Page 26 of Riding the Waves

“Please don’t talk to me on the drive,” she said, stopping beside a blue Micra. “It distracts me.”

“Oh, okay.” That foiled Amy’s plan to quiz Scarlett on her marriage. “I also have my car here if you want me to drive?” She indicated her car, which was parked behind Scarlett’s.

“That would be better.” Scarlett gave a curt nod. “Then I can work on the drive. It’s not wasted time.”

“I was thinking we could get to know each other better.”

“I’d rather work.” Slipping into the car, Scarlett shifted the passenger seat as far back as it would go, then put her seat belt on and got her laptop out.

“What sort of work are you going to do?”

“I’ll be writing my novel.”

Amy turned the key in the ignition. “You can do that in the car?”

“I can if you don’t talk to me.”

“Right.” She smiled at Scarlett’s bluntness. “You’re going to have to tell me where to go.”

Sighing loudly, Scarlett programmed it into the navigation system.

Amy didn’t get another peep out of her until they arrived at their destination. On the main street in Newton Abbott, The Reading Room stood out with its freshly painted sign above the door and eye-catching window displays. One display had moving cuddly toys, arranged as though they were reading a gorgeous selection of children’s books.

“It’s so cute,” Amy said, lingering on the pavement.

“We don’t need to stay for long.” Scarlett headed straight inside with her laptop tucked under her arm.

A bell tinkled above the door and Scarlett made a beeline for the tall, dark-haired woman who was rearranging books on the shelves in the centre of the room.

“I need to get your opinion on a book cover,” Scarlett announced.

“Hi, Scarlett,” the woman said with a wry smile. “How are you?”

“In a rush.”

“I told you not to take on too much over the summer. Everyone needs time to rest too.”

“Yeah, I know. After you answer my questions, I’m going home for a nap. I’m tired.”

“Good.” The woman glanced over her head and caught Amy’s eye. “Hello!” she said brightly.

Scarlett introduced them, sounding decidedly weary.

“You’re Damian’s ex?” Tara asked with a warm smile.

“Yes. You know him?”

She nodded, a glint of private amusement in her eyes. “We go way back. I had some wild nights out with Damo back in the day.”

Amy tensed, immediately wondering whether Tara’s relationship with Damian had been purely platonic, or something more.

“I don’t see much of him these days,” Tara added. “I have my hands full here. We’re probably due a beach trip, so I may pay him a visit. He’s made a great go of the surf shack, hasn’t he? I would never have pegged him as an entrepreneur, but he’s done well for himself.”

“He has,” Amy replied, her smile fixed as she considered how Tara was probably exactly Damian’s type with her glossy dark hair and model-like looks.

Amy had been fully aware of Damian’s reputation as a bit of a playboy when she got together with him and suspected he’d fallen straight back into his old ways after they’d broken up. Not that she had any right to an opinion on it.

Hating her surge of irrational jealousy, she did her best to push it aside as she glanced around the shelves.

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