Read Between Before and After for Free Online

I’m seriously tempted,” she said, keeping her eyes on the road.
    “Only another twenty minutes, at the most.”
    “Don’t hurry on my account.”
    “Think of something else,” he suggested, taking the next bend a little too fast for her liking.
    “Just slow down, will you please? I don’t want to puke out the window of a moving car.”
    “That makes two of us.”
    “Finn.”
    “I have slowed down, trust me – if I go any slower, we’ll be walking.”
    Twenty agonising minutes later, they were pulling over into the gravel turning bay. He made the tight turn, crossing the road and following the driveway under the canopy of trees and down towards the house. She was glad she was the last to arrive. It would have been worse arriving to an empty house. She found herself more than over the whole empty house scenario lately.
    Finn parked behind Gavin’s car, gently applying the brake. Memories flooded over and through her as she stared at the back of the house. She knew this house almost as well as she knew her own, yet the familiarity was as much comforting as it was disconcerting.
    “Hey,” Finn interrupted gently. “You okay?”
    She shook the memories off, smiling. “Fine.”
    He looked about to say something else when she caught sight of Gavin and Max walking through the carport towards them, beaming.
    “Uh oh – someone looks a little green!” Gavin quipped, pulling her into a hug as soon as she got out of the car. “Rough sailing?”
    “God, I hate those bloody ferries,” she said, hugging him back.
    “Next time, fly down – we’ll pick you up from Blenheim.”
    She pulled away, glancing over at Finn. “Funny, we were just talking about that before. At least the flight is shorter.”
    Max came forward to take Kate in his arms, smiling shyly.
    “Hey you!” She buried her head in his shoulder. She was struck with the sudden urge to hang on tight, and she did. “I wasn’t sure you’d even be here.”
    She felt him shrugging.
    “You never returned my calls,” she accused, frowning up at him.
    “I –“
    “It doesn’t matter.” She drew back. “What matters is you’re here.”
    He looked tired. She vowed to talk to him later, when they were alone, and find out what was going on. For now though, she had one more person she desperately needed to see.
    “Where’s Lace?”
    “Making a pre-dinner bijoux snackette.”
    “She’s cooking? You guys should be doing that – she should be taking it easy,” she frowned.
    Gavin held his hands up in surrender. “She’s fine – and believe me, we tried, but she insisted. You know what she’s like – she likes to feed everyone.”
    “How is she?” Kate asked, draping her arm around Max’s waist.
    “She’s good,” Gavin leaned back against the Monaro. “It’s gonna take some time, but she’s doing okay, all things considered.”
    “And what about you?”
    “I’m okay. We’re philosophical about it,” Gavin said, glancing briefly towards the house. “It wasn’t the right time anyway. We weren’t ready. But y’know, we can try again. Later.”
    “She should be resting,” Kate insisted, her heart breaking for them both.
    “Don’t fuss over her – really,” Gavin warned. “It makes her tetchy. She’s been taking it easy the past week and she looks much better.”
    “I think she looks great, considering,” Finn said.
    “Why don’t you go in and catch up?” Gavin suggested to Kate. “We’ll bring your stuff inside. She’s really looking forward to seeing you.”
    Kate smiled at him before leaving them to make her way through the carport and into the house.
    The moment Kate stepped inside the house, a delicious warming sensation rose up from the pit of her stomach. It gradually spread throughout her body, and even her heartbeat slowed. It was as if Danny had come up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, drawing her close. The voices outside died away and she gave in to the fantasy, part of her instinctively