Nell gaped at her. “You talked to Rosie about me?”
“Of course not. She guessed.” Angie side-eyed her. “Apparently, you gave her dagger eyes when she asked Mattie out to a gay bar.”
“Ah.” How embarrassing to be caught out by a twenty-something. “I might have been slightly jealous.”
Angie reached for the bowl of tomatoes. “When are you and Mattie getting together again? I haven’t been to London in years, so I’ll have to live vicariously through you.”
Nell dropped her shoulders. “There won’t be any trips to London. Not to see Mattie, anyway.”
“Really?” Angie looked surprised.
“It was a holiday fling.” Nell stabbed at an olive with her fork. “We haven’t been in touch since she returned to London.”
“That’s a shame.”
“It’s for the best.” If Nell repeated it often enough, perhaps she could indoctrinate herself into believing it. Her eyes latched onto Mattie again, and she recognised the determination and single-minded focus in her pose, her eyes, despite the open “I’m listening” look. Nell remembered how it felt to be in the firing line of Mattie’s laser-sharp questioning. That council CEO didn’t have a clue what was in store for him.I miss her.
Angie went to the fridge and brought out a bottle of white. “Any time is wine o’clock, and I think you deserve this.” She poured two glasses. “Can I ask you something?”
Nell held up her glass in silent agreement.
Angie swivelled on her stool so they were face to face. “Why are you trying to convince yourself it’s for the best that you and Mattie have nothing to do with each other?”
Nell winced at the question she’d been avoiding asking herself. “Could you start with an easier question, please?”
“That’s the easiest one I’ve got.”
Nell swallowed a mouthful of the crisp, dry wine. “It was what Mattie and I agreed. No strings.”
“No strings is different from no contact,” said Angie.
“Apart from when one of the parties ties herself up in knots with said strings.” Nell studied her finger as it traced the delicate stem of her wine glass. “I kind of fell for her.”
“Ah.”
“Ah indeed.” Nell’s pulse picked up again as she let her gaze, still hungry, latch onto the TV again. Mattie’s voice had turned to steel, and the panic-stricken CEO was clearly trying to backtrack.I wish she was talking to me. Either the wine was having a loosening effect on her tongue, or Nell was having yet another wildly out of character moment, one of many she’d had since meeting Mattie. “I can’t stop thinking about her or wanting to spend more time together.”
“You fell for her? Or think you could?”
“No. Yes. Christ, I’m talking nonsense.” Nell pressed her palm to her burning cheek as if that might stop the words tumbling from her mouth. “We spent a whole day and a few nights together, that’s all. It was a holiday from everyday life stuff, more fantasy than anything real. It can’t possibly mean something else.”
Angie tilted her head and looked over her glasses at Nell. “Why not?”
“Because I barely know her.” Nell took another gulp of wine to blur the oddness of discussing her inner feelings with Angie—with anyone. “I thought we were going to chat about our hiking holiday plans?”
Angie laughed. “This is far more interesting.”
The sound of dogs barking filled the room. Nell stared at Mattie, who was now filming live from an animal shelter that’d been submerged under three feet of filthy water and sludge. Her interviewee, a bedraggled woman in her sixties, clutched a black Scottie dog. It wriggled in the woman’s arms and looked adoringly at Mattie when she stroked his head.Lucky dog.
Angie topped up Nell’s glass. “You should text her and ask for your shirt back.”
“Sh, you’re talking over her.” Now Nell had caved into her craving to watch Mattie, she didn’t want to miss a single word.
Angie snorted and stayed quiet until Mattie finished her report and the sports news came on. She turned down the volume. “Text her. You’ve got nothing to lose. Worst-case scenario, she ignores you and then you can take the moral high ground and call her a thief.” Angie smiled encouragingly. “From what I know of her, she’ll at least answer.”
How much courage did Nell need to send a text? She’d stood up to an abuser with a knife, walked away from a toxic marriage, and finally come out to Angie. She could write a few words and press the send button, couldn’t she?”
Chapter 21
