Read A Poison Tree (Time, Blood and Karma Book 3) for Free Online

their normal roles, and in Anna’s case this meant withdrawing into herself. For those last few days before she left for university she became diffident and shy with me. She showed no signs of resenting her sister’s return, despite the attention her parents showered on the returning prodigal. On the contrary, she was at pains to make Claire feel welcome, and gave her the sort of attention she had been giving me over the summer.
    Although this gave me a pang of sadness, I could not complain. It must have been obvious from an early stage that I was fascinated by Claire. What was not so obvious was why Claire should be attracted to me. Though I had an athletic build, and was fairly fit – thanks to playing regular rugby – I would not have described myself as handsome. Rugged looking, more like. I suppose I was from good local stock, and expected to inherit the family businesses, but Claire did not strike me as someone who would choose her man based on the size of his bank account.
    “Why don’t you ask her out?” Anna asked.
    “What?”
    “Why don’t you just ask her out?”
    “Who?”
    “Oh, David,” she sighed, “ don’t be so stupid.”
    “Ah.” I could feel my face heating up with embarrassment.
    It was our last picnic of the summer. We were sitting at the spot where we’d both fallen asleep some weeks earlier. The day was not so warm and sunny, but we’d decided to make the trip regardless.
    “It is quite all right,” she said with kindness, touching my hand.
    “I’ve been dreading having this conversation.”
    “Why?”
    “And yet –”
    “You wanted to tidy things up before I went away.”
    “Yes.”
    “You’re a nice man, David, a kind man. That’s quite rare.”
    “Is it?”
    She smiled. “Sisters talk, you know. Especially sisters like Claire and me. We’re very close. Quite dissimilar in lots of ways – apart from the hair, of course – but we do understand one another. That same evening she met you, we had a little heart-to-heart. She asked me what the arrangement was between you and me. Didn’t express any interest in you herself, not straightaway, that wouldn’t have been appropriate. If I had told her we were an item, she’d have left you alone.”
    “She has left me alone.”
    “Yes .” She bit into a crunchy red apple, and some of the juice ran down her chin. I handed her a napkin.
    “So what did you tell her?”
    “I told her that we were good friends –”
    “Which we are.”
    “– but that was all.”
    We sat silent for a few minutes. I felt there was something I should say, but could not for the life of me think what it was.
    At length, I said, “Are you disappointed?”
    She looked at me . “About what, for goodness’ sake?”
    “Oh, I don’t know. About the fact that I haven’t made a pass at you all summer, and that I fancy your sister something rotten. Most women would be rather pissed off about that, I’d have thought.”
    She laughed. “Dear David, I hope we will always be friends.” She kissed me on the cheek.
    I continued to look at her.
    “What?” she said. “What? Have I got something stuck on my teeth? What?”
    “I’m waiting,” I said.
    “For what? I’m not kissing you again. That was a one-off.”
    “I want to know whether Claire fancies me.”
    “Why shouldn’t she?”
    “Well you don’t.”
    She punched my shoulder. “Do your own dirty work,” she said. “Now pass the wine over here.”
    I passed the wine. She looked relieved that we’d had the conversation, and seemed a little more like the Anna I’d first met.
     
    I had the delicacy to wait until Anna had been back at university for two weeks before asking Claire out.
    The summer by then was well and truly over.
    I had begun my apprenticeship in one of the family businesses, the Braddock car dealership. I was to start at the Northampton branch, then move on to Nottingham, and finally Leicester, which was also Head Office to the property and textiles