Free The Dead Dog Day by Jackie Kabler

blonde highlights and with perfect alabaster skin, Rosie always made Cora feel like a great galumphing hippo. She ran her own florist’s, and her friends always thought she looked a bit like a flower – a perfect little rose, with a sweet personality to match.
    â€˜Go for it. You’ve hardly put on any weight yet anyway, cow,’ Cora said affectionately, pushing the plate in Rosie’s direction. She and Rosie had been mates since they’d met at secondary school aged twelve, and in all these years Cora had never seen her friend get even vaguely fat, despite her pregnancies.
    Nicole nodded vehemently, mouth still full of custard.
    â€˜I don’t know how you do it,’ she said, swallowing. ‘I was like a heifer with Elliot from about day two!’
    Rosie smiled serenely, carefully extracting a chunk of chocolate from the top of her muffin. ‘Good genes,’ she said. ‘But you lose it quicker, Nicole. You were back in your size eights ten minutes after Elliot – it took me months to deflate.’
    She glanced at Cora, obviously suddenly realising the turn the conversation was taking.
    â€˜Oh – sorry. Look, no more baby talk, OK? Do you want to talk about Justin, Cora, or something entirely different? Like the murder? Gosh – how exciting that must be, your boss being murdered practically in front of everyone!’
    Cora ran her forefinger around her plate to wipe up the last smears of cream. She wondered for a minute if she should mention the CCTV footage, and then changed her mind again. No, not yet.
    â€˜I’m a bit murdered out today, to be honest. And as for Justin – well, I still can’t believe he did it by phone. But I suppose I’m sort of counting my blessings. My job’s going well, and I’ve got you lot, and the guys at work … I mean, I kind of wish it wasn’t Christmas, but I’ll be OK, I really will. It just wasn’t meant to be, you know. The kid thing and all.’
    She stopped, suddenly feeling sad again. Nicole pushed the cake plate to one side and took her hand.
    â€˜Exactly,’ she said gently. ‘But Cora – don’t get cross – you are sure, aren’t you? I mean, really, really sure? Because Justin used to say he didn’t want kids, but he obviously … I don’t know … had a void or something that he suddenly realised needed to be filled. Are you sure that isn’t going to happen to you, somewhere down the line? I mean, if you’re starting to lose relationships over it. I just don’t want you to end up old and lonely, and regretting it.’
    Cora tried to snatch her hand away but Nicole held it fast. Across the table, Rosie was starting to look worried.
    â€˜Please, not this again! I don’t have a void, Nicole, you should know that by now! There are loads of men out there who don’t want children, I just need to find one, that’s all. And since when does having kids guarantee you won’t be lonely? That’s just a stupid thing to say. I have loads of friends – and I’d rather find my own than give birth to them.’
    â€˜OK, OK, I’m sorry, you’re right.’ Nicole dropped Cora’s hand and stood up, pulling an elastic hair band from her wrist. She caught her long, dark hair up into a ponytail and looped the band deftly around it, pulling it back from her face. In her customary black, today wearing tight jeans and a long silky jumper which clung to her leggy form, she looked like an elegant spider as she stretched her arms out to loosen the tension in her back, and sat back down again.
    â€˜Oh, it’s fine. I know you’re only saying it ’cos you care.’
    Cora exhaled heavily. She loved her friends, but why could they not accept this one aspect of her personality? Why were they so insistent that she was wrong? It drove her crazy, but she was so used to it by now that she never stayed cross with