Kennedy 03 - Where Petals Fall Read Online Free Page B

was legit, but he didn’t even call to let me know. I was furious about that. It was one of those things where everyone is part of a couple so I felt the odd one out.’
    ‘Have you kissed and made up?’
    ‘We’ve made up,’ Jill said drily. ‘It’s just that Max has a habit of forgetting people exist. It’s not good enough.’
    ‘It’s a gender thing,’ Louise said on a sigh. ‘It’s a well-known fact that men can only concentrate on one thing at a time.’
    ‘Tell you what,’ Jill said, her mind still on Louise’s problems, ‘I’ll give Nikki a call if you like and see if she wantsto come shopping with me. I’m free on Saturday so I can easily take her to the Trafford Centre. It’ll give you and Charlie some space for the day.’
    ‘Oh, Jill, I couldn’t.’
    ‘Of course you could. Don’t worry, she’ll be fine with me.’
    And why, Jill wondered, did that sound ominously like famous last words?

Chapter Four
    Max stopped his car on Jill’s drive at six thirty that evening, and was about to ring her doorbell when she walked around the side of her cottage to meet him.
    ‘I’ve got a bottle of wine on the go. Do you want some?’
    Her voice was still a bit thin and clipped, but he guessed she’d soon get over it.
    ‘I’d love some, but I haven’t eaten since yesterday.’ He looked towards her cottage, then realized the futility of that. Jill’s cupboards were always empty. He hadn’t nicknamed her Fast Food’s Dream for nothing. ‘Do you fancy nipping out for something?’
    ‘Er, yes. Let me change into something more suitable.’
    Tight denim shorts and revealing T-shirt seemed more than ‘suitable’ to Max, but he wasn’t going to argue and risk accusations of chauvinism.
    She nodded at the cigarette in his hand. ‘Are you still on the same pack, or did you just feel like buying another?’
    ‘It’s the same one.’ And he only had three left.
    She gathered up a half-full bottle of wine and glasses from the garden, went off to change into jeans and a clean shirt, grabbed a sweater and locked up her cottage.
    ‘Been having a party?’ he asked.
    ‘Louise has been round.’
    ‘Oh? She OK?’
    She shrugged by way of reply, and he guessed Louise was still having problems with that daughter of hers. Nikki was fast becoming a lost cause.
    ‘Before that, Ella was here,’ she went on, ‘and then Finlay Roberts, my new neighbour, joined us.’
    ‘Oh? What’s he like?’
    ‘Tall, brown curly hair, green eyes, drop dead gorgeous.’
    Max wished he hadn’t asked. He unlocked his car and she got in the passenger seat.
    ‘He seems nice enough,’ she added as she fastened her seatbelt. ‘A bit of a rogue perhaps, but OK.’
    ‘Married?’ Max fired the engine and reversed out of her driveway.
    ‘No. Why do you ask?’
    Why indeed. ‘Just making conversation.’
    A satisfied smile appeared on her face. She knew damn well he’d been checking out the opposition.
    He touched a button and his window slid down six inches to let out the cigarette smoke.
    ‘For someone who hasn’t smoked for – what? five years? – it’s good to see you haven’t lost the knack,’ she said drily.
    ‘I’m only smoking this one packet.’ Except he only had two left now.
    ‘Right. So where are we going?’
    ‘The nearest place that serves food,’ he told her.
    The nearest place was the Deerplay on the Burnley road and, as soon as they walked inside, Max found his appetite. He hadn’t really fancied anything, in fact he’d felt too tired to eat, but he’d known he should have something before he keeled over. Now, he found he was ravenous.
    ‘Well?’ Jill asked while they waited for their food to be brought to their corner table.
    ‘You tell me. There are three possibilities.’ He held out three fingers. ‘One, Eddie Marshall wasn’t our man. Two, he’s alive and well and living in Lancashire. Or three, we have ourselves a copycat.’
    ‘They’re all crap.’
    That’s what he