Read Online The Better Woman by Ber Carroll - Free Book Online

eyes narrowed. ‘Have you met someone else? Is that it?’
    She grabbed at the idea, like a drowning swimmer to a floating branch.
    â€˜Yes.’
    â€˜Someone from college?’
    â€˜Tim,’ she improvised.
    â€˜Is it serious?’
    â€˜Probably no more than you and Vanessa,’ she heard herself say and regretted the words as soon as they were out of her mouth. Mentioning Vanessa would entice a full confrontation. The last thing she needed.
    â€˜How do you know about Vanessa?’ he asked, his smooth brow furrowing in a frown.
    She shrugged again. ‘Your mother.’
    His mouth tightened until it was nothing more than an angry line. ‘She’d no right to imply that Vanessa is my girlfriend. She knows well enough that she’s one of Cécile’s students – a friend.’
    His denial rocked everything that Sarah had believed for the last year, and undermined all the decisions she had made as a consequence.
    â€˜
Do
you have a girlfriend?’ she asked weakly.
    â€˜Nothing serious,’ was his less-than-satisfactory response.
    â€˜Is that a yes?’ she pressed, needing to know.
    â€˜I suppose.’
    So it wasn’t Vanessa, it was someone else. A change of name, but the facts were still the same: John was with another girl, there was no hope of reconciliation. Sarah realised that she was relieved. It would be terrifying to love him again.
    Feeling more in control, she turned the conversation to Paris and his studies.
    â€˜Have you done any performances yet?’
    â€˜I’ve played at the Conservatoire de Paris twice,’ he replied. ‘The last time Cécile invited a critic without telling me. It was quite a risk – my career could be squashed by a bad review.’
    â€˜What did he say about you?’
    John grinned. ‘Don’t know if I caught the guy on a good day or what, but everything he wrote was positive.’
    â€˜I’m sure you deserved it.’
    Sarah was proud of him. Putting the last few years aside, when their friendship had transformed into something else, this was the boy she used to play with in the park and sit with at the back of the school bus. It was amazing to think of him performing in a city known worldwide for its role in the evolution of music, and for its brutal critics.
    â€˜I’d better go,’ she said, her emotions on a slippery slope. She gave him a brisk hug.
    â€˜Sarah . . .’
    She didn’t meet his eyes, afraid of what would happen if she did.
    â€˜Yes?’
    â€˜I –’ he faltered.
    She realised that in John’s mind they were breaking up now. He lived in a fairyland where you could date other girls and still keep the one back home.
    â€˜It’s been over since you left last year,’ she told him in a hard voice. ‘This is just a formality, John.’
    â€˜But –’
    â€˜Take care of yourself, okay?’
    It took everything she had to walk away from him, to cross the road and go inside the shop, leaving him standing there staring after her.
    â€˜How about Brendan Fahey?’ she asked Peggy, picking up the conversation where they had left off earlier: the new shop assistant.
    Peggy looked thoughtful. ‘I suppose he’s reliable . . .’
    â€˜And he’ll be glad of the work,’ Sarah added. ‘I’ll ring him tomorrow and ask –’
    Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of a loud engine pulling up outside: the delivery truck. Sarah was instantly busied with checking the delivery and, later on, stacking the new stock onto the shelves.
    Later on that night, while they watched
Coronation Street
, Peggy proved that she wasn’t so easily distracted.
    â€˜He’s looking well, isn’t he?’ she commented.
    â€˜Who?’ asked Sarah, her eyes frozen on the screen.
    â€˜John, of course.’
    Sarah didn’t answer.
    â€˜Is the romance back on between ye?’
    â€˜There