Free The Accidental Guest by Tilly Tennant Page B

year put together.’
    ‘It’s Christmas; you have to do that,’ Hannah said. She reached for the remote control as the end credits of the festive edition of
Coronation Street
began to roll.
    ‘I told you someone was going to die,’ Jess said, stifling a yawn. ‘Someone always dies at Christmas.’ She reached across and plucked a coffee cream from the box on Hannah’s lap.
    ‘Nothing says peace and goodwill to all men quite like a lethal punch up,’ Hannah said.
    Gina rolled her eyes. ‘Gold star to Jess for guessing the utterly guessable.’
    Hannah popped the box onto the floor and stretched. ‘Another drink before we set up the movie?’
    ‘Tea,’ Gina said. ‘I hate to admit defeat on the booze too, but I could go for a lovely cup of tea.’
    Hannah uncurled herself from the corner of the sofa and padded through to the kitchen. It was there that her gaze fell upon the clothes she had hung out to dry on the radiator: Jason’s clothes, which had now, indelibly in her mind, become Tom’s clothes, or whoever he really was. Tom had got back into his own before he left. She wandered over and put her nose to the sweater. It smelt different; no longer the fading scent of her ex, but someone new. She inhaled again, and the smell was so comforting she was half tempted to pull the now dry sweater over her head and wear it for the rest of the evening. But then she imagined the look on Gina’s face and checked herself.
Idiot
. What the hell was the matter with her today?
    Gina appeared at the doorway and Hannah shoved the sweater back onto the radiator, feeling like a toddler caught with a freshly painted wall and a tub of crayons.
    ‘Want some help?’ Gina glanced at the sweater, and then back at Hannah. ‘With the tea, I mean.’
    Hannah waited a moment for the reprimand but none came. ‘I can manage,’ she said.
    ‘You know he’s probably married…’ Gina added, going over to take a closer look at the sweater herself. ‘Although I can understand why you’re interested.’
    ‘I’m not interested, just concerned.’
    ‘He is extremely attractive,’ Gina continued, ignoring Hannah’s denial. ‘I can’t blame you for hoping he’s not married.’ She shot Hannah a sly grin. ‘And he clearly fancied you too.’
    ‘No he didn’t,’ Hannah gave an awkward laugh. ‘He was just being a gentleman.’
    ‘More to you than Jess or me.’
    ‘It’s my house; that’s probably why. You have to be polite to your host, don’t you?’
    ‘Does that go for me and Jess then?’
    ‘No, you’re not guests, you’re family. So feel free to insult me as much as you like… oh wait… you already do…’
    ‘It’s no less than you deserve,’ Gina giggled.
    No sooner had the laughter died down than there was a faint knocking from the front of the house. Hannah looked at Gina in alarm. ‘Was that the front door?’ she whispered. Quite why she was whispering she couldn’t say. But given the day they’d had, Hannah figured they’d already had their fair share of strangers dropping from the sky.
    Jess came into the kitchen. ‘Someone just knocked. Want me to go and get it?’
    ‘No… I…’ Hannah began.
    ‘I’ll go,’ Gina cut in.
    Hannah reached for her arm to stop her. ‘I’d better go; it is my house after all. It’s probably just George anyway. Perhaps he forgot something, or he wants to get his car now that it’s stopped snowing.’
    ‘I hope not. He can’t possibly take it tonight,’ Gina said doubtfully.
    Hannah’s heart was thudding in her chest as she made her way through the house, Gina and Jess following. Why? Was it because, in some dark, deluded corner of her mind she thought it might be Tom, like in one of those romantic films where she’d open the door and he’d be standing there, proudly handsome and yet vulnerable, and he would tell her that he couldn’t stop thinking about her and how he might die if she didn’t marry him immediately? She’d begin to argue, and he’d