Chapter 34

Josie left for Oxford first thing on Saturday morning and arrived in time to have lunch with her parents. It was good to catch up with them and refreshing to be away from Averton. She hadn’t realised how much she needed a change of scene. Conversation with her parents was neutral, and she didn’t mention anything about her job offer. She wasn’t ready for their opinion.

Emily was a different matter. Josie blurted everything out to her almost as soon as she saw her. They met in a pub in the centre of Oxford that was an old haunt of theirs. She’d gone to school with Emily and they’d lived not far from each other growing up, but it wasn’t until after school that they really became close friends. They’d connected at an amateur dramatics club and were fairly inseparable for a while.

Emily listened intently as Josie filled her in on her news.

“It’s perfect,” Emily said excitedly about the job offer. “You could come and live with me!”

“What?” Josie was taken aback. She’d considered it herself but knew how tiny Emily’s flat was and didn’t think she’d be quite so quick to suggest it.

“Yes!” Emily reached to squeeze Josie’s hand. “My rent is killing me and it’ll be so much fun living together! I’ve missed you.”

“I missed you too,” Josie said slowly. What she really needed was some huge obstacle to the move, not things falling into place as though it was meant to be. “Isn’t your place a bit small for two, though?”

“You’d have to sleep on the couch,” Emily said. “But it would be so much fun. Didn’t we always talk about getting a place together in London? You were going to be a famous actress and me a famous author!”

Josie chuckled. “I think we’ve got a way to go still.”

“I know but it’ll feel like we’re at least trying to do what we planned. It’d be such an adventure. And after all those times you came crying to me because you’d got rejected from some acting job, how can you even think of turning it down?”

“I was just feeling settled at last. I’m worried I’ll just turn my life upside down for what might end up being another dead-end job.”

“But I thought Michaela said it could end up being a speaking part.”

“It might,” Josie said. “It also might not.” She paused. “Things are going so well with Sam. I don’t want to mess everything up.”

“But you keep telling me what a great guy he is. Surely if he’s that great he’ll be supportive. You don’t have to break up with him.”

“I think you might be simplifying things,” Josie said.

“That’s because it all looks pretty simple from where I’m sitting.”

“Maybe we should swap seats,” Josie said drily.

 

***

 

She was filled with anxiety as she drove back to Oakbrook on Sunday. She really was going to take the job in London. Emily made the move sound so exciting – and easy since she’d have a place to live, at least temporarily. It was one of the hardest decisions she’d ever made, but it felt like the right thing for her.

She could find someone to take over her job at the kennels so she wouldn’t be leaving Annette in the lurch. And her relationship with Sam could surely survive long distance. She was dreading breaking the news to him.

He was at Oakbrook when she got there. The dogs had already been fed, which Josie was happy about – she wouldn’t miss the smell of dog food.

Sam and Annette were sitting at the kitchen table playing cards.

“I’m just gone for a couple of days and he leads you astray with gambling and drinking,” Josie remarked, leaning on Sam’s shoulder and kissing his cheek before stealing a swig of his beer.

“There’s no money involved,” Annette said, flinging a card on the table.

“Which is good for me,” Sam said. “I’ve yet to win a hand.”

“Did the dogs behave?” Josie asked.

Sam nodded. “It’s a very easy job you’ve got here.”

“She works very hard,” Annette put in. “Leave her alone.”

The comments stung and Josie had a wave of nausea at the thought of leaving.

“I’m just teasing,” Sam said. “There’s more beer in the fridge if you want one.”

She declined and took a seat. Sam dealt her in on the next hand and they spent an hour happily playing gin rummy. When Annette went up to bed, Josie braced herself to talk to Sam, but he complained about having to be up early for work the next day and said he needed to get home to bed. On the patio, she kissed him goodnight. He was just about to leave when she reached for his arm and pulled him back. Her heart was racing.

“Can we talk?”

He swallowed hard, then gave her a lopsided smile. “Can it wait until tomorrow?”

She could tell by the look in his eye that he knew what she was going to say. He just didn’t want to hear it.

“Okay,” she managed weakly.

He kissed her again.

The sinking feeling came as she watched him walk away. Why did it feel like she was losing him?