Page 61 of Crying in the Rain

“Hmm?” Kris chose that moment to refill the dog’s water bowl and make his breakfast—anything to avoid cross-examination.

Shaunna huffed. “Fine. You don’t want to talk about it.”

“I don’t know, honestly. I can’t put it into words, but it feels…different.”

“With Ade, you mean?”

“Everything. Ade, the house, you. I think I…notlovehim, but…”

“You care a lot about him?” Shaunna suggested.

“That’s what I’d say about the old ladies and dogs we see regularly in the park. Wishy-washy.”

“So you do love him.”

“After four days?”

“Face facts, hun. You fell for him the minute you clapped eyes on him.”

“I so did not!”

“You so did! ‘Oh, I had such anamazingtime at the studio today. The producer was this really hot, sexy—’”

“I said nothing of the sort!”

“Your face said it for you. Ooh, you’re blushing!” Shaunna grinned, breaking with her traditional morning moodiness to torment him. Kris scowled, and she laughed. His scowl broke.

“Yeah, OK. Maybe I did fall for him straight away. But love is a big word.”

“Four letters. Not so big.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Andyouknow what I mean. Sometimes you have to go with the flow. So it’s only been a few days. So what?”

“I’m nearly forty.”

“That means you can’t do the whole head-over-heels thing?”

“It’s not that simple, is it? Not with…” Kris shifted his eyes upwards. She’d know he meant Ade and his situation.

“Nor for you,” she said.

He shrugged noncommittally. He was gregarious and fun-loving and made friends easily, but deep, interpersonal relationships made him anxious, and with Ade, it was far from straightforward.

“Did you meet his ex?” Shaunna asked.

“Not meet, no. I watched him leave Ade’s place.” The image of Fergus, an intimidating, vile bully, right up in Ade’s face, was stuck in Kris’s mind, only leaving to swap places with the full Technicolor surround-sound replay of Ade’s wailing as he cowered on his kitchen floor. Regardless of the fact Fergus would’ve made mincemeat of him, Kris would’ve intervened if he’d believed for even a second it would help. But he’d made that mistake before, when George had trouble with a violent boyfriend at uni, and while George said he was grateful for the support, he was angry, too, because he felt like a victim, dependent on other people to fight his battles.

Kris suspected Ade would have felt the same if he or Pip or anyone else had stepped in. Ade needed to be the one to stand up to Fergus, and he had, but Kris was afraid it was far from over.

Shaunna hugged him and kissed his cheek. “See you later.”

He must’ve been lost in his thoughts a while, as she’d finished her tea and rinsed her cup. “Have a good day,” he called after her as she went through to the hall to put on her coat.

“You too. I’ve got my phone if you need me.”

“What d’you think I should do about Ade?”

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