Free Three’s a Crowd by Dianne Blacklock Page A

blind and drawing the curtains. When she came back, Tom’s trousers were on the floor and he was under the doona. He’d left space for her, and Rachel considered her options. She could lie next to him on top of the doona, but that seemed a little too . . . besides, she was beginning to feel pretty tired, she didn’t want to risk falling asleep. So she propped up the pillow and sat with her back against the bedhead. Tom nuzzled his head in next to her hip. ‘Thanks Rach,’ he said, his eyes closed.
    â€˜It’s okay,’ she said, resting her hand on his head and giving it a pat.
    â€˜We have a deal, right?’ he murmured.
    â€˜Yes we do.’
    Thirty seconds later he was snoring.
    Rachel sat there for a while to make sure he was fully asleep, then she carefully eased off the bed and tiptoed out of the room. Out in the kitchen she rang for a taxi, then quickly tidied up, putting the bottle of Scotch out of sight, washing the glasses and popping them away in the cupboard. She didn’t want to leave traces of their little party for the girls to see in the morning,and they were likely to be up well before their father tomorrow. She locked the back door and turned out the lights as she crept quietly back through the house. She stuck her head in Tom’s room as she passed; he was snoring loudly now. Rachel closed his door, hoping he’d get the chance to sleep off the worst of it, that the girls wouldn’t wake him. She briefly wondered whether she should leave them a note, but that might seem weird. It wasn’t her place to tell them what to do.
    She left through the front door, closing it as noiselessly as possible, then sat down on the front step to wait for the taxi. She felt empty. Sad, of course, but also quite an overwhelming emptiness. Maybe that’s what you felt after the funeral of a close friend. She didn’t know, she’d never lost anyone this close before.
    She couldn’t help wondering why it had to be Annie. Surely the world could get by without Rachel far more easily than it could get by without Annie. It’s not as though she would ever top herself, but it occurred to her she wouldn’t be all that missed if she did. Despite being their only child, her parents would hardly notice; after all, they didn’t even live in the same hemisphere, hadn’t for more than fifteen years. Not that that would stop her mother from creating a heart-rending anecdote to share at dinner parties, about the loss of her beloved only daughter.
    No, Rachel would not be missed, not really. She had no husband, no kids. At work she was entirely dispensable. Annie had two daughters, and they had a close and loving relationship. And she and Tom were happy; they hadn’t evolved into the stereotypical bickering couple who’d been together too long. They weren’t sickening or lovey dovey either, thank God. They were just solid. Right together. Two halves, all that shit.
    Not like her and Sean. He fitted neatly into the category of the ‘nice guy’ – easygoing, reliable and, in all honesty, a little bland. But he was just what Rachel needed right then. It was all very well wandering solo around the world, but back at home she didn’t fit in with her friends. And she felt it. She couldn’t hang out with Tom any more because he was part of a couple, and although she could hang out with Catherine, things had changed. She remembered being terribly hurt when she found out they’d all gone out to dinner together one night without inviting her.Catherine had brushed it off by saying she didn’t think Rachel would want to hang around with a bunch of married couples.
    So that was that. She needed to find her other half. The story of how she met Sean was not particularly memorable; it was at a party of ‘mutual friends’, he asked for her number and called a few days later. Their subsequent date was pleasant and Rachel