Nicole swiped a hand over her sweaty forehead, streaking her hand with brown. She’d changed out of the black leather and into pink shorts, but she hadn’t washed her face. Now she was melting NARS all over herself.
“Nix?” Tabby’s voice sounded like it was coming from far away. “You all right?”
God, couldn’t she hold it together for a single walk? She was such an idiot. “I’m fine.”
“You don’t seem fine. Are you thinking about the missing money?”
No, although that was another reason to feel like an idiot. She’d been at Silver Daughters for weeks and found nothing to explain the hole in their finances.
“I’m fine,” she repeated. “Let’s keep moving, it’s hot.”
They made their way to the Carlton Gardens, Tabby skipping, Nicole fighting tears beneath her sunglasses. When they reached the lawn, Tabby knelt to release the dogs from their leads. Nicole knew she should stop her; the gardens weren’t a dog park, but she was too weary to stand in the way of her younger sister’s boundless energy.
Her phone buzzed. She pulled it out of her pocket and saw Beverly Dean had sent her a Facebook message.‘Hi lovely, I hope I’m not overstepping the mark here, but is everything okay? No one’s heard from you in a while! Let me know if anything’s wrong! xx’
“Oh, god,” she groaned.
“What?” Tabby asked, unclipping a yelping Morgan.
“Beverly’s asking if I’m okay. I think her and the girls know something’s wrong.”
Tabby looked quizzical. “You haven’t told your Adelaide friends about the big splitsville yet?”
“I’m waiting for the right time.”
“And when will that be, exactly?”
Nicole didn’t say anything. She unlocked her phone and deleted the messenger app. Then switched the whole thing off for good measure. It wasn’t a long-term strategy, but she needed a moment; an hour and a single afternoon to think.
And who knew? Maybe once she turned her phone back on, her friends would have forgotten about her, and Aaron might have cancelled the wedding himself, and her boss might have given her a transfer to Paris, and the missing money would be back in Silver Daughters’ bank account, and Noah would have moved to Japan to go down on Japanese women while they were tied to their dad’s office chairs. Maybe everything might sort itself out.
Lilah, her favourite puppy, rubbed against her leg. Nicole bent over and stroked her velvet head. The dogs might be inconvenient, but really, was there anything better than puppies? A car honked loudly from the nearby road and she straightened up to see a silver Toyota full of dudes clapping, presumably at her ass. “Oh, god.”
“Oi, lads.” Tabby flipped them off like she’d been trained to do it. “Your turn now, show me where you piss from!”
Nicole tensed, but the guys just wound up their windows and rolled past. Tabby lowered her middle finger. “Typical. No banter in them at all. Fucking plebs.”
Nicole pressed a hand to her chest in a misguided attempt to slow her heartbeat. “You shouldn’t antagonize guys like that.”
“They shouldn’t drive around honking at butts. Anyway, who cares? They’re gone and we’re in a park.” She resumed unclipping the puppies. Nicole shook her head. Sam raged; Nicole stewed, but Tabby’s anger flicked in and out like a switchblade. She cut and then retracted to a persona as sunny as their father’s.
“How do you do it?” she asked her little sister. “Why are you so happy?”
“Beautiful day, six pups. What could be better?”
Exactly what she’d been trying to convince herself of without any of the sincerity. She spotted something on Tabby’s lapel—the pink cat brooch their dad had sent her in his only correspondence. The one she’d been holding when she and Noah had their first kiss. She nudged Tabby’s shoulder. “Hey, that’s my cat pin!”
“You never wear it.”
“That’s not the point. Dad gave it to me!”
“Fair.” Tabby bundled the dog leads in her left hand and reached for the pin.
“No!” The thought of touching the cat brooch filled Nicole with an inexplicable panic. “You keep it. Just give it back when you’re done.”
“Will do! Cheers bruv.”
Lilah continued to rub herself against her shin. Nicole gave her a little push. “Go play with your brothers and sisters.”