Home Among the Palm Trees by Rachel Armstrong

Author:Rachel Armstrong
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pink Paws Publishing
Published: 2022-05-10T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

Ana arrived at school on Monday with a spring in her step. She hadn’t planned to tell Liam about Rick, but she hadn’t been able to hide her fear and she was glad she’d talked to him about it.

But the confession hadn’t budged the dread that continued to simmer in her belly.

Entering the staffroom, she found Deborah straightening chairs. ‘Hey, Deb.’

‘Good morning, Ana. How was your weekend?’

Ana didn’t miss the underlying question in Deborah’s tone or her bubbling curiosity. ‘Good. And yours?’

‘Oh, fine. My husband and I went horseback riding and had a picnic.’

Ana smiled as she checked her pigeonhole. ‘That sounds lovely.’

‘It was. How about you?’

Ana resisted a smile as she adjusted the folders in her arms. ‘I know why you want to know. Liam said you might get like this.’

Deborah blinked. ‘Like what? I’m not like anything. I just want to know how your weekend was. And maybe a little more because my boy mentioned that you’re seeing each other.’

Ana shook her head. She couldn’t blame Deborah. Mothers were usually interested in their children’s love-lives and after the conversation surrounding Vivian’s grandson that first week at work, Ana knew Deborah possessed the desire to become a grandparent. But the last thing Ana needed was for the woman to jump ahead and start knitting booties.

‘Yeah ...’ Ana’s stomach clenched as Deborah broke into a grin. ‘We’ve been hanging out a little. And I’ve been taking Louis to agility training.’

‘Yes, I heard about your border collie. That’s why I wasn’t surprised when Liam said he liked you. Lucy said Louis’ getting quite good.’

Ana’s heart swelled. ‘He’s learning. But ... yeah, you could say that Liam and I are seeing each other.’

Deborah’s eyes brightened and Ana’s stomach clenched harder.

‘I think you’ll be good for him, Ana,’ Deborah said, placing her hand on Ana’s forearm. ‘And he for you. He’s a sweet boy, my Liam, and I like you too. So, make sure he brings you around for dinner one night. I can’t tell him because he won’t listen to me.’

A lump formed in Ana’s throat. ‘Deb, we’ve only been seeing each other for a fortnight.’

‘Then come over in a couple of weeks.’

‘Okay. I’ll keep it in mind.’

‘Good. Now, I’ll let you go get ready and I’ll see you at the staff meeting.’

‘You will.’

Glad the inquisition was over, Ana waved and left.

* * *

‘Nice house, mate.’ Liam glanced up at the dusk sky through the roof beams of Michael’s house, taking a long drink of his beer.

Michael sat beside him in the soon-to-be dining room against the wall frame and smiled fondly. ‘It’s getting there.’

‘One day you may even have indoor plumbing,’ Adam said as he returned from a visit to the bushes.

‘Yeah, but I don’t mind taking my time. You guys remember how it was when we did your houses. I want to enjoy every moment of building this place so I can look back in twenty years and reminisce.’

‘Every nail shot with love, hey?’ Liam teased.

‘Well, I do plan to have a family in here one day.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.