The One Before the One by Emma Cooper

Author:Emma Cooper [Cooper, Emma]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Boldwood Books
Published: 2025-01-30T00:00:00+00:00

I sit nursing a glass of wine. I’ve ordered James the same. His frame fills the doorway as he scans the room. I smile. His hand moves, flexes by his side.

‘Hi. I’ve got you a drink,’ I say, pulling at my ear. It’s such a strange feeling, to be nervous talking to a man who I know inside and out. His brows furrow but he sits down and takes a sip.

‘So what’s this about?’ he asks, his delivery blunt.

I swirl my drink, already half empty. ‘What can you tell me about Rebecca Thomas?’

His eyebrows rise in surprise. ‘Becky? Why do you want to know?’ Just beneath the table his leg is bouncing up and down. To an outsider this would symbolise nerves, but James’s leg bounces even when he’s relaxed. But pulling and messing around with the cuffs of his shirt, that’s nerves.

‘Because I think Kit’s having an affair,’ I say.

James laughs, leans back in his chair, shaking his head.

‘You think it’s funny?’ I ask, heat rising in my cheeks.

‘Yes.’

‘Well great, I’m glad you think there is something funny about it, because let me tell you, James, it’s not. Not in the least.’

‘Kit’s not having an affair.’ He takes a sip of his drink, his focus roaming around the hotel lobby.

‘So why did I just see him driving off with her?’

His eyes dart back to mine, uncertainty in them.

‘Look, as far as I know, Becca and Kit have been over for years. She married Nate, moved on. End of story.’

‘But it’s not the end of the story because this afternoon Kit met with her and, let me tell you, they looked pretty comfortable together.’

He avoids my eyes, tugs at the hair at the nape of his neck. I try to ignore how I know that it’s softer than it looks, how it feels between my fingers.

‘Look, Liv, I honestly don’t know anything about this. But Kit’s not having an affair. It’s not his style.’ He’s telling the truth. At least I think he is, but if he’s been lying to me about his brother being dead, then what do I know? ‘Have you asked him?’

‘No. I…’

‘Is that why you’re here?’ He gestures to the hotel bar. ‘You’ve left him before he’s even had chance to explain?’

‘Yes and no.’ I take a sip of my drink, while James’s eyebrows draw in. ‘Would he tell you?’ I put the drink back down. ‘If he was having an affair? Would he confide in you? I mean, it’s not like you’re my biggest fan.’

He leans back in his seat. ‘I don’t know. What my brother does with his private life is his business.’ He’s saying the right words, but his demeanour has changed. He’s upset. Hurt.

‘Would you tell me if you knew?’

He keeps his eyes on mine. Long lashes that I’ve watched closed as he sleeps, lashes that have touched the inside of my thigh. A conversation runs through my mind. I’d been watching him, head dipped between the pages of a magazine: If you were an animal, you’d be a giraffe.

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