Divided Loyalties by Patricia Scanlan Read Free Book Online

ring at the doorbell and Greg’s deep voice
murmuring a few words. The smell of spare ribs and barbecue sauce being heated in the microwave wafted up the stairs. She supposed she could have made more of an effort to get Greg his dinner but
it was unfortunate that she’d been so late getting home. Anyway, it wouldn’t kill him for once, she thought crossly as she snipped at a piece of thread. Life wasn’t all about
him.
    Greg cursed as he burnt his finger on a rib. He’d left the bloody things in the microwave for too long and they were too hot to eat. His stomach rumbled. He was starving.
Was it too much for a man to ask for his dinner to be ready when he came home from a hard day’s work? Shauna had been off gadding all day with Carrie; the least she could have done was have a
meal prepared.
    It was all so different from when they’d first married. He sighed, remembering how Shauna couldn’t wait for him to come home from work and how she would feed him tasty dishes
she’d cooked specially for him. Sometimes they hadn’t even paused to eat before making love the minute he was in the door. Why couldn’t she have been content with that for a few
more years? Now it was all babies’ bottles and bath times and crotchety snapping at him and bloody Chinese takeouts that left you feeling hungry an hour later.
    At least in Abu Dhabi they’d have a maid to do all this stuff and he and Shauna could get back to having some sort of normal relationship again. He comforted himself with the thought.
    It was very quiet upstairs. He’d heard his wife going into her workroom. She was probably in a huff with him. He took another bite of his spare rib and flicked over to Sky Sports. He
should make the most of the chance to watch a match in peace and quiet. How often did that happen? Greg took a slug of his beer and settled himself onto the sofa. He should mention to Shauna that
Della had called him earlier in the day, wondering if they were having a going-away party. That was something they should organize, for sure. It would be a hell of a night. The thought of it
cheered him up greatly. If there was one thing he really enjoyed it was a good boozy bash, especially when he was the guest of honour.
    ‘Well, Della’s right, Shauna,’ Greg said exasperatedly the following evening, as he uncorked a bottle of red wine for them. ‘We’ll have to have a
going-away party. You didn’t think we were going to fly off and not say goodbye to people, did you?’
    ‘Of course not, Greg, but we’ve to get over Christmas first. I suppose I was just thinking of going out for a couple of drinks, maybe. I wasn’t planning a going-away party as
such,’ Shauna retorted as she served him up a plate of steaming carbonara.
    ‘We’ll get caterers in and do it properly,’ he suggested.
    ‘You want to have it here, at home?’ Shauna couldn’t hide her dismay.
    ‘Yeah, why not?’ Greg looked surprised, a forkful of pasta suspended halfway to his mouth.
    ‘What about Chloe, if she wakes up?’
    ‘Put her to sleep again,’ he said exasperatedly.
    ‘Well, that won’t be much fun for me,’ Shauna declared. ‘And there’ll be all the clearing up afterwards.’
    ‘Come on, lighten up, Shauna. We’ll be saying goodbye to our friends and family, so let’s enjoy it. We used to do great parties.’ He grinned at her, and her heart
softened. Greg was such a party animal. He had a great capacity for enjoying himself and he was a terrific host. It was one of the things that had drawn her to him. His ability to take pleasure in
things was infectious; he had been a breath of fresh air to her . . . so different from her father.
    ‘You’re right, hon. Let’s have a humdinger of a party.’ She leaned across and gave him a kiss. Greg
was
right. She needed to lighten up. The last few days had
been far too intense and serious and gloomy and doomy.
    Carrie had phoned her earlier that morning to say that their father was being