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???
“Remind me again whose idea this was,” Billie groaned, flexing her fingers and turning a tuning peg on her violin.
“All yours, babycakes,” Alea said.
“Don’t call me that.”
“Fine, all yours, Billie Brooke.”
Billie rolled her eyes. “Why does everyone insist on calling me by my full name all the time?”
Alea shrugged. “Something in the way it rolls off the tongue so nicely, I think,” she said. “Or the alliteration. You sure you’re up for this?”
“Up for attempting to tune an expensive musical instrument in the back of a van, not so much. Up for the rest, yes, I have to be, don’t I?”
“Do you?” Alea asked. “I mean, forgive me if I’m interfering, but I sort of associate apologizing with saying sorry, rather than muscling my way into a band that I don’t belong in and putting on an impromptu concert.”
“Horses for courses,” snapped Billie, plucking all four strings in turn and then nodding, satisfied.
Alea grinned. “All this for Jules? She’ll go mental.”
“Mental good or mental bad?” asked Billie suspiciously. She didn’t want Jules throwing bar stools around or anything.
“Um, actually, I don’t know. Depends how cross she still is at you for walking out,” Alea said. “And if you’re done with all your primping and faffing around we’d better get on with things.”
Billie took a deep breath. Was she really going to do this?
It was a stupid question.
Her violin felt natural in her hands, the bubbling of nerves in her stomach was pretty normal, and whilst she couldn’t gauge what Jules’s reaction was going to be, she was certainly going to do this. She was going to act, she was going to show Jules that she could change, that she could fit in here, and she was going to say her piece. End of story.
“I’m not primping,” she grumbled as Alea opened the door to the van.
“Could have fooled me,” said Alea.
???
“You’re in early,” Jules said as Amelia and Cass slid up to the bar.
“Yeah, well, my sister works in here,” Am said. “Two halves, please.”
“Go on, tell her,” Cass said.
“Tell me what?” asked Jules, dreading to think what the two were up to now. Which reminded her. “Have you heard what granddad’s gone and done?”
“Bought a share in the old people’s home,” Cass said promptly.
Both Amelia and Jules turned to her.
“What?” she asked, dark eyes wide.
“How did you know that?” asked Jules.
“Because he told me last week when I asked him what he was up to,” Cass said. “Swore me to secrecy.”
“Back up a second there,” said Amelia. “He did what now?”
Jules sighed and explained as quickly as she could.
