Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 102731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
Tears blurred my vision as I turned away. Mum tried to pull me into her arms, but I slipped out of her grasp.
Kids didn’t just have that information readily at hand. They were overhearing adults talking about me. Gossiping about me. And they were using it to torment my wee brother.
No wonder he hated me.
Needing air, I trusted Mum and Dad would find a way to help Harry. I was probably the last person he wanted to deal with, so I grabbed Mum’s car keys and hurried out of the house.
I found myself driving into Ardnoch. In Paris, the shower in my apartment was so rubbish, I’d started a ritual of having a glass of wine while sitting in a bubble bath instead. I felt like taking the world’s longest bubble bath and drinking a mammoth glass of wine.
Parking outside of the Gloaming, I kept my head down to avoid meeting anyone’s eyes as I wandered down the cobbled lane that led to William’s Wine Cellar. It wasn’t even five o’clock yet, but I didn’t care. Let the arseholes gossip and call me a drunk along with everything else.
As soon as I walked into the wine shop, I spotted Carianne at the wine wall and wanted to turn around and walk right back out. We hadn’t spoken since yesterday and now her joke about me shagging half of Paris came back to me. It was too similar to what Harry said. I wasn’t surprised by his language. There were kids in my class at that age who tried to emulate the adults around them and swore all the time. And worse.
Staring at Carianne, I suddenly wanted to know who was saying those things about me and how it had gotten back to a group of primary school kids.
I gave William a nod of hello before approaching Carianne.
She glanced toward me at the sound of my footsteps and her face burst into a friendly smile of recognition. “Callie, how are you?”
Without preamble, I asked, “Who’s gossiping about me, Carianne?”
Her eyes widened. “What do you mean?”
“People are spreading rumors about me. Please tell me who.”
Whatever she saw on my face made her sigh heavily. “Yesterday … I should never have said what I said, even as a joke. Especially … while you were gone, nosy bastards were following your social media. The more conservative types gossiped a bit, like dating two men in two years meant you were giving it to anyone.”
Indignation flushed through me. “Even if I was, whose business is it? If I was a man, would they even care?”
“Exactly!” Carianne nodded in vehement agreement. “I’ve said as much to a couple of women who’ve tried to talk about it in the salon.”
“What women? Do they have kids?”
She bit her lip and nodded. “Jana Anderson was one of them.”
I scoffed, looking away. Harry had mentioned a boy with the surname of Anderson. What was wrong with people? “Do I even know her?”
“She used to be Jana Bailey. She was a few years older than us.”
“I don’t remember her.”
“It’s not personal, Callie. She’s the biggest gossip from here to John O’Groats. You’re just gossip fodder to her. Plus, she’s friends with Ursula Rankin, and we both know her and her mother like to have a target for their bile.” Carianne took a step toward me. “But yesterday was personal. I’m so angry I said that. It slipped out because I wanted … look … I … I was going to talk to you about this …” She licked her lips nervously and suddenly, I felt sick with anticipation. “You’re my friend, so I would never have done anything about it then, but the truth is, I’ve always liked Lewis. Always. Even when I was dating Fyfe. And it’s been years since you and Lewis broke up. Now that he’s home, I’d like to ask him out on a date. I want to be honest about that with you. I mean, you don’t want him back, do you?”
The idea of Carianne and Lewis nauseated me.
Yet only yesterday, I’d told Lewis I didn’t want to be with him. I shook my head, barely hearing anything over the rush of blood in my ears. “I don’t … but … Carianne, it would be weird for me for you to date him. I’m not going to lie about that.”
My friend slowly exhaled, searching my face. “I get that. I do. But I really like him, Callie.”
“You don’t know him anymore,” I argued.
“He can’t have changed that much. He was always the kindest, loveliest guy, and I appreciate that about him.”
What? Like I didn’t?!
“And I think it would be unfair to say you don’t want him but you don’t want anyone else to have him.” She reached out to squeeze my arm to gentle her words.
And I wanted to burst into a sobbing mess.