Letting Go by Ann O'Leary Read Free Book Online

44
    —a smile just like Laura’s. “You’ve got to be bloody joking. I’ll leave that to you.”
    Laura grinned at him. “Thanks a lot.” She handed him a dish. “Can you take this in for me?”
    While Andrew poured the wine and Jill struggled with Olivia, trying to tie on her bib, Laura took the food to the table. She had prepared curry puffs, a hot and sour soup with chicken, a green curry with beef and a seafood noodle dish without spices that Olivia would eat.
    “These are yours, sweetie,” said Laura, kissing Olivia’s forehead as she placed some chili-free curry puffs in front of her.
    “This all looks very nice. Thank you, Laura,” said Mother.
    Laura’s mother was tall with piercing blue eyes. Her overly cultured voice was a legacy of an early ’fifties private school education. Laura’s father had died many years ago and she hadn’t remarried. Today was her sixty-second birthday.
    “Mmmm, it’s wonderful,” said Andrew, helping himself to curry.
    “Why isn’t Debbie here? Is she coming later?” Mother asked.
    Jill and Andrew looked quickly at Laura as she calmly spooned more rice into her bowl. “No, she’s not coming later. She’s gone, Mum. We’ve separated.”
    “Ahh, that’s what’s changed. Her things aren’t here,”
    Mother replied. “That’s a shame. I liked Debbie. She was such a nice pretty girl.”
    Laura and Andrew rolled their eyes at each other.
    “Well, never mind,” Mother continued. “I suppose you’ll find another flatmate to move in soon enough.”
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    Jill put her hand over her mouth to suppress a giggle. Laura poured more wine for everyone. In a nonchalant tone, she said, “Yeah, I thought I’d put an ad in the paper.
    ‘Woman wanted to share one-bedroom apartment with one bed.’ I imagine I’d get quite a few responses.”
    Her mother turned away and gazed through the French doors, and Laura and her brother exchanged a grin.
    “You know,” Mother said, still gazing outside, twirling her long string of pearls in her fingers. “I think it might rain this afternoon.”
    They were all distracted then by Olivia taking a handful of noodles and tossing them on the floor, and the conversation turned to other matters.
    It was with relief a few hours later that Laura showed them all out. She enjoyed the company of Andrew and Jill and adored her niece, but an afternoon with both Olivia and her mother was quite exhausting.
    It had been four weeks since Laura’s lunch with Kate. Laura had continued to think about her attraction for her. She wondered about Kate’s feelings. After the kiss, Kate had looked flustered, her face flushed. She hadn’t shrugged it off with an amused smile as she might have done. Laura had gone over those moments in her mind several times and finally decided to call her.
    Kate sounded breathless and tongue-tied. There was an uncomfortable pause before Laura said, “Sorry I haven’t called you earlier. I’ve been very busy lately. But I’ve spoken to the woman at the gallery and she said she’d be happy to look at your paintings. I’ve got her number if you want to call her and make arrangements.”
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    “That’s really great, thanks a lot,” Kate stammered. Laura gave her the phone number and was about say good-bye and hang up.
    “Laura...?” Kate said.
    “Yes?” Laura waited.
    “Laura…I….umm…oh, it doesn’t matter,” Kate mumbled.
    Laura was conscious of Kate’s uncomfortable, faltering tone. Her heart sank a little as she realized that their embrace weeks ago had not been forgotten by Kate. She hadn’t just drunk too much. “What is it, Kate?”
    “I…umm…I want to see, I mean, I want to thank you for that lunch.”
    Laura laughed, relieved. “Oh that. You’re very, welcome.”
    Laura then said she had to go and they both said good-bye. Her flustered words conveyed a great deal to Laura and she was concerned. Kate had revealed much about herself during that lunch. Laura had been pleasantly surprised to