Chapter Three

LILY

 

LILY HAD JUST sat down to her cheese and mushroom omelette for dinner, when the doorbell rang. She frowned in confusion. She wasn’t expecting anyone, and it was rare for people to drop in unexpectedly. She looked through the peephole and saw Maree, so opened the door.

“You don’t usually pop in,” Lily said, frowning, but then smiled. “Not that you’re not welcome.”

“I tried to not pop in. I’ve been texting you for about two hours,” she said, shaking her phone. “But no response!”

Lily shook her head. It wasn’t like her to not check her phone, but she’d had a lazy Sunday afternoon soak in the bath and had obviously forgotten to get the phone off charge.

“I’m sorry. It was on charge. What’s up?”

“Where are Scott and Bodhi?” Maree asked, noticing how quiet the house was.

“Dinner at Scott’s parents’ house. I thought I’d take advantage of the empty house, so I had a spa bath and then made a very low key dinner. Do you want me to make you one?”

Maree looked at the omelette. “It looks good, and I’m starving. But you stay there. I’ll make it while we talk.”

Maree walked to the kitchen and grabbed the fry pan off the counter. She went to the fridge to get out eggs and cheese. “Have you got bacon on yours?”

Lily shook her head. “Not on mine, but there’s bacon or ham in there if you want it. I just had cheese and mushroom.”

“I need some meat,” Maree said. “I might make mine ham and cheese.” The two women cheerfully talked over Maree’s cooking as Lily finishing up eating her omelette.

“How did you end up last night? The blonde in the purple dress?”

“I got her number, but no kiss or anything.”

“That’s just the way you like it,” Lily said triumphantly. “You can go on a nice, romantic date.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t even see you leave. I got your message, so I knew you were heading home early. Was your night total crap?” Maree pouted in empathy for Lily. Lily shook her head.

“It was fine.”

“Fine?” Maree’s brow creased. “Netflix? Or curled up with a good book?”

“Actually, I went home with a woman,” Lily responded. She hadn’t planned on telling Maree—she didn’t want to be questioned for hours—but there was something about the way Maree just assumed she was home having a dull evening. Of course, the moment Lily mentioned how she’d actually spent her night, Maree’s eyes lit up, and she asked a million questions. Growing tired of Maree’s excitement and questioning, Lily sighed. She would have been better not telling her anything at all. Trouble was, she just couldn’t get Parker out of her mind.