and she says it will be just perfect for you and Skye, at least until you get turned around.’
Brenna and Viv knew just how worried I’d been about finding a suitable place to live that fitted my budget. They had already kindly offered us their own spare room if we needed it temporarily.
Brenna had smiled expectantly, waiting for my reaction, which would have been an ecstatic one, if I hadn’t got some news of my own.
‘That sounds really great, but actually I came to tell you something,’ I’d said tentatively, wondering how I was going to word it. ‘I’ve found somewhere amazing for me and Skye to live. In fact, we’re moving in there next weekend.’
Her mouth had fallen open as I explained about the opportunity at Adder House. I’d watched as the smile slid from her face, the way her hand froze in mid-air before pulling out a couple of mugs from the cupboard.
It sounded crazy; I knew it did. But I also reminded myself it was real. Amazingly, it was real.
She’d stared at me. ‘You’re seriously telling me that some random guy you met in a coffee shop just signed you up to an apartment in South Kensington?’ Her voice shot up an octave. ‘For five hundred a month?’
‘I know, I know, it sounds dodgy, but it’s true. It’s all above board. I’ve been to view the place, fully checked it out.’ I could barely keep the smile off my face despite Brenna’s concerned expression.
‘But you have checked him out, right?’
‘He’s a retired doctor,’ I’d explained. ‘He lives there, at Adder House, with his wife.
He’s such a nice man, Brenna, you’d understand if you met him.’
‘But he could easily be a conman of some sort. Believe me, some of the doctors I’ve met over the years, they’re unstable and prone to—’
‘He’s not like that.’ I’d rolled my eyes. ‘I can just tell.’
‘But you read about this stuff all the time; people running off with rental deposits and that sort of thing. Aren’t you worried?’
I’d nodded. ‘Oh yes, really worried . . . I keep worrying he’ll change his mind.’
But he didn’t change his mind, and now, as I ring Brenna’s doorbell again, I shrug off the niggling worries I have about the slightly odd Marsdens and Susan Woodings.
I’ve been so desperate to make a new life for us both and to feel fully accepted. As far as I’m concerned, Adder House fulfils both of those caveats.
11
Brenna beams when she opens the door, and I follow her into the kitchen. ‘Well, this is a nice surprise. How’s it going at the palace?’
I can tell there’s going to be a lot of mileage in this nickname.
‘Great. Still loads of unpacking to do, but I thought I’d take an hour out to visit my old mucker.’
‘Hey, less of the old!’ She frowns, having recently celebrated her forty-fifth birthday, which prompted Viv’s annual tease that she was eight years younger than Brenna. ‘Anyway, I’m glad you dropped by, because you’ve forced me to take a break. I’ve been working like a Trojan since six o’clock this morning trying to get my paper finished.’
‘What’s this one about?’ Brenna’s work is always interesting, and I like to get her talking about it when I can.
‘Oh, just exploring some historical stuff,’ Brenna says vaguely, spooning coffee into two mugs. ‘How we can still learn stuff today from experiments of the past.’
I wait for her to elaborate but she’s already moved on. ‘That guy, Marden—’
‘Dr Marsden,’ I correct her with a grin.
‘I really don’t want to rain on your parade, but I know Viv will say it if I don’t . . .’
‘Go on.’
‘Well, despite all I said before, he seems a decent-enough sort, even if his wife is a bit creepy, but I just want to reiterate that you need to keep your wits about you. That’s all I’m saying. The place is fabulous, but you can’t be too careful, especially—’
‘I know, I know.’ I sigh. ‘Especially with what we’ve already been through this last year or so. But that stuff is also exactly why I couldn’t afford to pass up the chance we were offered, Bren.’
‘I know Skye is always your priority, it’s just that she’s been through so much . . .’
I’m aware that Brenna’s suspicious thinking is only in defence of us, and I silently acknowledge that I’d feel exactly the same if a stranger offered Brenna and Viv something similarly fantastic. I could just do without hearing it all right now.
He