Free Murfey's Law by Bec Johnson Page A

Kristy backed down with a chuckle. ‘Listen, Lori? I need to go, the Chef is here to check his delivery order. I'll try and swing by tomorrow, see how you're doing.’
    And with that she hung up.
     
    On a high, Lori gave Jenny a big floury hug when she popped in to buy some effervescents. She'd drunk more than her fair share of homebrew last night and despite her generous figure, clearly couldn't hold her drink as well as one might expect.
    She offered to hang around while Lori went for her swim and, with fizzy orange water in one hand, she dragged the wooden armchair from the deck out onto the front verandah and settled down with a copy of last weekend's newspaper.
     
    Dead calm. I think that's what they call it, Lori thought when she reached the rock platform below the garden. Not a breath of air blew in any direction, amplifying the heat by several degrees, and creating an almost glassy sea. Several families had already begun setting up their spots in the sand for the day, unravelling rugs and pitching shade tents for protection. Lori could see Bob playing his favourite game of rolling in seaweed just out of reach of the tiny waves lapping at the shore.
    Zeb was nowhere to be seen. Most likely put off by the serenity, Lori supposed.
    Judging the drop more carefully this time, Lori leaped cleanly into the water from the same spot on the platform as she had done yesterday. The relief from the heat was immediate, and she stayed under as long as she was able to, enjoying the cool weightlessness. When Lori resurfaced she brushed back her hair and wiped salt water from her eyes.
    ‘Enjoy living dangerously don't you Lorikeet?’
    Sat on his board in a hollowed out cave, completely invisible to above and the position where she'd jumped from, was Zeb. Looking even angrier up close he scowled at her from his perch whilst she trod water.
    ‘What is it with you?’ Lori questioned. She honestly didn't believe that she'd actually done anything to warrant this level of antipathy towards her.
    He didn't reply, instead letting a smirk play on his lips, just like the one she'd seen the day they first met in the shop.
    ‘Argh!’ Frustrated with his flip-flopping from playful to pissed off and silent to downright intimidating Lori slapped the water in front of him, catching her hand on the edge of the rock. ‘Ow Shit!’
    She raised her right arm and could see something long and purple sticking out of her little finger.
    ‘Oh for god's sake, hold still,’ Zeb broke his silence. Rolling his eyes he knelt up on his board. ‘Give me your arms.’
    ‘No, I'm fi... owwww! What the fuck is it?’ Lori growled as she tried putting it back in the water.
    ‘Just give me your arms,’ he snapped again.
    Unsure she could swim in to shore with one arm extended Lori reluctantly obliged.
    Zeb wrapped his hands around her wrists, and with relative ease hauled her up next to him. Sitting in such close proximity should have had more effect on her than it did, but the spike protruding from her digit, and the excruciating pain it was causing her, kept her mind on other, more pressing matters
    That was, until he took her hand and rested it, facing up, on his thigh.
    ‘Who was the guy I saw leaving your place this morning?’ Zeb snarled, pulling Lori out of her physiological nosedive.
    ‘What bloody business of yours is it?’ Lori knew he wanted her out of the village probably more so than anyone else, and so she wasn't surprised he was bristling at the idea she may be making changes to the shop. He was probably worried she had plans to stay.
    Back to silence again, he didn't answer.
    Lori's finger throbbed as though she'd slammed it in a car door. She wasn't up to playing his ridiculous games of cat and mouse. ‘The guy was Simon, he's from Green Bay....’
    Zeb squeezed Lori's finger so tightly she could feel the blood draining away from it.
    ‘...Ow! You're hurting me Zeb.’
    Ignoring Lori's pleas, he squeezed even harder. Just as she was