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“Halle is going to stay for a couple of days, too.”

“Oh, okay. Is that your way of telling me to bugger off? Don’t want to share time with your bestie.” Lydia had been joking, but the look that washed over Fe’s face wasn’t one that found her quip funny.

“You can be friends with Halle.”

“Um, thanks. I was only kidding.”

“Lyds, I think there’s something I should tell yo—”

“Ah, the wanderer returns.” Halle strolled into the kitchen, her freshly showered scent filling up the room. God, she smells great. “Did you have a good evening?”

“Lovely, thanks.” Lydia found that, in fact, she didn’t want to talk to Halle about Zoe. Weird. “How were the three amigos?”

“Filled with Chinese and ice cream. They asked where Clark was.” Fe answered.

“And you handled it perfectly, sweetie.” Halle added. She always knew what to say. Lydia was happy Fe still had that kind of support. Not that she didn’t get it from her sister, but sometimes a person needed an outsider to put things into perspective. Not that Halle was an outsider. Oh, for the love of beans, Lydia was in her head again.

“Right, I’m going to change clothes and then we can get organised. I’ll draw up a rota for the kids. On the days I’m not at the museum, I can take them to and from school. That gives you time to deal with lawyers and whatnot.”

Fe hiccupped and drew Lydia in, pulling Halle along for the ride. Together, the three women stood in the kitchen, simply holding each other. Lydia’s text alert finally broke the spell. Reaching over, Lydia’s heart rate increased with excitement and then, strangely, panic. The text was from Zoe, recounting some of her favourite parts of their night together. That was exciting to read. The panic came from the look Fe and Halle were exchanging. Halle looked crestfallen and Fe looked guilty.

Slipping the phone into her purse, Lydia made a quick getaway to the bedroom. She needed to change, so she wasn’t really running away from whatever the hell was going on. And she was certainly not running away from some peculiar feelings that were making their presence known. Feelings that had a lot to do with Halle Cartwright.

Chapter 9

What was Lydia witnessing? A limp piece of lettuce hung from her fork, close to her mouth, forgotten as she looked between Cathy and Harrison. They weren’t acting strangely, but there was something.

Cathy wiped her mouth and shot a quick look at Harrison. If Lydia hadn’t been studying the duo, she would have missed it. Hm, something strange indeed was afoot. “Fancy a drink tonight, Cath?”

“Sure. You know I’m always up for a tipple or two, even on a school night.”

“Harrison?”

“Sure.” The great conversationalist strikes again.

“Great, see you after work then.” Reluctantly Lydia left the table. If Norris wasn’t prowling the halls, she’d have happily been a little late going back to work. However, Norris was on shift and in an extraordinarily grumpy mood. Why the man didn’t retire was anyone’s guess. He clearly didn’t like his job anymore.

“Lydia!” Speak of the Devil.

“Norris, what can I do for you?”

“Get to the gift shop. I need you there. Benjamin called in sick.”

“Righto.” With a little salute Lydia turned on her heel, happy to be assigned to the gift shop, and out of Norris’ way.

Breaking up two young lads getting their arses handed to them by their younger sister via a wooden sword was the highlight of Lydia’s day. The incident reminded her so much of Jack, Jenny, and Joey. After notifying Fe she would be a little late getting home, Lydia headed for the pub. Cathy and Harrison were already seated. Drinks on the table, waiting. “Another day done.” Hooking her coat on the rack close to their table, Lydia sipped greedily on the pint in front of her.

“Is it me or is Norris getting even less patient? Even with the visitors.” Cathy commented between sips of white wine.

“It’s not you, Cat. That man needs to retire and find some peace.” Harrison hadn’t even looked up from the book he was reading.

Lydia looked from Harrison to Cathy. Cat? He called her Cat! And why was Harrison reading Shakespeare in the pub? “Harrison, could you fetch me some Scampi Fries from the bar?” Cathy asked. Without a word, Harrison laid his copy of Othello down and skittered off to the bar.

“Okay, what is happening?” Cutting straight to the point, Lydia waited as Cathy sucked in a breath.

“Harrison asked me out a few days ago and said yes. We’ve spent nearly every day together so far. And, Lydia, it’s been wonderful!”

“You said he was as dumb as a bag of rocks!”