No Holds Barred by Lyndon Stacey Page A

asked, looking at his watch. It was half past seven.
    â€˜When everything’s done. Why? Were you going to ask me out?’ she quizzed with a sideways look of amusement.
    â€˜Well, no – I was just curious. It must be a long day for you.’
    â€˜It is, but I don’t mind. I love the horses. You don’t do this job if you’re a nine-to-five sort. Besides, I’ve known Jenny for ever – we went to school together – and she really needs the support right now.’
    â€˜You’re not wrong there. Actually – do you fancy getting a bite to eat?’ Daniel asked.
    â€˜No, really. You don’t have to. I was only teasing.’
    â€˜I know. But why not? I’ve got nothing much at the cottage. Of course, you’ve probably got family waiting for you. Stupid of me  . . .’
    â€˜Just my dad, and he expects me when he sees me.’ She tilted her head to one side with a smile. ‘OK. Thanks. Why not?’
    On Sue’s recommendation, they chose The Fox and Duck for their meal. The Crown was OK, she told him, but trying too hard to be a contemporary eatery. The Fox had good home-cooked food at sensible prices, she said. It was the one the real locals used.
    The first person Daniel saw, as he ducked through the low doorway, was none other than Taylor Boyd, standing at the bar with Dek Edwards.
    â€˜Whelan.’ Boyd nodded curtly in Daniel’s direction, then caught sight of his companion. ‘Hi, Sue. All right?’
    â€˜Fine,’ she replied briefly, her cheeks flushing with colour. She slipped her hand through Daniel’s arm.
    Lounging against the bar, Edwards leered in her direction. ‘All right, Sue? You don’t waste any time, do you? What’s the new boy got that I haven’t?’
    â€˜Manners, for a start,’ she retorted, then turned to Daniel. ‘Shall we go through to the other bar?’
    â€˜If you like.’
    â€˜I do.’
    â€˜I take it there’s a bit of history between you and Boyd,’ Daniel said as the door swung to behind them.
    â€˜What makes you say that?’
    â€˜Your body language. You seemed very keen to show him that you were with me.’
    â€˜Yeah, well, I was stupid enough to go out with him once, and once was all it took. God, I must have been desperate! Talk about an ego. Trouble is, he acts as if we’re mates now, and we’re so not. I don’t even like him!’
    â€˜And what about Dek? What’s the story there?’
    â€˜Him? No story. He’s just a low-life. He’s got the hots for Taylor’s sister, from what I’ve heard. Round there at every opportunity, drooling over her like some lovesick tomcat. I’d almost feel sorry for the girl if she wasn’t such a poisonous slut.’
    â€˜Wow! Don’t hold back on my account,’ Daniel told her.
    â€˜Sorry.’ Sue had the grace to look a little sheepish. ‘We have history.’
    Daniel let the subject drop and she said no more about it, but she kept an eye on the door to the public bar all through the meal, leaving him to wonder whether she was dreading Boyd following or hoping he would. Daniel began to suspect that he’d been used, but he couldn’t complain, for, in a way, that was just what he was doing, too.

FIVE
    A s a social occasion, the meal with Sue Devlin was time enjoyably spent; as a fact-finding mission, it was perhaps less worthwhile.
    Gently probing, Daniel formed the impression that she didn’t know Gavin Summers particularly well. He had no interest in the horses and rarely visited the stables unless it was in search of Jenny, she said, and this in itself obviously put him low in her estimation. The little information she did volunteer confirmed the notion Daniel already had of a marriage, if not in crisis, then at the very least becoming stale. He gained the impression that Sue wasn’t altogether unhappy about that