Out Of Place (Face the Music Book 2) by Shona Husk

for the rest of her life. Sometimes she hated Miles for that.
    She hated herself for getting in the damn car when she should’ve known better, but she hadn’t wanted to make a scene. No, Miles had done that and it had been well attended. Not that he would’ve noticed. She’d found out later that he’d been killed instantly.
    There was no way to undo it, to go back and change it. She didn’t want to spend the rest of her life forever getting buffeted by the ripples those few seconds made.
    In the dark she reached out and grabbed the ring on the chain, then she opened the drawer and dropped it in. For a moment she stared at the ceiling. Nothing had changed, it wasn’t out of sight out of mind. Nothing was that easy.
    No, but the first step was.
    And then she just had to take the one after that. And repeat.
    She turned over and ran through her do to list for tomorrow.
    At least she didn’t have to rush off and look at day care centres. She’d picked one and she’d get the paperwork done and come January, Ethan would be able to go and spend a day with kids his age.
    All she had to do tomorrow after work was scour the job sites to find a new job.
    Write a résumé and make sure Frankie gave her a good reference.
    Have coffee with Ed if he was there.
    It was on her list, therefore it would happen. She wouldn’t let herself run away again. One coffee meant nothing in the grand scheme of things, but to her it was a huge step into dangerous territory.
    As she fell asleep she remembered Ed standing in the sun, the way the light caught his short hair and made it golden and the way the shadow of his hand fell across his face, leaving his lips in the light.
    She’d eaten her cake and drunk her coffee alone, and her book was finished. Yet she lingered. Ed’s car was out there. She could see it from where she was sitting, but he must be out on the water. The waves were big, rolling in pretty steadily; as a result there were a lot of black-clad surfers out there making the most of it.
    For a while she stared of the window, content to watch even though she didn’t know which one he was. For how much longer did she wait…would he bother to come in? She should get going. There was Christmas shopping to do before the crowds got really bad, spending the money she should be using on getting her car serviced.
    One guy got out of the water and headed toward the outdoor shower. It was him, she was sure of it. It was the short hair that gave him away. Most of the young guys had longer hair. For a moment she was paralysed. What would he do?
    What should she do?
    She’d been the one to say maybe and leave it open. She should make the next move. Her heart tripled in size and she struggled to breathe. Was she really thinking of it as a date?
    No. Just coffee. A thank you coffee.
    Yes, that sounded better. Less pressure.
    Ed walked across the sand, his wetsuit around his waist. He wasn’t overly tanned. Whatever job he had was indoors, and he was heading toward his car. If he got in and drove away that would be it, opportunity gone.
    Perhaps it was fate and it wasn’t meant to be.
    She watched for another two heartbeats before getting up. Screw fate. Fate was a bitch if the accident was meant to be. Olivia had always leapt at opportunities before. Before the accident and after the accident, her life was neatly divided by the scar lines. While she couldn’t go back, she was tired of drifting without direction, waiting for something to happen. She had to make it happen before another three years slipped by.
    “Two coffees to go, thanks.”
    The barista made them for her without a question and she paid the staff price for both. She’d miss that. She’d gotten used to cheap coffee and cake. She glanced across the beachside car park to see if she’d be drinking them by herself, but Ed was towelling off and his board was sticking awkwardly out the back of his car. Relief mixed with the nerves. If her stomach didn’t untangle she wouldn’t