Caught in the Act by Gemma Fox Page A

here early. I was worried—well, you know, it feels like you lot are the vanguard—the inner circle—and it means that everyone else will probably turn up as well, and if you don’t mind the bears and the bunk beds then maybe nobody else will either.’ Diana reddened furiously, eyes all bright. ‘It’s so good to see you again.’
    Carol could see that the nostalgia virus had infected Diana too.
    â€˜For God’s sake, stop going on about the bloody bears,’ snapped Netty. ‘Unless you glued them up yourself they’re not your fault.’
    â€˜Everyone be here for tea and buns?’ asked Adrian, looking down at the paper.
    Diana shook her head. ‘No, not everyone—some people have said they won’t be able to get here until later. Sheena Mason, Phillip Hudson—Gareth Howard.’
    As if on cue, everyone, including Adrian, turned to look in Carol’s direction. Carol felt a little flurry of something in her belly but, pretending to be totally unconcerned, she carried on unzipping her suitcase.
    â€˜Have we got a cupboard each?’ she asked casually, hanging a towel over the rail at the end of the bunk to stake her claim, not that she was fooling anyone. There was a pause; she could feel them all still looking at her. ‘All right, all right, so it will be great to see Gareth again—is that good enough for you?’
    Adrian lifted an eyebrow. ‘We don’t know yet, do we? What else had you got in mind?’
    Carol slung a pair of socks at him. ‘Nothing, nothing at all. Besides, Gareth is probably happily married with half a dozen kids, a fish farm and a bloody Labrador by now. It will just be lovely to see him—to catch up, to catch up with everyone—but come on, a lot of water has flowed under the bridge since…since…’She couldn’t quite find the right words to describe exactly since what .
    Adrian came to her aid: ‘Since you and Gareth slipped off to God knows where with a sly grin and a packet of three?’ he suggested helpfully.
    Carol felt the heat roar through her. ‘I did no such thing,’ she protested furiously.
    There was another weighty silence and then Carol’s composure and outrage deflated. ‘All right, all right, so maybe I did, but that doesn’t mean that anything like that is likely to happen again—not at all. Is that clear?’
    â€˜OK, well, as long as we’ve got that straight,’ said Adie wryly. ‘So are you coming down to the pub? Only I’m desperate to get all the gossip and, let’s face it, we’re going to need all the time we can get if we’re going to catch up on twenty years each.’
    Carol hesitated, unsure whether she ought to stay with Diana. After all, hadn’t she made some kind of rash promise to pitch in? Also Carol wasn’t sure she could stand up to too much close questioning about her motives when it came to seeing Gareth again.
    â€˜Go,’ said Diana, waving Carol away before she could offer to stay behind. ‘This lot will need someone to ride shot gun on them.’
    Carol picked up her handbag. ‘If you’re sure…’
    â€˜I’m sure,’ Diana said. ‘Go.’
    â€˜Oh, by the way, is Fiona coming?’ asked Netty as she got to the door.
    There was a fraction of a second’s pause. Fiona Templeton, the girl for whom the phrase ‘drama queen’ could well have been invented.
    Diana nodded. ‘Yes, well, at least she said she would be here.’
    â€˜I can’t imagine that Fiona would miss it,’ said Netty. ‘Any chance for a little limelight and adoration.’
    â€˜Just as long as she doesn’t bring her mother,’ laughed Adrian.
    â€˜That’s not funny. That old stoat used to make my life hell. Lights out, fags out, boys out. God, the woman was such a pain in the arse,’ snapped Netty. ‘Her and her precious