Page 53 of The First Chord

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The afternoon had gone well, and evening was closing in with a coolness as the sun had gone in. All the food had gone, even some sausages that had burned because Ronnie forgot about them being on the barbeque. Admittedly, the men, including Ethan, had used them as missiles in a sausage fight, but there wasn’t anything left.

“You’re not too worried about the tour, are you?” Simone said, taking my hand and giving it a squeeze.

My shoulders sagged a little as I thought about it. The afternoon was supposed to be a way of cheering Ronnie up, and it had, it had been great fun. What it had done, though, was bring back all the worry about being back in Jimmy’s company.

“I wasn’t,” I said with a sigh. “But this afternoon has made me realise he just wasn’t good for me.”

“How has today made you realise that?”

“We never had anything like this,” I said, looking over at the men. Along with Ethan, they were jamming with the guitars that Ronnie had brought down from his music room. “We’ve never had friends over, thrown a lovely, fun barbeque or party. To be honest I’m not sure any of them would have come if they’d been invited.”

“Why?” Simone asked, frowning.

“Because I don’t think many people like him.”

Simone and I both burst out laughing, creating a pause in the music.

“What are you laughing about?” Beau called over.

“Nothing, Mr Nosey.”

The way she blushed as she smiled was cute and it only proved that Jimmy and I were totally not meant for each other. We’d never had an endearing moment like that. Even in the beginning. It had always been full of fire and anger.

Beau pursed his lips into a kiss towards her and then went back to playing. When I spotted Ronnie gently move Ethan’s fingers on the strings of his guitar, it filled my heart with hope. There were decent men out there and three of them were in the same room as me.

“You must have liked him, once.”

“I did,” I replied. “But if I’m honest I think I ignored when I started to dislike him.”

“How long was it before you did?”

I thought about it momentarily and then shook my head in self-disgust. “I was an idiot, because he was bloody awful from the start, but I pushed it aside for at least a year after we got married.”

“Well, you’ve done something about it now,” Simone said softly. “And you can start a new life.”

She was right, I could, but I had a feeling that my old one would still cause me problems for a while yet.

“I just don’t trust Jimmy.” I glanced over at Ronnie who was grinning at Ethan and my stomach dipped. “I think he’s going to do something stupid.”

Simone’s gaze followed mine. “Because of you two?” she asked. “How are things there, anyway?”

I blinked slowly, trying to conjure up the words. The problem was I had no idea on what was happening. “We’re friends.” It sounded much more like a question than anything, because I was questioning everything.

“Are you sure that’s all it is? Friends?” Simone raised an eyebrow as she pushed me. There was also the hint of a shy smile which was full of warmth and caring.

I chewed on my bottom lip for a few seconds, while Simone waited patiently. Finally, I answered. “I don’t know.” Swallowing I moved a little closer to arm of the sofa, nearer to Simone on the armchair she was in, so that I could speak openly without risk of being overheard. “I like him a lot, Simone. He’s everything that Jimmy isn’t. Good, kind, sweet, supportive.” I felt my breath quicken at the admission. “He’s probably turning into my best friend, too.” Amelie was great and supportive, but Ronnie had been the one who’d made the last few weeks bearable. Neither Amelie, Hugo, nor Brandon had even asked to meet for coffee, never mind given me a roof over my head.

“He is lovely,” Simone agreed. “A good man.”

“I would never want to hurt him, and I’d be devastated if Jimmy did.”

“The boys won’t let that happen,” she stressed.

“They may not even see it coming. He can be sly and manipulative.”

Simone inhaled. “Believe me, they’re used to dealing with sly and manipulative men. They’ll be able to handle Jimmy.”

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