Love Notes from Vinegar House by Karen Tayleur Read Free Book Online

morning.”
    “Yep.”
    I filled the kettle with water for something to do.
    “How long’s the flight?” he asked.
    “I’m not sure.” I fussed around, pulling out cups and teaspoons.
    “How’s Isabella?”
    “Yeah, good.”
    “Have you been busy? Haven’t seen you since … I don’t know, for ages.”
    “Yeah. Busy. Really busy.”
    I put instant coffee in the teapot, realised what I’d done, then filled it up with hot water anyway and hoped Luke wouldn’t ask for a cup. I didn’t need this now. I didn’t need Luke Hart with his messy hair and his smooth brown skin and his bobbing Adam’s apple filling up the space in my kitchen.
    “How’s Oscar?” he asked.
    “Yeah, good.” It was ridiculous. I searched my brain for something smart to say. Something mind-blowing that would make him think about me long after he’d finished filling up my kitchen. Not that I cared about him the way I used to. Still, I didn’t want him to think I was still that little kid that used to follow him around.
    “Are you busy?” I asked.
    “Yeah,” he said nodding. “Really busy.”
    “Oh.” I grabbed the milk carton out of the fridge, then stood looking in a cupboard for a milk jug until I forgot what I was looking for. “How’s Megan?”
    “Good.”
    “And Ebony?”
    “Yeah, good. Great.”
    “Great.” I tried to imagine us on the debating team together at school. No trophies there.
    “I’m looking for a job. School holidays,” he said. “Loz Pinkerton’s brother wants to sell his car. Says he’ll give me first say.”
    “Do you have your Ls?” I asked.
    “Yup.”
    “Oh.” I wondered when that had happened. “What sort of job?”
    Luke shrugged. “I could garden. Mow lawns or something. Wash cars …”
    “Dumfy’s got the lawn service thing all stitched up,” I said. Dumfy was Porky Sudholz’s brother-in-law. “Maybe you could work for Porky – at the butcher’s?”
    “Working with dead things?” Luke shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
    There was silence as we both contemplated my sick Nanna who could be dead even as we spoke.
    “I wished you’d called me earlier,” said Mrs Hart as she and Mum bustled into the kitchen.
    Mum gave Luke a hug. He had to bend down to hug her back.
    “I was just saying to your mother, Freya, that you could have stayed with us,” Mrs Hart rattled on. “Although there’s not a lot of room at present, not with my sister and her family staying.”
    Luke snorted and brushed past me on his way to the tap. Making himself at home, I thought, but of course this
had
been his second home for years. I wondered if the snort was the thought of me staying or the fact that his aunt and family had taken over his home.
    “Is that a fresh pot?” Mum asked.
    “Umm, no. I’ll make one,” I said, turning away from Luke’s surprised expression. I emptied the coffee, rinsed the teapot, and put the kettle on again.
    “Anyway, I think it’s lovely you’ve got the chance to stay with your cousin at your grandma’s house,” said Mrs Hart.
    “Hmm.” I hoped Luke wasn’t listening.
    “Which one is it again? Julia?”
    “Rumer,” corrected Mum. “They’re very close.”
    I wondered if she meant Julia and Rumer were very close. I felt Luke watching me.
    “Oh, that’s right. Wasn’t she the one who came to Ocean Side with you? You remember Rumer, don’t you Luke?” Mrs Hart asked pointedly.
    Luke scowled.
    “She was such a pretty girl. Nothing like her cousins at all,” she said.
    Luke snorted.
    “Not that you’re not pretty, Freya,” Mrs Hart continued quickly, looking at me. “You have such nice … eyelashes.”
    Luke snorted again.
    “Two summers ago,” said Mum, absently.
    “Was it that long ago?” Mrs Hart sighed. “We must have you over for dinner when you come back, Erica. Life just has a way of getting away from you.”
    “Don’t I know it,” Mum agreed. Then the tears began to leak down her cheeks again, and Mrs Hart pressed some