Page 36 of Courting Trouble

Cassie stared at the phone for a moment. Then she exhaled and pulled up the number she hadn’t dialled in years.

She hesitated just a beat longer. Then tappedCall. The phone rang. And rang. And rang.

Cassie shut her eyes. Then Petra picked up.

‘Well,’ she said. ‘Hell’s frozen over.’

Thirty-Seven

Delilah was already standing by the door, dressed and ready. Her bag was packed neatly at her feet. She was ready. She hoped.

The bell went, and Delilah opened it before it finished ringing. Cassie’s finger was still in the air. ‘Jesus, you’re keen.’

‘Bet your arse,’ Delilah said, wanting to sound tough and prepared. It was obviously bullshit, but she didn’t know how to prepare for this. So acting would have to do.

‘Let’s shove off, then,’ Cassie said.

Delilah nodded, her knees wobbly with fear. She hoped Cassie couldn’t tell.

**

The roads were almost empty, the world still slow to wake as they drove away from the town and into the widercountryside. The landscape changed quickly, fields opening wide.

‘So, about where we’re headed… The Larchfield Programme. It’s not your average tennis camp.’

‘I’m sure it’s nothing like themanytennis camps of my youth,’ Delilah said dryly.

Cassie breathed down her nose in an irritated gesture, but Delilah saw one corner of her mouth go up slightly. ‘It’s in the middle of nowhere. The food is extremely boring, but good for athletes. It’s geared toward a lack of distraction. They don’t even have TVs.’

Delilah tried to picture the place. She conjured a tennis prison.

‘And we’ll be there for two weeks?’ she asked.

‘Two weeks, full immersion.’ She paused. ‘No Jelly Babies,’ she added with a thin smile.

Delilah chuckled. ‘You think I didn’t pack my own?’ She had a giant sack of the little bastards. Time would tell if she just ended up stress eating them on day one.

Cassie cleared her throat. ‘We’ll be sharing a cabin.’

‘Oh!’ Delilah exclaimed without meaning to.

Cassie threw her the quickest of looks. ‘No choice in that, I’m afraid. I had to pull in a favour from the director. Petra. She’s… not my biggest fan. So we were lucky to get what we got.’

Delilah heard the implication, the story behind the favour. But she didn’t press.

‘Thank you,’ Delilah said. ‘I appreciate this. I’m sure you had to cancel a lot of other clients to do this.’

‘I did, but I’d be shocked if they gave a shit. And your agent agreed to cover the time. So you don’t need to thank me.’

‘Yes, I do,’ Delilah said.

Cassie didn’t reply. Only sighed down her nose again.

Delilah decided not to bother Cassie again and let the quiet between them stretch.

They turned onto a narrower lane, trees arching overhead.

Delilah’s heartbeat sped up a notch. She was scared. Exhausted just thinking about the work ahead. But beneath it all, a fragile thread of excitement wound through her. This is a chance to prove something, even if it was just to herself. That she could earn this.