Page 54 of Life After

“I can’t believe you’re here!” The woman squealed as she hugged Jen again. “Chloe and Mel are over on my table.” She drew back and held Jen at arm’s length. “You look amazing. How are you?”

Jen cast her gaze on the floor. Was she…blushing?Suzanne couldn’t quite tell. “You know what, I’m great. You guys all doing okay?”

“Oh, yeah. Same old, you know.” The woman who Suzanne was yet to be introduced to flicked her hair and nudged Jen’s shoulder. “I bumped into your Grace last week. She was saying you were out and that you were back in work and stuff.”

“I’ve been back in work since a couple of weeks after my release,” Jen explained to the nameless woman. “Had to wear an ankle tag for a couple of months and see my probation officer, but yeah… Life is kinda falling back into place now. I’m feeling good about the future.”

“Oh, that’s brilliant. It’s so good to see you, Jen.”

Jen cleared her throat and turned to Suzanne. “Hey, Lizzie. This is Suzanne, my…date.”

Lizzie.

Huh.

“Hi.” Suzanne sat up straight in her seat and smiled back atLizzie. She was trying to ignore the fact that Jen had just referred to Suzanne as her date. It felt unusual to hear it, given the place they were once at with one another. “Nice to meet you.”

“You too.” Lizzie wore a beaming smile as she wrapped an arm around Jen’s shoulders. “You’ve struck lucky here with this one.”

Suzanne simply nodded and offered a smile of her own, wishing this woman would leave their table. This was supposed to be a date. The first one they’d had in…three weeks now.

“Stop it.” Jen laughed and shook her head. “Don’t make her run.”

Oh, Suzanne wasn’t planning to runanywhere.

“Look, I should get back to the girls. I’ll let them know I’ve seen you, and I don’t know, maybe you could come over for a cuppa one day when you’re not busy?”

Jen lifted a brow. “The wife wouldn’t mind?”

“What wife?” Lizzie seemed deeply confused. “I don’t have a wife. I’d need a girlfriend first before I can make someone a wife.”

“But…I bumped into Reece a couple of weeks after my release. He said you’d met someone practically right away, you were married, and she was pregnant.”

“Oh! Her! No, that didn’t last. And she was pregnant because of the guy she was fucking behind my back. Turns out he’s only her husband and she was having an affair with me.”

Ouch. Suzanne inwardly grimaced at that. What a dreadful thing to do to someone.

“We were never married, though. You know what our Reece can be like. He loves to make up stories to make it all sound better in his head.”

“Tell you what, let’s exchange numbers before you leave with the girls. Once I have an afternoon to myself, I’ll call you, and we can all get together. Then I can hear all the gossip that I’ve missed. I’m sure there’s plenty of it.”

“Only if we get the prison gossip,” Lizzie whispered, but Suzanne heard her.

“Sure. We can trade.” Jen hugged Lizzie again and then hiked a thumb over her shoulder. “I should really have a look at the menu so we can order. Suzanne has been waiting on me long enough now.”

Lizzie held up her hands. “Of course. Sorry for disturbing your date. It was lovely to meet you, Suzanne.”

Suzanne smiled, praying it appeared genuine to both LizzieandJen. “It was lovely to meet you, too.”

As Jen returned to her seat and lifted the menu, Suzanne watched her from the other side of the table. God, she really hoped that Jen was back to her usual self sooner rather than later. This half-arsed conversation was torturous.

“So, what are you feeling like?” Jen looked over the top of her menu, her eyes a little brighter now that she’d had a heart-to-heart with an old friend. “I can’t decide between about ten different dishes.”

“Mm. That’s where I’m struggling, too.”

Jen smiledas she side-eyed Suzanne, walking hand in hand with one another through the park. If Jen was being honest with herself, she hadn’t thought this night would be possible. Before they’d sat down and given one another the opportunity to say what needed to be said, Jen felt entirely hopeless about her relationship with Suzanne. It didn’t seem as though she’d have the pleasure of holding her hand ever again. But here they were, making a go of it. “Dinner was amazing, thank you.”

Suzanne offered a single nod, keeping her focus ahead of her. “You’re welcome.”

---