Free The Bucket List to Mend a Broken Heart by Anna Bell Page B

it in a way that no other agency would,’ says Rick, slamming his hand down on the table in triumph.
    I’m starting to hyperventilate.I feel Linz staring at me, her eyes narrowing, as if she’s a dog smelling my fear.
    ‘I’m so up for that,’ she says looking directly at me. ‘I love abseiling. I did loads of it at university.’
    ‘Excellent,’ says Rick. ‘Us four will obviously do it, but we can open it to the wider office to see if anyone else wants to take part.’
    ‘But, Giles,’ I say, ‘weren’t you saying the other day that you couldn’timagine doing it?’
    ‘Well, if you’re going to, then I’d be pretty wimpy not doing it myself,’ he says, shrugging his shoulders.
    ‘That settles it. The pitch for the tender is at the end of May, so if we could do it before then. Abi, are you all right to organise it?’ says Rick.
    ‘Of course,’ I say, rehearsing in my head the little white lie I’ll tell this afternoon – that sadly every date betweennow and the end of May is full.
    ‘I can do it,’ says Linz, putting her hand up as if she is still at school. ‘I mean, Abi’s so busy with all her existing account work, I’ll happily coordinate a day we can all do.’
    ‘OK, then. Thanks, Linz,’ says Rick.
    Linz raises a satisfied eyebrow, and gives me a smile that only a woman would understand. I’m sure neither of the boys will realise it has allthe hallmarks of a bitchy move.
    ‘So, let’s get cracking on some concepts, and we’ll meet back in two weeks to see what we’ve come up with. And hopefully Linz will have some news for us on the abseil. Excellent idea, Abi – I hadn’t picked you as the adventurous type. I’m impressed,’ says Rick as we stand up to leave.
    I see Linz’s face fall as he praises me, and I can’t help feeling a little swellof pride. No one’s ever called me adventurous before. Although I’m sure he won’t be calling me that when I back out, unable to even go up the tower, let alone abseil down it.
    I watch Linz as she bounds out of the meeting room, energetic and hungry for the job. I can’t shake the feeling that she was deliberately trying to steal my thunder at the meeting. I wonder if that’s what Giles meant theother day. That while I was at home brooding, she was here getting cosy and muscling in on my job.
    It’s bad enough that I’m having to up my game thanks to my written warning, but now I’m going to have to keep up with some eager-beaver newbie who’s showing me up.
    How am I going to get out of the abseil now? There was me thinking that I wouldn’t actually have to go through with this, but now everyoneat work will be expecting me to do it. I’ve not only got to get Joseph back before the end of May, but I also need to come up with a good enough excuse to wriggle out of the abseil. One that’s less disturbing than Fran’s fake baby. I thought I had enough on my plate trying to do this list, but now the pressure is really on.

Chapter Six
    Sod having three months to get Joseph back – I’ve got under eight weeks until the Spinnaker Tower abseil, which now gives me less than eight weeks to get him back and think of an excuse to actually get out of it . . .

    I’m wandering down Marmion Road, a pretty little shopping street in Southsea, trying not to get sucked into the quirky shops that line the route. I’m looking downthe side streets for Ben’s bike shop. I’ve only got an hour for lunch and whilst the shop is only a ten-minute walk from my work, I haven’t got time to get distracted by window displays or the treasure-trove of beautiful things in the interior design shop. Focus, Abi. Focus.
    I find the street and spot Ben’s shop immediately with its bikes chained up outside. I’ve never noticed it before, butthat’s probably because there’s a chocolate shop on the other side of the main road, and I’ve usually crossed over by this point to drool through the window.
    I turn up the narrow street that would just