Just One More Summer by Julie McGowan

Author:Julie McGowan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General Fiction
Publisher: Sunpenny Publishing Group
Published: 2012-11-13T00:00:00+00:00

- Chapter 13 -

You could tell how long it was since I’d thrown a party by the length of time it took to get me, the flat and the food ready – in reverse order; the amount of agonising that went into preparing all three; and the fact that there I was, twenty minutes before I’d invited everyone, all done up like a dog’s dinner and absolutely certain that no-one was going to show.

I was taking a final, final look at myself in the hall mirror and making a mental note to get an even larger one for the bedroom. Now that my hair was longer I had spent ages putting it up in such a way that it looked artlessly spontaneous, and I was wearing a new dress. A flimsy, strappy little number in cream with bold red splashes, which matched the bold red of my finger­nails and toenails – the latter on show tonight because I was wearing ridiculously high, almost-not-there shoes, which Stacey had persuaded me to buy. She’d insisted they would look perfect against the handkerchief hem of my dress and she’d been right, quelling my incredulity at their price, which seemed to be in inverse proportion to the amount of leather used.

But the mirror told me that while I might not be the fairest of them all, I could certainly hold my own amongst this evening’s crowd – assuming anyone actually turned up, I thought, anxiously checking my watch again. To my relief the doorbell rang at that moment, so, fixing the ‘I’m having a great time’ smile on my face, I flung the door open.

“Allie? Wow! Don’t you look fantastic!”

“Will! What are you doing here?”

“Come to see you, of course! But you must be going out – I’m sorry, I’ve obviously timed it badly.”

My head was spinning. Will. Here. Party in twenty minutes. He’d just said ‘I’m sorry’ – only about turning up unannounced admittedly, but it was never a word in his vocabulary before. Thank goodness I was wearing my new dress. Keep the smile in place. Think of water under bridges.

“Why didn’t you phone?” was the wittiest thing I could think of saying.

“I did. Lots of times. Sarah told me you were away, but she didn’t know where, or when you’d be back. So I phoned Juliet and she said you’d gone away on a brilliant holiday – she didn’t say where either – and didn’t know when you’d be back. And now you’ve apparently changed your number, so I was passing and thought I’d call in … just on the off-chance. Not the right time, I can see …”

I’d forgotten how dark he was, and how his hair curled over the back of his collar if he let it grow too long. I’d forgotten the way he moved with an almost cat-like grace that could be sexy or menacing, depending on the mood. I’d forgotten the way he could stand, like he was doing now, in that self-deprecating way that made him look so damned attractive.

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