Anna sniffed and pulled away to look at Gabi. ‘Is that what they do onHoarders?’
Gabi laughed loudly. ‘No! That would be a very bad idea.’ Her voice softened. ‘But this is different. You can make up your own rules. You can do what you want.’
Anna nodded and tried to suck in a deep breath, but it ended up more like a hiccup. ‘Okay.’ She walked over to the wardrobe and stared inside again.
Just as her fingers brushed the shoulders of a few of Spencer’s shirts, her mobile buzzed in her back jeans pocket. She quickly pulled the shirts out, threw them on the bed, and grabbed for her phone. It might be…
It wasn’t.
Her heart sank.
‘Brody?’ Gabi said drily. Anna had half a mind to think her best friend was getting jealous. She got this pinched little look on her face every time Anna mentioned him.
‘No, my mum. Asking what time my flight gets in on the fifteenth of December. I’ll go and check the confirmation email when we’re finished.’
Anna went back to pulling shirts from the wardrobe. When the pile was complete, Gabi said, ‘But you thought that was Brody?’
Anna glanced over her shoulder to where Gabi was struggling with a black sack as she dragged it back towards the wardrobe and dumped it on the floor. ‘What makes you say that?’
‘Your face. You never do that face when it’s anyone else.’
‘Imightlook that way when you text me,’ Anna replied. ‘You wouldn’t know, because you’re always somewhere else at the time.’
‘Okay,’ Gabi said. She pulled her phone out and tapped in a quick message. A split second later, Anna’s phone dinged again. She did her best to hide her smile when she saw Gabi’s text:Prove it.
Anna pretended to faint, flopping back onto the bed covered in clothes and hangers. Gabi lay down beside her and they both giggled quietly. ‘You are silly,’ Gabi said.
‘Only half as silly as you, though,’ Anna replied and poked her friend gently in the ribs.
‘That is true,’ Gabi said wearily, and they both lay there looking up at the ceiling.
‘I’m worried about him,’ Anna finally said. ‘Brody.’
Gabi pushed herself up on one elbow and looked at Anna. ‘Why?’
‘The last time we spoke, I asked him about that accident you mentioned, and he kind of lost it.’
‘Lost it?’ Gabi said slowly. ‘How do you mean? Angry? Irrational?’
‘I don’t know,’ Anna said, propping herself up to match Gabi’s position.‘He just… He stopped talking, and I could hear him, and then… nothing. The phone went dead.’
‘Did he say sorry?’
‘That’s just it. That call was more than a week ago, and I’ve sent messages, tried phoning every day, but he won’t answer. I’m scared I’ve stuck my big fat nose in where it didn’t belong and ruined it.’
‘Maybe you need to back off a little? Give him space?’
‘Why do you say that?’
Gabi sighed heavily. ‘Voice of experience.’
Anna waited for Gabi to explain, but Gabi let her body drop back down on the bed and went back to studying the ceiling light. ‘A coat hanger is sticking into my butt,’ Gabi mumbled, ‘but I can’t be bothered to move.’
Anna poked Gabi again. It was quickly becoming her favourite new method of communication. ‘What do you mean, “voice of experience”?’
‘A little because I see that I was pushy with you sometimes…’
Anna squeezed her hand.
