Page 116 of The Secret We Keep
We walk over the next few fields, cutting through to the back of the woods that skirt around the main cul-de-sac in Stoney Grange.
“Are you not tired yet?” Holly asks me, slightly out of breath.
“No.” I give her a soft smile. “Paddy and I have walked this way every day for the past two months. I’m used to it.”
“And what about him? Are you used to just being hisfriendyet?”
I blink because I’m not sure what to tell her. “No.” Okay, so that was easier than I thought it was going to be. “I’m not sure I’ll ever be happy just being his friend.”
She looks at me with keen eyes. “Did something happen?”
“No. Yes.” I shake my head. “Urgh, not exactly.”
She stops, pulling my arm back. “Woah, what did I miss?”
I deflate. “Nothing. You missed nothing.”
“I missed something. Come on, tell me. It can’t be that bad, and if it is, you know I always tell you like it is.”
Taking a few steps, I let out the biggest heave, tilting my head up to the canopy of leaves above me. “I saw him with another woman.”
“No,” she drags out.
I close my eyes. “Yep. They looked… cosy.”
“Cosy?”
“Cosy,” I mouth.
Holly’s feet come to a stop. “What does that mean? Where did you see him?”
I recall seeing Paddy with the lady at the café and how it destroyed me and subsequently ruined my day.
Looking at Holly, she puts her hands on her hips. “So?”
“Did you not hear what I said, Hols? He was with another woman?”
“So?” she says again, more firmly this time. “That doesn’t mean anything. It could have been anybody.”
“But they touched hands.”
Her hands fly to her cheeks. “Touchedhands?Oh my God, when’s the baby due?”
“Piss off,” I snap at her. “It hurt seeing them together.”
This time Holly laughs at me. “That just means you have deeper feelings for him than you thought.”
Maybe. “But he lied. He said he was meeting his boss.”
“Okay, so that’s different.” She taps her bottom lip, thinking to herself as we continue walking through the forest. “Maybe she’s a friend?”
“Do friends look intimately at each other and put their hands on the other’s hip?”
Holly tilts her head at me. “I’m not sure. I hear they kiss and all sorts these days while remaining firmly in the friend zone.”
My feet stop and I turn to face her. “Are you mocking me?”
“No,” she laughs. “But I do think you might be reading this all wrong.”
