Page 83 of The Jealous Girl

I gestured to the empty chair opposite me.

‘Can I get you a tea? Coffee?’ I asked, as he sat.

He shook his head. ‘Let’s just get this over with.’

‘I didn’t do what you think I did,’ I said earnestly.

His expression didn’t change.

‘I didn’t even know what had happened, until I spoke with you this morning. And then Charlotte was waiting for me when I got home and she admitted everything.’

He scoffed. ‘That’s convenient.’

‘I know how it sounds,’ I said quickly. ‘There’s stuff going on that you don’t know. Things with her. Ryan. Blackwater Stables.’

‘Why are you involved in anything to do with them now? I heard you’d left.’

I nodded. ‘I did, but⁠—’

‘Just over a month after you got me fired.’ His words were sharp and bitter. ‘That part never made any sense to me. Why go to the trouble of making things impossible for me, if you were going to leave yourself?’

‘I didn’t get you fired,’ I said, more firmly this time. ‘I never made any allegations against you. I wouldn’t. I couldn’t.’ I leaned forward. ‘You were my friend. The only one I had there.’

Something flickered across his face. A softening of his features. It was tiny, but, nonetheless, it was there.

‘And I hadn’t planned on leaving, either. Not without Ryan.’

Ben shrugged. My disrupted plans were of no consequence to him.

‘But there was someone who wanted both of us gone.’

That caught his attention.

‘Charlotte,’ I said.

‘Why would Charlotte want me gone?’ he asked, leaning back, folding his arms across his chest.

‘Because you and I were friends. She wanted to alienate you from me. Make sure that I had no one to turn to. That I was alone.’

‘I’ll admit, it was pretty obvious that Charlotte had it in for you. But you weren’t alone, you had Ryan and his family.’

I stifled a laugh. ‘His family? Are you kidding? His dad didn’t trust me to be anywhere near his precious stables. And as for his mum…’ I shook my head. ‘She despised me even more than Charlotte did.’

‘Then why was she so protective of you?’

I frowned. ‘What are you talking about?’

‘Charlotte didn’t fire me.’

My breath caught. ‘What?’

‘She didn’t have the authority. She was there, but the decision, that came from Denise.’

I blinked. ‘Denise fired you?’

Ben stared at me. ‘You really didn’t know that?’ His voice was tinged with surprise and uncertainty.

I shook my head. ‘I told you⁠—’