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“It’s complicated and not something I like to talk about.”
“You know I can keep a secret, Mandy.”
Her eyes went from him to the wall where Emily’s picture hung.
“Will you tell me about her?”
Ted didn’t say anything as she threw her shirt over her head. Nor when she gave him a final look and walked quietly out the door.
Chapter 23
Mandy was surprised that no one seemed to have noticed any changes in her. But she noticed them. Noticed that she was more aware of herself. The way she looked and felt.
Eight days had passed since Ted made love to her. Since he’d pretty much tilted her world on its axis. She’d had no contact with him since. She wasn’t the type to knock on his door just to see him, or ask if he’d forgotten about her now they’d made love.
What niggled at Mandy was that he’d known she was a virgin; surely that alone deserved a phone call.Hey, just checking everything is good with you?She’d have said yes, he could have hung up, job done. But nothing.
It was funny how, as the days passed, the doubts and negative thoughts filtered in and out of her head.
Was he regretting it? Had the experience been so bad he didn’t know how to face her?
Never having experienced this kind of thing, it was like wrestling an octopus in Jell-O trying to work out her next step… or his. So she did nothing and carried on as if nothing had happened.
She’d seen him once; he’d been leaving Phil’s when she arrived. Mandy smiled, he smiled back and said hi. Then he left like they were friends.
Maybe they were. Did friends make each other feel that way?
“Why are you frowning?”
“I always frown,” she said as Rory wandered into Tea Total. “Strange you don’t know that about me, seeing as we’re friends.”
“I like this new sassy you.” Rory leaped up on the counter.
“I’m fairly sure you just broke at least seventeen health regulations doing that.”
Rory ignored her and took a cookie out of the jar on the counter.
“So what’s up?”
Mandy thought about the question. Could she ask Rory some questions without rousing her curiosity? How?
“I have a friend.”
“Another one? Go you!” Rory punched her arm.
“This one I met online. She’s gentle and intelligent, and doesn’t—”
“I get it, she’s nothing like me and therefore boring. Carry on.”
“We’ve kind of become friends and talk to each other about stuff.” She was lying, and that didn’t sit well, but she couldn’t tell Rory she was asking questions about herself. She’d want to know all the details, and no way was she going there.
Rory frowned. “She’s not a stalker, is she? I’ve heard weird stories about people tracking down people and doing bad stuff to them after meeting on the internet.”
“We met through a course I’m doing,” Mandy improvised.
“What course?”
“Cake decoration.”
