.
    “So what if she does?” Luke asked threateningly.
    Maria laughed. “Luke, you always said you never had a type.”
    “I don’t.”
    “Right. So it’s just coincidence that your new girlfriend resembles your old one right down to her cup size?”
    Luke glared at his lasagne . “She’s a C cup,” he mumbled, and Maria laughed out loud, because I’m a DD and proud of it—but everything else was exactly like me. It was frightening. Was I just another identical notch on Luke’s oak bedpost?
    Oh God, what if he’s slept with her? Already? It’s only been—
    It’s only been four months. Only just four.
    God. The amount you can fool yourself. I’m over Luke, I’ve moved on, I’m not jealous. Yeah, right .
    “Anyway,” Maria changed the subject. “Aren’t you looking forward to a week off?”
    “It’s hardly been a busy couple of months,” I said.
    “No, well—I mean, you don’t have to carry your mobile around everywhere—”
    “Just as well,” Luke said drily, “because I lost signal somewhere around Tintagel.”
    “Or your gun—”
    “Depends on how much those seagulls piss me off.”
    Maria looked at him in despair. “You didn’t bring your gun?”
    “I take it everywhere.”
    She looked at me and I averted my