Read Online Anybody But Him by Claire Baxter - Free Book Online Page B

lucky he hadn’t blocked her number after the strong terms she’d used to get him to fix Una’s car last weekend. When she’d finished the call, she looked around, but her dad had disappeared. With a sigh, she pushed at the door, which stood slightly ajar as usual. ‘Mum?’
    â€˜Ah, is it yourself, Nicola?’
    Nicola resisted the urge to look down and check. ‘Hi, Mum.’
    â€˜Come on in and I’ll put the kettle on.’
    In the kitchen, Nicola watched her mother fill the kettle and switch it on, then reach into a cupboard and bring out the old green biscuit tin. Her mouth watered before the lid had even come off. She knew what was in there; it had been used for the same thing for as long as she could remember.
    â€˜Here we are now. A fresh batch of shortbread, baked this morning.’
    She groaned. ‘You’re going to make me fat, Mum.’
    â€˜Ack, go on with you. There’s nothing wrong with putting a layer of meat over those bones. Sydney has made you skinny.’
    Not without a lot of effort from her. But one piece wouldn’t hurt. She reached into thetin and her mother gave a satisfied nod.
    â€˜Did you see that useless lump of a husband of mine outside? Wait till you hear what he’s gone and done now.’
    â€˜I already know.’
    Her mother closed her mouth, then turned to prepare the teapot. No teabag in a cup for her. ‘He told you, did he?’
    â€˜Is it such a bad thing?’
    â€˜Yes.’ Her mother looked horrified. ‘He says it will make him look ten years younger. But I say it will make him look ten years sillier.’
    â€˜In the grand scheme of things, though—’
    â€˜Don’t you be encouraging him now, Nicola.’
    â€˜I’m not, but—’
    â€˜Do you know the difference between your father, and one of those expensive wines you like so much?’
    Other than the fact that one helped her to relax while the other had the opposite effect? She shrugged. ‘Not really.’
    â€˜The wine matures with age. Your father doesn’t.’
    Well, that too.
    â€˜And I told him, if he really wants to pretend he’s a young man, he should get some of that … what do you call it? Something to perk him up.’
    â€˜A multivitamin?’
    â€˜Vigoro. That’s it.’
    Nicola inhaled a chunk of shortbread. When the coughing subsided enough that she could speak, she said. ‘No, Mum, that’s not it.’
    â€˜No? Sure, I thought that was what it was called. Anyway, is it expensive? If it costs alot, maybe you could give him some for his birthday?’
    â€˜No, no. I couldn’t.’ She’d rather eat her own hair.
    â€˜Pity.’ Her mother brought the teapot to the table. ‘Mind you, he’s always been hopeless at taking tablets. Knowing him he’d take so long to swallow it, he’d only get a stiff neck.’

Chapter 8
    Nicola was getting into the swing of working at Birchmoors, and becoming used to the way things were done there. She was signing cheques for the creditors who, for one reason or another, didn’t want payment by direct deposit. It wasn’t the most challenging of tasks, and she was glad of the distraction when Hayden entered her office. She glanced up as he came through the door. Cute, very cute, she thought as she signed one more cheque before giving him her full attention.
    â€˜What can I do for you?’ she asked with a smile.
    â€˜More of the same, I’m afraid. I need your signature on this cheque requisition.’
    She held out her hand for the form and scanned it as she took it from him. ‘This is the same company as last time, isn’t it?’
    â€˜Yes. We use them on every project.’
    â€˜Do we?’ She signed the bottom of the page. ‘If that’s the case, why don’t we set up an account?’
    â€˜Oh, we did try, but they didn’t want to know. They prefer to