Page 45 of Crying in the Rain
“Not at all. I mean, I do have trust issues…but he was the one who called it cheating.”
“OK. Well…the thing is…hold on.” Shaunna paused again, and Ade heard a door close. “Sorry. My boss is lovely, but she has bat ears, and this isn’t mine to share. And before you ask, no, I shouldn’t be telling you, but I saw you and Kris together last night—”
“It was very disrespectful,” Ade said, ashamed.
“Kissing in my kitchen?” Shaunna laughed. “It’s fine, hun, honestly, but I meant the chemistry between you, which is why I think you need to hear this. Kris would’ve got around to tellingyou himself eventually, and he’ll probably go ballistic when he finds out I’ve jumped in first, but…”
“Forewarned is forearmed,” Ade said.
“My mum used to say that, and she’d finish off with, ‘Like Vishnu—wouldn’t that be a godsend? Then I could do the dishes and plait your hair at the same time and never be late for work again!’”
Ade laughed. “That’s brilliant! I think your mum and mine would’ve got on like a house on fire.”
“Yeah. She was amazing. I miss her every day.”
“Aww. I’d give you a hug right now if I could.”
“Save it for me.”
“Promise,” Ade said. Shaunna was so easy to talk to and so gorgeous, any guy would be lucky to be with her. For those reasons and because it was taking her an awfully long time to tell him this thing, he knew that whatever had come between her and Kris had been a lot bigger and more devastating than a poorly judged bout of extramarital intimacy.
“OK,” she said finally, “I’m just going to put it right out there. Kris was sexually abused by his great-uncle.”
“Oh.” The word was little more than an escaped breath that Ade had to fight to replenish. His chest ached and his stomach cramped as if invisible hands had invaded his windpipe, twisting and knotting his insides.
“So the affair…” Shaunna continued, possiblynotoblivious to how the news had walloped Ade, “I’m pretty sure Jack went after Kris, knowing he’d keep the secret, because as far as the world is concerned, Jack’s a happily married heterosexual man. He’s a disgrace.”
Shaunna didn’t hide her anger, and Ade was waiting for it to descend on him too, but it didn’t. In an instant, he’d plummeted from level-ten gut-wrenching shock into a calm peacefulness that settled over everything like a soft, warm blanket.
After a minute or two of Ade saying nothing, Shaunna asked, “Are you still there?”
“Yes. Sorry. I was thinking. Did Kris tell you what’s going on with me?”
“He gave me the basics.”
“That’s all I gave him, really, but I could tell when I told him…” There’d been something.
“Kindred spirits,” Shaunna said.
“Yeah. God, men are bastards.”
“Not all of them. I know at least a couple of good ones. There probably isn’t anything I can do, but if you need me at all…”
“Thanks, Shaunna. That means so much. Please can you tell Kris I’m OK and I’ll call him later?”
“I’ll ring him as soon as we’re off the phone. I guess you know he’s completely fallen for you.”
“Has he?” Ade squeaked in surprise. Even though Kris had told him as much, hearing it from Shaunna added extra validation, despite her giggling at his reaction, which set him off giggling too.Hysteria, he decided. That, and a sense of wonder.
“And in case it escaped your notice, which wouldn’t be surprising in the circumstances, I think we’ve hit it off pretty well too.”
Ade smiled and nodded, not that she could see. “We have, haven’t we? And I could happily chat to you all day, but I’d better let you get back to work.”
“All right, hun. You’ve got my number now, so just call, OK?”
“Will do. Look after him for me?”
“Of course! And you take care of yourself.”
