Page 94 of All Right No
“You’re such a dork.”
Ash’s eyes were so full of tears he couldn’t see the sky anymore. He blinked and they tracked sideways, and rolled down past his ears. Yeah, he owned that, he was often a dork, but what he truly was, at this moment, was heart-broken. The woman he loved had smashed open his chest, and everywhere was all out of super glue.
***
Ash and Paul were still lying on their backs watching the clouds pass overhead when a car rumbled to a halt in the lane some thirty minutes later. The arrival prompted Ash to lever himself up on one elbow to see what was what, in case it turned out to be those squatters he’d disturbed earlier returning for their stuff.
There had been squatters, right? He didn’t know.
What curiously didn’t faze him was when instead of a bunch of unknowns appearing, Spook walked around the corner.
Spook on the other hand stopped in his tracks and stared at him and Paul in puzzlement.
“Guys?”
Paul got to his feet and went to relieve Spook of his travel bag. “What are you doing here? How come you’re not in Sweden?”
Spook sighed in an exceedingly weary fashion. “There’s been some incident somewhere. Dozens of flights have been cancelled and countless more delayed. I decided I’d had enough waiting around and being switched about. I figured this was at least a roof for the night. Well, what pitifully little there is left of it. Airport lounges suck, even the first class ones.”
“You’re very welcome to our humble hostel.” Paul performed an elaborate sweeping bow that he just managed to straighten up from. “If you’d care to step inside. Concierge will deal with your luggage.”
“Hang on,” Spook planted his feet. “Why are you both here? What happened to your plans?”
“Stuff,” Paul fanned the air as if none of it were of any consequence. “Burst pipes, too much crazy.”
Spook strode over to where Ash was still on his back stargazing. “I thought you were going to your parents. Is something up with them? Is Ginny with you?”
“She isn’t,” Paul answered for him. Ash left him to bring Spook up to speed. He’d done all the talking he intended to do on the subject. It was now officially a closed topic. Nothing would be gained by endless repetition of the facts. Rehashing events merely made him feel shitty, and he was actually enjoying the buzz of tequila in his veins.
Spook’s expression grew increasingly dark as Paul’s matter of fact retelling of the story unfolded. By the end, his brows were in danger of tickling his nostrils.
“She’s married already. Since when, and to whom?” His shadow blocked out the starlight.
“Some geezer called Miles,” Rock Giant said.
“Is Dani aware?”
“Nope,” Ash responded putting extra emphasis on the P. “Nobody is. According to her, she never told anyone.”
Spook hunched down by Ash’s side. “Did she mention why that is? You don’t keep that sort of thing quiet without a good reason. There must be a reason why she didn’t tell you or any of us. Was he abusive? Is she in witness protection or something?”
In all honesty, he hadn’t even considered any of those things. If they were the cause then she’d have said when she was ‘fessing up.
As Ash didn’t answer, Spook turned to Paul for a reaction. The big guy shrugged.
“Where is she now, Ash?”
“Dunno.” Why the hell should he care?
“Did you break up with her?”
Of course he fucking had. He couldn’t trust a damn thing she’d said to him for the entire length of their relationship. He’d fallen for someone called Ginny Walters only to discover on proposing to her that woman didn’t exist, and he’d actually been fucking some other bloke’s wife. He didn’t do relationship theft. He didn’t do lies and secrets. And why the hell would he stick around for a woman who’d let him down like that? She knew how he felt about marriage. She knew all his hang-ups. He on the other hand knew not a goddamned thing about her.
“It wasn’t real.”
“The hell it wasn’t!” Spook snapped, his lips curling back off his teeth. “That woman loves you. She agreed to marry you in front of a stadium full of people.”
“Sure, once she’s divorced some other poor sod.”
