“Maybe you’ll be more confident about those now.”
She let out a tinkling laugh. “I don’t think I’ll ever really be confident, but maybe I won’t be quite so terrified.”
“I’m really glad it went well,” he said, shifting his weight.
“Me too.”
Silence fell, and he suddenly felt self-conscious – chatting on the phone wasn’t something they’d usually do.
“Sorry,” she said. “Are you at work?”
“Yeah, but it’s fine.”
“Don’t burn anything because of me. I heard there’s a rule about phones in the kitchen.”
“There is.” Grinning, he inhaled a lungful of freezing air. “I should probably get back in there.”
“Thanks for calling,” she said softly.
“I’ll talk to you soon.”
He ended the call and stretched his neck, craning to look up at the star-studded sky while kicking himself for calling her.
“Don’t go there,” he muttered to himself as he turned to go back inside. “It was all fake, and it’ll never be anything more.”
Chapter Twenty
The phone call from Warren played on Anna’s mind long after she hung up. Their friendship had never included chatting on the phone, but it had felt wonderfully natural.
After spending the next morning preparing the orders from the previous evening, she set off to hand deliver them, as promised. It took longer than expected since the women all wanted to chat to her – one even insisted she come in for coffee and cake.
Arriving back home at lunchtime, she felt the urge to tell Warren about her morning. That seemed like a bad sign. As did all the time she spent thinking about him. When she contemplated confiding in her friends, she remembered that as far as they were concerned, she was in a relationship with him.
With an urgent need to rectify that, she sent a group message to Kylie and Frannie, asking when they had time to hang out.
Relief washed through her when Frannie suggested they have a drink at her place that evening. Chatting everything through with her friends was exactly what Anna needed.
A few hours later, she hid her surprise when Jake answered the door – she’d thought it was a girls’ night.
“Hey,” he said, kissing her cheek. “How are you?”
“Fine.” She slipped her coat off and struggled to find space for it on the rack. In the end, Jake took it and slung it over the banister.
“I may have too many coats,” Frannie said, wandering out of the living room to greet Anna with a hug. “Don’t worry, Jake’s going out soon.”
“Thanks,” Jake said, mock frowning.
“I wasveryconcerned,” Anna said, while secretly relieved that she could speak to the girls privately.
“Kylie and I are on white wine,” Frannie said, heading to the kitchen. “Is that good for you?”
“Perfect.” Anna went into the living room, where Kylie was sprawled on the couch.
“Everything okay with you?” Anna asked her.
“Thank goodness for wine, that’s all I can say.”
“Work busy?”
