Page 93

Thea:SOS

It was their agreed call sign in case either was in trouble. Within seconds Josh was on the phone.

“What’s happened?” he asked.

“I have an emergency.”

“What is it?” Josh said, hands trembling and urgency in his voice.

“I have a lovesick friend and an idiot brother on my hands,” she said. “Do you think I need Fire, Police, or Ambulance?”

Josh exhaled. “That’s not funny, T. I was worried.”

“What’s not funny is that I can’t pin you down to talk some sense into you. This was all I could think of.”

“Is there something specific you want to talk about?”

“Yes, there is. I want to understand how two people, who obviously care about each other, can’t sit down and have a grown-up conversation about it. I want to know why they think it’s okay to waste their chance at happiness.”

Josh sighed and patted the side of Madonna’s neck, the moisture from her sweat evidence of how hard they’d ridden.

“It’s not that simple, Thea. I know I’ve messed things up, but I'm still losing Kitty even if the Daniel thing hadn’t happened. She still goes back to London and leaves me here, miserable. Why would I do it to myself?”

“When did you last speak to her?”

Josh was ashamed to admit the truth to Thea.

“We spoke last week.”

“Right, and what did you talk about? Her job plans? Your inability to commit to a relationship? Her inability to put you out of your misery?”

Irritation nibbled at Josh’s gut.

“Mudpies.”

Thea cackled on the other end. “Based on that, you deserve each other. Both of you are bloody miserable. It makes no sense. Look, I’m only going to say this one more time. You’ve shut yourself away for too long. You can’t be on your own your whole life, and you can’t run to the hills every time things go a bit curly. You need to take a chance.”

“But—”

“But nothing. If you get hurt, you get hurt. It won’t be any worse than you feel right now. What have you really got to lose?”

57

KITTY

“It’s official!”Kitty grinned as she put the phone down on its cradle. “We got the money!”

“Yougot us the money!” squealed Thea as she pumped the air and jumped around the office in ecstasy.

She rushed over to give her a big hug. Kitty was so happy she could almost cry. With the financing locked in, Thea could afford to keep her on as Development Manager. She could stay in Tottenbridge and see Josh, be near him. Perhaps one day soon, they could sit down and have a proper talk.

“Phil would be so proud of you,” Kitty said.

Thea unwound herself and looked at her, eyes full of tears.“Ididn’t have to doanything!”

Kitty wiggled her eyebrows. “Are you kidding? It was all down to you. The bank manager was like putty in your hands.”

Thea rolled her eyes.“Only because you pummelled him into submission first! You’re a bloody warrior. I can see why you were such a good lawyer.”