February Or Forever by Juliet Madison Page B

typed up an action plan with tick boxes and emailed it to her.
    â€˜So, how’s the new job? Any cute guys there?’
    Chrissie’s toe caught on one of the loose floorboards on the verandah and she stumbled forward. ‘Um…’
    â€˜Well, is there?’
    â€˜There’s a male yoga teacher, Damon, but he’s, um, well I guess he’s okay but I haven’t really thought of him like that. He might even be gay, I’m not sure.’
    â€˜And?’
    â€˜And what?’
    â€˜There’s only one guy working in the whole retreat? What about the massage therapists? The chefs?’
    The guests?
    â€˜Well, there are a few other guys, but…’ God, she so wanted to tell her. The words hovered on the edge of her tongue, tingling and twirling and desperate to be spoken. Maybe she could just mention there was a celebrity and not say who? No, Chrissie! You signed a legal form, for crying out loud! And Melinda was a journalist. Not that she’d betray a friend’s trust in order to sell a story, but Drew obviously wanted his visit to Tarrin’s Bay to remain private for some reason, and Chrissie had to respect that and stick to her agreement. ‘No. No one of interest.’ God that was painful. The one person she was dying to tell and she couldn’t even hint at it.
    â€˜Oh well, keep an eye out, you might meet someone around town. And if you do, I’m the first to know, right?’
    Chrissie hated being dishonest, but what could she do? Anyway, it’s not like she’d ‘met someone’. She was just teaching him for the month, and then he’d be gone. Back to the States, out of her life, like he was never in it. She might not even be allowed to tell anyone about it, ever. ‘Sure, yep. Anyway, how are you going?’ Her voice became high-pitched. ‘Kids well?’
    â€˜All’s good here. Nothing new to report. Just the usual chaos.’ She laughed. ‘Damn, someone’s at the door. Can I call you back?’
    â€˜Don’t worry, Mel. You better get back to your research. I’ll be fine.’ And I can’t handle talking to you another minute without spilling the goss.
    â€˜Well, if you’re sure. Text me if you need me.’ Footsteps sounded through the line. ‘And I’ll try to come down for a visit in a few weeks.’
    â€˜Sounds good.’
    â€˜Bye, hun.’
    Chrissie ended the call and stepped back into the house. She held a hand to Kai’s forehead to double-check he really wasn’t sick, then took her laptop from its bag and placed it on the kitchen table.
    She sat and opened up the search engine. Hopefully Google could find something for Kai to look forward to as a reward. The local paper would be out tomorrow and might have some ideas for kids’ activities in the town, but she never usually read the papers. Not since leaving her journalism career. It was too easy to get sucked in again, and she couldn’t risk that.
    Her fingers hovered over the keyboard. Without thinking she typed Drew Wil, then gasped. What am I thinking? She tapped backspace eight times, erasing her stupidity. She’d never succumbed to celebrity gossip and wasn’t about to start now. If she wanted to know anything about Drew Williams she could bloody well ask him herself. Chrissie glanced around and shifted in her chair, as though she was a schoolgirl doing something naughty when the teacher wasn’t looking. Then she typed Fun activities for kids in Tarrin’s Bay.
    â€˜Mum?’
    â€˜Yes?’
    â€˜Do we have any packets of chips?’
    Chrissie rolled her eyes and sighed. Kids . ‘No, and even if we did I wouldn’t let you have any right now, young man. I’m either going to take you back to school or you can eat the grapes I put on the coffee table. What’ll it be?’
    Kai tentatively reached over and plucked the grapes from the plate, slinking back down