Read Online Between Before and After by Amanda Dick - Free Book Online Page A

the music.
    “Oh my God - my ears are bleeding.” Lacey grimaced.
    Max took another sip of his beer, then resorted to humming loudly instead.
    “We have this one, at home,” Kate said, indicating the radiogram with her glass. She quickly corrected herself. “I mean, it’s Danny’s, from his collection.”
    “Do you still have all his vinyl?” Finn asked.
    “Yeah. I didn’t know what to do with it. Nina and Jim didn’t want it, so I just kept it.”
    “You could probably sell it?” Finn suggested. “Some of those albums might be worth a bit.”
    “I suppose I could.”
    “Do you listen to them?” Lacey asked.
    “Sometimes.”
    They fell silent for a few minutes, listening to the music. Kate took another sip of wine before resting the glass on her knee. She was curled up at the other end of the sofa and yet she seemed so far away. Finn sipped his beer, eager to supress the itch he was too afraid to scratch. Glancing over at Gavin and Lacey, curled up together on the other sofa, he was overcome with jealousy. He wanted that. He wanted it with Kate, and he wanted her to want it with him.
    Where did that come from? Immediately, he wondered if he was drunk. He must be, to even be thinking that way. Oh God. It’s New Years all over again. Warning, Will Robinson – warning!
    Kate was staring straight out the window, into the half-light of early evening. The sky was alive with threads of purple and pink as the sun set over the hills across the bay.
    “Y’know, I think I might take another swim before bed,” she said quietly, standing up and setting her glass down on the coffee table.
    “You okay chickie?” Lacey stared up at her from the sofa.
    Kate smiled, but Finn could see she was upset.
    “I’m fine. Just feel like taking a dip. Won’t be long.” She straightened her t-shirt as she headed towards her bedroom.
    The music swirled around them, but the upbeat tempo suddenly seemed grossly out of place. A few minutes later, Finn caught sight of her, wrapped in a towel, heading along the deck and down the steps.
    “I’m never gonna learn when to keep my big mouth shut, am I?” he groaned, running a hand down his face. “What an idiot.”
    “It was a valid point,” Gavin argued. “She hangs onto all this shit when she probably should be letting it go. It’s not healthy.”
    “She’ll do it when she’s ready,” Lacey said gently. “She’s just not ready yet.”
    “Yeah, just like she’ll move out of that damn house when she’s ready. How can she stay there, after what happened? The place gives me the bloody creeps.” Finn shuddered.
    “I tried to talk to her about that again at New Years,” Lacey said. “I didn’t quite understand what she was getting at, but it seems to me like she feels close to Danny there. She said sometimes she can feel him, like he’s watching over her. I think she’s just afraid of making that final, big move – of letting go. I guess when she’s ready to move on, she will. It’s not our call to make.”
    Finn’s heart raced. Maybe he had misread the situation at New Years – maybe they had both just had too much to drink? It was New Years. Everyone gets drunk at New Years. His head spun as he tried to recall everything that had happened between them since – texts, phone calls, emails. Had he been looking for signs that weren’t there?
    Max got up off the floor, staggering slightly. “Another beer?”
    Finn shook his head. “Nah, I’m good.”
    “Me too,” Gavin echoed.
    Max headed out through the French doors along the deck and Gavin’s eyebrows shot up. “See what I mean?” he said, keeping his voice low.
    Finn watched as Max made his way along the deck towards the beer fridge. “Do you think he’s still having nightmares about…y’know?”
    “I’d say so.” Gavin frowned.
    Finn watched Max through the window as he closed the fridge door and made his way back along the deck to the French doors, his steps not as sure and steady as they had