The One We Fell in Love With Read Online Free

childhood home, although I can’t see it for the foliage in the way. ‘Bit gutted,’ I reply with a shrug.
    ‘Yeah.’ He regards me with concern. ‘I heard your mum’s selling up.’
    ‘She’s already accepted an offer.’
    ‘That was quick,’ he comments.
    ‘Mmm. I’m sure she could have got more if Rose hadn’t been rushing her.’
    He gives a small, pitying smile that makes me regret bitching. Angus has never liked it.
    ‘Have you heard from Phoebe?’ I change the subject before he does.
    ‘Nah.’ He shakes his head. ‘She’s only been gone a couple of days.’
    ‘Feels like longer.’
    There’s that smile again.
    Phoebe is my older sister by twelve minutes, my beloved middle sister. In a funny way, she has always come between Rose and me. She’d like to say she bridges the gap, but actually, she
widens it. Rose and I have always fought for her attention.
    ‘Are you back for the weekend?’ I ask Angus.
    ‘No, for the whole week. I want to get the apartment sorted out before Phoebe returns.’
    ‘Trying to soften the blow?’
    ‘Something like that.’ He smiles half-heartedly.
    Phoebe wasn’t keen on moving back to Manchester. She’s only doing it because she promised Angus years ago that they would. He wants to live closer to his mum and property is cheaper
up here, so they can afford to buy something of their own at last. Plus they’re both able to work freelance – she’s a translator and he’s a journalist – but
she’s planning to take a break from her translation work to pen the novel that she’s always wanted to write. When we were younger, she was always bounding into my bedroom, desperate to
tell me about her latest story idea before it slipped from her mind. I could’ve listened to her chat away for hours. She was very engaging. She still is.
    ‘What about you? Have you found anywhere to live yet?’ Angus asks.
    ‘Nope.’ I steel myself for his reaction. ‘I’m thinking about moving to London.’
    ‘You’re shitting me.’ He gapes at me. ‘You’re moving to London the second Phoebe and I leave? Are you avoiding us?’
    I force a roll of my eyes.
    No, just you.
    ‘Come in for a coffee?’ he asks hopefully, jerking his head towards his house.
    ‘Nah, your mum will want you to herself. Maybe catch you later, though,’ I say out of politeness.
    ‘Are you up to anything tonight?’ He ignores his cue to leave.
    ‘I’ve got a gig at a working men’s club. Should be fun.’
    He smirks at my caustic tone. ‘Give me the address and I’ll pop in.’
    ‘You don’t have to.’
    ‘I know I don’t.’
    His mum appears then, and proceeds to sweep him up in a hug. I take the opportunity to escape while I can.

Chapter 4
    Phoebe
    ‘What’s your greatest fear?’
    Josie and I are well into our second bottle of wine and the evening has taken a turn for the philosophical.
    I think for a long time before replying to her question, distracted by the movement of the waiting staff and the irritating non-appearance of our food.
    ‘Come on.’ She presses me for an answer, and I’m too fuzzy-headed to come up with an alternative to the truth.
    ‘That I’m not the one.’
    ‘What do you mean?’ she asks with confusion.
    ‘I don’t know if I’m the one for Angus.’
    ‘Of course you are!’ she scoffs. ‘You guys are perfect for each other! What on earth would make you think you’re not?’ Josie is comically flabbergasted, but my
corresponding smile is half-hearted.
    The truth is, sometimes I think that Angus and I are together for one reason and it’s very simple: I saw him first.
    I was riding my bicycle home from netball practice after school one afternoon when I spied the hottie getting a box out of the back of the Roger’s Removals truck parked on the
Templetons’ driveway.
    You know how sometimes you drive into danger when you should be driving away from it? It is a fact that
loads
of people crash into cars parked on the hard shoulder of a motorway