Page 58 of Fletch

Finding Ruby downstairs, I ask, “Did you have a good day at school?”

She glances up in that sulky way teenagers do but doesn’t reply. I’m tired of being ignored by everyone in my life. “I’ve made contact with him,” I blurt. “Your father.” This gets her attention. “He hasn’t texted me back yet.”

“Did you tell him it was important? That it was urgent?”

I hate how desperate she sounds. “If he doesn’t reply, I’ll go and see him.”

“If you know where he is, take me to him.”

I shake my head. “I can’t just turn up and spring you on him. He’s . . . difficult.”

“I don’t care. I want to see him.”

“Ruby,” I say on a sigh, “please just let me do this my way.”

“Go now,” she snaps. “Go to him now and tell him so I know either way if he’s interested in getting to know me.”

“Is that what you want?” I ask.

“Yes.”

“You won’t even speak to me, but you want to know this stranger?”

“You lied. He didn’t.”

“So, now, I’m the enemy?”

“Just go and tell him,” she repeats, turning away. “Please.”

And that one word is all it takes to have me heading for the door. I’ve at least got to tell him, even if he doesn’t want to know Ruby.

Smoke is on the gate, and when I pull up outside, he steps from the gatehouse. “What do you want?”

“To see Fletch.”

“Too bad.”

“Please,” I say more urgently, “it’s important.”

He rolls his eyes and pulls out his mobile phone, tapping away. A few minutes later, I get a text message.

Fletch: We made an agreement, Gemma. Go home.

Me: I have to tell you something.

Fletch: I don’t want to hear it. We’re over.

Me: It’s about our past. Why I went away.

A minute later, he stomps from the clubhouse and heads for the gates. He looks irritated, and I hate that he’s treating me like a needy ex trying to ruin his day. “Gemma, this has to stop. You can’t come here unannounced.”

“Not without official papers at least,” says Smoke, grinning.

We both stare at him in annoyance, and he shrugs, stepping back into the gatehouse.

“I don’t want to be here,” I snap. “I’m not trying to win you back, if that’s what you think.”

“Then why are you here?”

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