Between the Lives - By Jessica Shirvington Page 0,56

pulled out a rag and started wiping his oil-smeared hands.

I opened my mouth to complain, but Lucas cut me off.

‘No worries, Frank,’ he said from behind me. ‘I’ll give you a call in a couple of days, see how it’s going.’

‘Best do that, Lucas. Sorry for ya troubles.’

Frank held out his hand to me. I shook it and tried to smile, but I felt deflated. And now dirty.

Lucas and I hadn’t spoken on the drive to the garage and the drive back was almost as silent. We both tried a few times, but our attempts were lame. What little I did say – like our thirty-word conversation about graduation, or our-less-than-twenty-word chat about how Miriam had invited me to go to the Hamptons over break – only seemed to infuriate him. For some reason, Lucas had decided that I was an inconsiderate brat and he wasn’t – as he chauffeured me around in his BMW, the car he used when he wasn’t riding his Ducati.

I didn’t know what his problem was, but he’d been like this for as long as I could remember. I’d always put it down to something to do with Mom and Dad’s divorce. The process had been relatively smooth from our point of view. Mom and Dad had followed ‘protect the children’ protocol and taken most of their arguments behind closed doors. I’m not sure what the final straw was, why Dad eventually packed up and left – though I suspected it had something to do with the waitress at the restaurant he’d made us eat at three times a week in the months leading up to his moving out.

When he did, Lucas decided to go with him. I think he just figured someone had to, and since Dad, a highly regarded criminal lawyer, was always in New York for work, Lucas basically had the apartment to himself.

As we pulled up at the house I couldn’t stop checking my watch. The trip had taken longer than I’d planned. Everyone would already be at Mixons, and I still didn’t have my answers for Ethan.

‘What’s wrong with you?’ Lucas asked, noticing my agitation.

‘I’m meant to be at Mixons already.’

‘Let me guess, Dex?’ His tone dripped with judgment.

I wasn’t up for defending myself to Lucas. ‘Yep,’ I replied, not bothering to look at him.

He turned off the engine and settled back in his seat. ‘Go get changed, or whatever you need to do. I’ll drop you at Mixons.’

I looked at him, wide-eyed.

He just raised his eyebrows as if to say, Hurry up before I change my mind.

I raced up to my room and quickly changed into a little white dress that was perfect for the warm evening and pulled my hair into a high ponytail to accentuate my cheekbones. After a quick touch-up of mascara and lip-gloss, I transferred a few things from my bag to a small caramel clutch and was back in Lucas’s car within ten minutes. Even he seemed impressed.

‘Thanks,’ I said, when we arrived at Mixons after another almost-silent trip.

‘No problem. I’ll let you know when your car’s ready.’ I smiled. ‘Sure, thanks again.’

He shrugged.

Inside, everyone was crowded around our usual booths at the back of the diner. I paused to check my reflection in the window, making sure everything was where it should be, before making my entrance.

‘Sabine!’ Miriam yelled from the far side of the diner, causing all eyes to turn to me.

I put my shoulders back, smiled coyly and strutted over to the booths.

Miriam and Lucy had changed outfits too. But tonight it was Lucy who had gone all out, sporting a daringly short bright-red dress. She looked amazing.

I saw her anxiously waiting for my approval as I made my way through our group of friends, saying hi and kissing cheeks.

‘Lucy, if that doesn’t get you on the ark, nothing will, babe,’ I whispered with a wink. ‘Where is the lovely Noah?’

Lucy blushed as red as her dress while pointing discreetly to her left and mouthing, ‘Shhh!’ Noah was a few feet away and looking in our direction, his trademark golden curls flopping over his face. He lifted a hand to wave at me. I returned the gesture with a knowing smile that made him quirk an eyebrow.

‘Have you spoken to him yet?’ I asked, turning my attention back to Lucy.

She twisted her mouth.

‘Sabine!’ Dex called out from the next booth. He had considerately saved the seat beside him for me. Before heading over, I threw a parting comment to Lucy. ‘Remember,