Free A Song in the Night by Julie Maria Peace

washed quickly and went back into the bedroom. Ciaran was already asleep, his breathing barely audible in the stillness. But Beth lay wide awake. As her eyes struggled to adjust to the darkness, a strange unease began to play in her mind. She didn’t fancy any more episodes like that. Maybe it was time to bring the test forward.
    ____________
    Rosie looked at her watch and groaned. Ten to eleven. She felt edgy, and it was practically bedtime. She hated going to bed feeling like this. She tried to tell herself that it was because of the kids. They’d been pretty hyper all day. But she knew deep down it wasn’t that. The house phone had gone five times that evening, and each time, her heartbeat had doubled in speed as she’d gone to answer it. Four of the calls had been for Mel, and Mel, true to form, had been out all night. The only call for Rosie had been from Beth, telling her about some dumb book she’d turned up.
    Despite herself, Rosie had been rather hoping that Gavin would ring. Not that she was eating her heart out over him, even though he was drop-dead gorgeous. No, it was the waiting around that got to her. Will he call – won’t he call? She’d been here too many times before. And it was almost a week since she’d last seen him. Maybe he’d been less than truthful with her. All this ‘I’d like to see you again, Rosie – I’ll call you when I get back’ rubbish. Maybe he’d been letting her down gently. Perhaps she wasn’t his type. Not quite the image of perfection he’d been hoping for on his blind date.
    She pulled herself up with a start. What was the matter with her? Poor guy probably only got back yesterday. But that was the worst thing about the dating game. The not knowing where you stood. Apparently it wasn’t so bad once you got past the first bit. The bit where both partners are trying to play it ultracool and not look too eager. Once you managed to negotiate your way through that stage and pass onto the comfortably familiar bit, when either party could ring the other at any time and for no particular reason, things usually went okay. Or so she’d heard. Getting to the Mr and Mrs Comfortable phase was a bit out of Rosie’s experience.
    At that moment, a bleeping sound came from her handbag. Caught by surprise, she pulled out her mobile, her hands beginning to tremble slightly.
    “Oh hi, Gavin. Yes, I’m fine. No, no I wasn’t in bed. Tomorrow …? Yes, that should be okay. You’ll pick me up at seven? Right – great. See you then.”
    She clicked off her phone and mentally kicked herself. Well, that went swimmingly, didn’t it? Couldn’t you have played a little harder to get? What if he’s got the notion you’ve been sitting around waiting for him to ring? She kicked herself again. What was it about this guy?
    She went to bed completely annoyed at herself. He was too confident was Gavin, that was his trouble. Too confident for his own good. She was going to have to take back some ground. Rosie Maconochie didn’t jump for any guy.

Chapter 4
    It was Tuesday evening and Rosie and Gavin were sitting at a restaurant table waiting to order. Mel had managed to persuade Rosie to wear a scarlet halterneck evening dress that had been hanging in her wardrobe for the past year. Rosie had bought it for a wedding do. It was the only occasion she’d ever worn it.
    “You look fabulous!” Mel had gushed when Rosie had tried it on. “It’s perfect with your hair colour. You look like a model!”
    Rosie had felt less than happy about it. “Don’t you think it’s a bit much? I feel really overdressed – I mean, I’d hate him to think I was trying to impress him.”
    Mel had smiled at that. “I don’t think you could outdress Gavin, Rosie. You might outdress everyone else in the place, but I don’t think you could ever outdress him .”
    Somehow that observation had niggled Rosie, and she’d ended up wearing not only the dress, but also a flamboyant necklace of coloured gems that