The Last Day of Winter by Shari Low

Author:Shari Low [Low, Shari]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
ISBN: 9781788541442
Publisher: Head of Zeus
Published: 2019-10-02T16:00:00+00:00

Twenty-One

Josie

Josie’s interest was piqued. She didn’t get to the age she was at now without being able to detect underlying currents in what someone was saying and this bloke definitely had something else going on. There was something in the way he said Caro’s name, then began to stutter as he lost his words. Poor bugger. It sounded like he’d had a rough time and Josie’s innate desire to help people was kicking in. That, and a natural protectiveness over Caro. Right now, she wanted to kill her for running out on Cammy, but that aside, she wasn’t going to let some stranger get near her friend if he was going to cause problems.

The man sighed and she knew that he was weighing up whether or not to confide in her any further. She also knew that best thing to do was to keep her mouth shut until he decided that he would. The CIA would be proud of her interrogation insight.

‘You’re, erm… You’re… The thing is… you’re going to think it’s ridiculous…’ he began.

Josie lost her powers of restraint and jumped right in. ‘Oh, I hope so. I could do with a bit of ridiculous to cheer me up. Hang on, can we sit on that bench because these boots are the work of Satan and my feet are killing me?’

The light-hearted prompt seemed to be enough to make him talk. ‘Sure,’ he replied, following her a few feet to a wooden bench that was placed against one of the glass walls.

Once they were seated, he began speaking. ‘I knew Caro’s mum, Yvonne.’

Josie was even more interested now. Caro’s mum had passed away right before Josie met her. Caro didn’t talk about her too much and Josie respected that, choosing instead to mother her and keep an eye on her.

Josie was waiting for more, but Seb didn’t seem to know where to go next. She decided to nudge him along. ‘I don’t want to hurry you, but I’ve only got about six months,’ she said, with a gentle elbow poke in the side.

A street lamp outside the glass wall meant the light wasn’t quite so dim here at the bench, and she could see that her jibe made him smile.

‘I worked with Yvonne and her sister Pearl back in the eighties, but then we lost touch. I went off to travel the world and I never saw Yvonne again.’

Josie hoped the disappointment didn’t show in her face. She’d been wanting something a little more interesting than that. Anyway, probably just as well. It was time to go, find Caro and get this bloody wedding back on track. Everything else could be dealt with tomorrow. Priorities. That’s what she needed right now. Sitting here with this bloke wasn’t one of them. She was about to interrupt him and make her excuses to leave when he went on…

‘And then, last week, completely out of the blue, I met Pearl. We got talking and she mentioned that Yvonne had a daughter, Caro.’

Okay, interrupt him now.

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