Page 38 of The Good Neighbour

Josh hid his laugh behind his hand.

“How was it?” Suzanne asked.

She clearly had no intention of letting him get off lightly. Her steely gaze showed a determination that it would be foolish to try to evade.

“Pretty fucking amazing. It’s just?—”

“No,” she said, holding her hand up. “That was a full stop. We don’t need any more, thank you.”

Josh put his half-eaten croissant down. “You don’t know what I was going to say.”

“I do. You were going to tell me how bad you feel because of Winston. Right or wrong?”

He settled in his chair and nursed the coffee cup as if it held the elixir of life. It had been a long time since he’d had to work on very little sleep. He would be needing at least two more very strong coffees to get through the day.

“Right,” he said, quietly.

“The same Winston who is badgering you for a divorce?”

“Yes.”

“And the one who has at least one man in the South of France?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s stick with the full stop. He doesn’t deserve your time.”

Suzanne was right. As he’d lain in Hugh’s arms the night before, Josh had decided to tell the lawyer to give Winston what he wanted. Josh didn’t need anything other than his home. He would crawl over hot coals before he let the Queens Crescent house go.

“What’s lover boy doing today?” Suzanne asked.

“I left him in bed, the lucky sod,” Josh replied. “His mate’s away, doing a gig on a cruise ship for a few days. He’s going to do some work on these new characters.”

They got up. Suzanne spun around.

“Oh yes, I forgot. How did the meeting of Madeline go?”

Josh shook his head. “It didn’t happen. Let’s just say Mrs Wimpole and the Professor made a much more lasting impression.”

Suzanne clutched him by the arm. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

Poor Suzanne had been the recipient of a fiery takedown from Mrs Wimpole after Suzanne mistakenly sold a suit Mrs Wimpole had reserved. She remained terrified of her.

“It’s nothing to do with me, thank you.”

“Mrs Wimpole might not see it like that. You know what she’s like.”

He knew very well what Mrs Wimpole was like.

Suzanne set about organising the designs they’d been working on. They were going to have a full run-through of the collection and agree on all the changes that were needed. Time was ticking on and Josh didn’t have the emotional strength to deal with a race to the finish line.

“Are you seeing him tonight?”

Evidently the interrogation hadn’t concluded.

Josh shrugged. “We didn’t make any plans.”

“Invite him over for a lovely dinner. You’re a great cook.”