‘We’re just friends. I thought there might be more, after we kissed?—’
‘What?’ I squeaked, shuffling closer. ‘When? What was it like?’
For a moment she looked dreamy, eyes soft. ‘A while ago. It was so hot. But he got all distant and weird, then he and Vanessa were looking all cosy at the BBQ-’
Scoffed. ‘He’s not interested in her.’
‘Hmm. You know, at first, I wondered if he thought I wasn’t good enough for him, but it’s something else. His obsession with privacy, or because it’d be awkward if it didn’t work out with us both living here. But I’m inclined to think it’s baggage from all that stuff in the press.’
I winced. ‘Yeah, he had a rough time. They made it sound like he deserved all the awful stuff they wrote about how he treated his ex-wife, and what happened with the affair.’
‘There are two sides to every story though.’
‘More like three. His, hers, and the truth. I was a journo, remember? There’s always some kind of spin. I took pride in reporting honestly, but had an editor to answer to with concerns about circulation figures so always had to find the best attention-grabbing headline.’
‘Do you think you’ll ever go back to it?’
Paused. Not a totally horrifying thought. ‘Don’t know. Anyway, I’m sure you and Harley will work things out.’
‘We’ll see.’ Gave me a cheeky grin. ‘What about you and Ethan?’
Blinked. ‘Nothing to tell.’
‘No way. I’ve seen the wayhelooks atyou.’
Bit my lip, feeling stomach swoop. ‘H-he said he likes me. Not sure why. I don’t want him to, it’s too complicated. I can’t contemplate a relationship when I can’t trust other people, or my own judgement, and flinch if someone gets too close.’
‘It’ll get better with time,’ she announced, standing up. ‘And as for why he likes you… Who knows? I mean, you can be a right grumpy cow?—’
‘Oi!’ Grabbed scarred red hardback from rubbish pile and tossed at her.
She chuckled, dodging it and heading for door. ‘Need to pop home to whip up a batch of client cupcakes. I’ll bring some lunch back, and we can tackle the kitchen. In the meantime, I think you should give Ethan a chance. He’s one of the good guys.’
‘I told you,’ I grumbled, ‘I’m not interested in dating.’ But inside my head, a pair of friendly blue eyes sparkled, and my fingers itched to text him an apology for the bathroom incident.
‘We’ll see,’ she repeated. ‘By the way, how on earth did you get your roses changed to rainbow ones? They’re so gorgeous. I thought they’re artificially made, and only last a few days? Yours are positively blooming.’
Mumbled something about dye injections, not sure what else to say. Have my suspicions about this place but not sure how to voice them without sounding unhinged.
‘Tori?’ a patient voice prompted, snapping me from thoughts.
‘Ethan!’ As if conjured by my conversation with Kirsten, he was propped against scarred lounge doorframe. ‘I didn’t hear you come in.’ Flustered, brushed my clothes off, eyes darting past him to track an exit strategy. Remembering last time we’d been in a room together and how I’d reacted, breath stuttered.
‘Taking an extended lunchbreak because I’ve got something to mull over. Coming here always settles me, so I decided to head over early.’ Sensing my unease, he suggested. ‘Shall we go outside? It’s nice and sunny.’
‘Sure.’ Re-did ponytail, giving myself a moment.He won’t hurt you. The party was a misunderstanding. You’re okay.‘Actually, I wanted to talk to you.’ From telling Kirsten about trauma, know I need to conquer issues, not let them fester. Plus, he suggested outside to lessen my anxiety.
‘Okay.’ Straightening, he exited through front door.
Emerging into neat garden, which Theo and Kit kindly tidied, Ethan was leaning back against mossy waist-high wall, long muscular legs in suit trousers braced against pavement. Taking deep breath, walked through gate and settled beside him, leaving a metre gap. Directly opposite, Steve and building team working on Theo’s cottage with its yellow rose-encircled front door. Ariel visible painting something inside. The rows of other cottages, festooned in continually blooming roses in range of colours, stood sentry along main street.Safe.
‘God, it’s hot.’ Shrugging off his jacket, Ethan placed on wall between us, loosening his tie and rolling up his shirt sleeves.
Tried not to blush, or stare at the little golden hairs on his forearms. Reminded me of comment Clover made the other day about Ethan when we were planting flowerbeds in Albie’s back garden,that boy always seems to be taking a piece of clothing off.
‘So, what did you want to talk about?’ he prompted.
‘Oh, erm, I wanted to say sorry about what happened at Albie’s. You were just checking on me, but I went into panic mode…’ Screwed up face, ‘The alcohol didn’t help.’
