Jealous Storm, Jack Stroke [best sci fi novels of all time .txt] 📗

sure. Still anger. She didn’t stop by his boat, instead heading back to Paradise by the Bay.

Maybe she could have a word with Megan. Try and get a sense of what was going on in her head. It wasn’t fair. Amber had done nothing but make an effort and try with Megan and this was what she got in return? Megan throwing Ellis in her face, trying to hurt her?

Talking to Megan wasn’t a bad idea, although it was vital Amber keep her cool. A calm, rational discussion no matter what Megan threw at her. It was like a Band-Aid. Amber simply had to do it. No stopping to think.

Butterflies attacked her stomach. Amber hadn’t been attending Joan’s breakfast so much of late. It wasn’t she felt unwelcome exactly, but there was something. An atmosphere.

Putting her concerns aside, Amber strode into the dining area and instantly regretted her decision. Ellis was at the table. Of course he was. Why hadn’t she thought he might be?

Megan and Joan were there too. It was as though they had simply swapped out Ben for Ellis.

“See?” Megan said to Ellis. “She doesn’t even bother to knock.”

“Hey, Amber,” Ellis said. “Are you okay?” He sounded sincere, so he was obviously lying. “What happened last night? We were worried about you.”

“Why?” Joan asked. “What happened last night?”

“She just pulled an Amber,” Megan said. “Her usual. Had a tantrum and ran away.”

Exactly what Amber wanted to do right now. Simply walk back out the door. It took all her effort to stay and even more to sit.

Megan smirked, aware just how challenging this must be for her. Amber had to face this. She couldn’t run every time.

“Join us for some breakfast, Amber?” Joan asked coolly. As usual there was plenty of food, so she wasn’t imposing.

“I’d love to. Thank you, Joan.”

A thick tension coated everything, an explosion seemingly inevitable.

“Great food, Joan. You’re still a terrific cook.”

“Thank you, Ellis.”

“Beetroot clearly thinks so,” Megan said. “Never bothers to make stuff for herself. Just gets Mum to.”

“Just like old times, ’eh?” Ellis said with a wink.

“I don’t mind, Megan. You know that. It’s lovely having you, Amber.”

Amber did her best to eat, the food not interested in being swallowed.

“Seriously, were you all right last night, Amber?” Ellis asked. “We were worried about you.”

“I’m sure you were, Ellis.”

“Didn’t even tell poor Vaughan what you were doing,” Megan chipped in. “Just drove off without him.”

“Oh, Amber,” Joan said with a shake of her head.

“He seems like a good guy,” Ellis said, making all kinds of effort. “Vaughan. You’ve done well there.”

“Yes, Vaughan is a lovely young man,” Joan said.

“Yes, Vaughan is a lovely young man,” Megan repeated, extra emphasis on the word ‘young’.

“Megan,” Joan scolded.

Ellis’ phone beeped. He picked it up off the table, punching in the code. It was a beaten-up old iPhone that looked as though it had been through the wars. He messaged someone. From what Amber had seen, Megan had stopped using her phone nearly as much now Ellis was here, today at breakfast and last night at the Half.

Was it still worth talking to Megan? She could ask for a word, except knowing Megan she would say they could talk here and now, in front of Joan and Ellis. Putting Amber on the spot. No, there wasn’t a lot she could do at this stage other than grin and bear things.

“Well, this is nice, isn’t it?”

“It’s lovely,” Amber said.

“We’ve got some good news for you then, Amber. Isn’t that right, Ellis?”

“Hmm?” Distracted by the phone, he missed his cue. He put the phone down.

“Tell Amber the good news.”

“Good news?”

Ellis’ phone beeped again. Megan still hadn’t gone near hers. The old phone had no facial recognition, meaning every time Ellis had to punch in the code.

Megan huffed. “You know? The good news? You and Amber are going to be neighbours, remember?”

“Oh, yeah.” Still disinterested. “Megan said I could stay in one of the cabins, like you.”

“One big happy family,” Megan said, far too pleased with herself.

Neighbours? That clearly wasn’t going to work. Luckily Ellis had already exposed his weak point. Amber wasn’t going to have to talk to Megan at all.

24

Sun filled the car as it powered along. Shake and Ben had been driving for several hours in silence, heading God knows where.

The private jet had finally landed at a similarly remote location to the one they’d taken off from. More a field than runway or anything even close to an airport. They could have been the exact same place they took off from and just been flying in a circle for all Ben knew, except the car waiting for them here was a black Tesla in place of the white one.

Eventually they came across a roadhouse. Shake piloted the vehicle into a space out front.

“Coming?” he said to Ben.

The roadhouse was divided in two, a restaurant at one end and a service station at the other.

“Got any money?” Shake asked as they approached the counter.

“No.”

“Too bad.” He flashed a bright grin at the waitress, who was working the gum in her mouth pretty hard. “One coffee to go, please. Lots of cream, lots of sugar.”

Ben stretched the kinks out of his body.

“Here,” Shake said, passing Ben a bag he had retrieved from the trunk of the Tesla when they’d stopped. A suit bag. “How long do you think it will take them to do a coffee?”

“I don’t know,” Ben said. “Five minutes?”

“No. Far too long. Excuse me…”

The chewing waitress turned.

“How long will that coffee be?”

“Two minutes. Maybe three.”

“See? You’d better hurry then.”

“Hurry?” Ben asked.

“You’ve got precisely until my coffee comes to get that suit on.”

“Are you serious?”

“Not sure why you’re still standing here, Benny. I would be running if I were you. Once the coffee is in my hand, I’m leaving. With or without you. Without, if you don’t have that suit on.”

Ben glanced at the waitress who shrugged, still gnawing away on her gum. He took a second more then bolted for the restrooms.

He didn’t