The Grass is Greener Read Online Free

dated.’
    â€˜My father knows where I am every second of every day,’ Claudia groaned. ‘I swear everyone from Yallingup to Margaret River is in on his little spy network. Last week, I went to this little gathering in a bar in Dunsborough, you know, with Phoebe Maxwell and the usual set? I thought maybe if I put myself out there a little more …’ She sighed.
    â€˜Go on.’
    â€˜I got all dolled up for it. Wore a dress and everything.’
    â€˜A dress!’ Bronwyn widened her eyes. ‘That’s a big statement for you.’
    â€˜Damn straight!’ Claudia tossed her head, her heavy mane gleaming as it rippled over the shoulders of her plaid shirt. Bronwyn would have bet anything that she had looked absolutely smoking. Claudia didn’t have much occasion to dress up as she was constantly working the land but when she did – wow! She turned heads. Bronwyn was almost certainthat she’d turned more than a few when she’d walked into that bar in Dunsborough.
    She grinned. ‘Get some attention, did you?’
    Claudia’s eyes twinkled. ‘Sure, maybe. Then, surprise, surprise, my father walked in right after me and gave everyone the evil eye.’
    Bronwyn had seen ‘the eye’ on Horace Franklin many times before. ‘He didn’t.’
    â€˜Oh, he did,’ Claudia nodded. ‘And he followed it up with a little announcement.’
    â€˜ No! ’
    â€˜He said, “Okay, gentlemen, now that I’ve got your attention and you’ve seen my daughter walk in, you will notice that Death has followed her.”’
    Bronwyn gasped. ‘You’re kidding me.’
    Claudia glared at Bronwyn. ‘Do I look like I’m joking?’
    Bronwyn had often been jealous of Claudia’s ability to inspire a super-protective streak in Horace Franklin. Who wouldn’t want a father who cared? But this sounded a little over the top, even for him. ‘That’s insane,’ she whispered.
    â€˜Will you tell him that next time you see him? Because no one else thinks it’s worth the mention.’
    Bronwyn laughed.
    â€˜I just feel like if I could get away from them, I could finally have a life.’ Claudia threw up her hands. ‘And a career to boot. It’s not like I haven’t earned it.’
    â€˜You have,’ Bronwyn agreed.
    â€˜I’m just sick of doing –’
    â€˜What everybody else wants,’ Bronwyn finished for her with a triumphant smile.
    â€˜Okay,’ Claudia conceded, reaching out and squeezing her hand briefly. ‘Maybe I do get where you’re coming from.’
    â€˜Hallelujah.’
    â€˜You should have been a Franklin and I should have been an Eddings.’
    Bronwyn grinned. ‘That would sure solve a lot of problems.’
    â€˜So what are we going to do about this?’
    â€˜What can we do? Book in for therapy?’
    Claudia grinned. ‘Fake our own deaths?’
    â€˜Swap places,’ Bronwyn joked.
    Claudia paused thoughtfully. ‘That’s actually not a bad idea.’
    â€˜If only we were twins.’
    â€˜I’d be the evil one,’ Claudia said with a wink.
    Bronwyn laughed. ‘I sure have missed you, Claud. Don’t leave it six months till you come visit me again. You don’t know how lonely I am out here.’
    â€˜Well, you could always visit me, you know. You haven’t been to Oak Hills in over two years. What’s up with that?’
    There were a lot of reasons, none of which she wanted to go into. So instead she said, ‘You know they’d make me take work with me. It would ruin the experience for everyone.’
    As if on cue, Bronwyn’s mobile rang. Frankly, she was inclined to ignore it but Claudia indicated her bag.
    â€˜It’s okay, go ahead. Answer it. I wouldn’t want you to get in trouble for taking a long lunch break.’
    She pulled the phone from her bag and lifted it to