LITMIR.BIZ

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you want to shower?’

      Maddy shook her head. She’d have one in the morning. Now she needed sleep.

      ‘Clean towels are in the airing cupboard, help yourself.’

      ‘Okay.’

      Harry led her to the master bedroom. A king-size metal framed bed took centre stage, with navy blue bed linen clashing with the pastel green chintzy wallpaper. ‘Like I said, I haven’t decorated yet. Wanted to move in and get settled first.’

      ‘Of course.’ Maddy became tongue-tied, the meds in the cabinet eating at her curiosity.

      ‘I need to pinch a couple of pillows, if that’s okay, and I’ll be downstairs. I’ll let you use the bathroom first.’

      ‘Oh, Harry, could I borrow a T-shirt or something, please … to sleep in?’ She didn’t fancy sleeping naked. But she’d been wearing these clothes all day, and probably would need to wear them all day again tomorrow if she wasn’t going to be allowed back in her house.

      ‘Yes, of course, sorry.’ He rummaged in a chest of drawers opposite the bed and pulled out a white pinstriped shirt. ‘This is too small for me now. Use this.’

      ‘Thank you,’ she said, taking the shirt. ‘And thank you, Harry, for everything. You didn’t need to take me in.’

      ‘What are neighbours for?’

      Sookie padded into the room, and jumped onto Harry’s bed, and immediately started washing and purring, as if Maddy and Harry didn’t exist.

      ‘Do you mind if she sleeps in here?’

      ‘No, it’s fine,’ Harry replied, but his expression didn’t match the words he spoke. ‘Right, I’ll let you sleep.’ Harry gave a gentle wave, and as he walked downstairs, Maddy entered the bathroom and locked the door.

      She cleaned her teeth, and assessed the dark circles under her eyes, hoping some sleep would reduce their dullness tomorrow. Splashing her face with cold water helped remove some of the puffiness. She stared at her reflection in the mirrors of the bathroom cabinet. Behind those mirrors contained Harry’s drugs. She thought of taking a better look, but resisted, fearing he would hear the clicking of the magnets on the cabinet as she opened and shut the doors. And anyway it wasn’t any of her business.

       Her mother had brought her up properly not to be a snoop. Or was it Dad?

      ‘I’m finished in the bathroom,’ Maddy called down the stairs, then closed the bedroom door behind her.

      Under the watchful eye of Sookie curled up on the bed, Maddy stripped off her clothes, neatly piling them up and buttoned up the shirt Harry had given her. It may have been too small for Harry, but luckily on Maddy’s petite form, although long in the arms, it covered her bottom nicely making a good night shirt. If caught out in the middle of the night using the bathroom, at least she’d still keep some of her dignity.

      She slid underneath the duvet, and once comfortable turned off the lamp by the bed. She was in darkness until her eyes adjusted to the street lighting that bled between the curtains.

      She closed her eyes and listened, hearing Harry leave the bathroom, pulling the cord to turn the light off, and the sound of the toilet cistern refilling. All normal sounds, and not dissimilar to her own home’s, yet she tensed, feeling alien and uncomfortable. She was sleeping in a stranger’s bed. A man she’d hated this morning. Sookie didn’t seem bothered, so maybe Maddy needed to take a leaf out of her cat’s book and try to sleep. Things would look better in the morning, wouldn’t they?

      ***

      With the taste of the pills he’d just swallowed still on his tongue, Harry closed the bathroom door as quietly as he could. He winced, pulling a face. Would he ever get used to those things? Usually he swallowed them, then cleaned his teeth to disguise their chalky, rancid taste. But with everything running around his brain, aware he had a house guest and wondering whether she was comfortable and settled, he’d forgotten to take his medication until he was about to leave the bathroom.

      Harry found the spare duvet in the junk room of bedroom three. It really was the ‘box room’, the amount of boxes he still had stacked up. Too small for a bedroom, one day it would be his study. One day. He needed to find the strength to sort through the boxes. He knew there would be some memorabilia, photos that would remind him of Karin. He wasn’t ready for to face them yet.

      Having grabbed some bed linen from the airing cupboard, he made up his bed on the larger of his sofas. In the past, he’d slept well on this sofa, as a fireman and working shifts and not wanting to wake Karin. Only in a different house … their house … Nowadays, his medication made him drowsy, so he’d sleep better than Maddy’s cat on this sofa tonight.

       Damn cat on his bed. Whatever next? The rows he’d had with Karin over that.

      Feeling the tension creep up his back, he pushed his thoughts of Karin aside. Harry puffed pillows and wriggled to get comfortable. Usually, he preferred to sleep naked, but because of his houseguest, he decided to keep his boxers on. He didn’t need Maddy coming down the stairs and being greeted by his bare arse – or worse!

      Hoping tonight’s events and the lingering smell of smoke wouldn’t bring on a flashback – he’d not been near a fire in months – he closed his eyes and thought of the next gardening project he had lined up, trying to map out the garden, plan the plants he’d use. It worked better than counting sheep. And if that didn’t work, his medication would soon kick in.

       Chapter 4

      The next thing Harry knew, daylight was streaming through the gap in the curtains, and a cat was purring on his chest, pawing and kneading at him. He pushed her off and the cat gave a hiss. It took him a minute to gather why he was sleeping on the sofa, and why he had a black cat on top of him. For one very brief moment, he had thought he was back, with Karin, still working as a fireman.

      ‘I guess you’re hungry are you, Socks?’ He thought that was a better name for the cat, having one white paw.

      As Harry sat up, the cat persisted trying to jump back on top of him. He swung the duvet off, burying Sookie, and strolled into the kitchen, the cat trotting by his feet, tail pointed. Squinting, his eyes not yet ready to fully open, he looked at the clock on his microwave. Stupid cat, it was only five thirty-two a.m.

      He pulled the tuna out of the fridge, and like last night, forked it onto a saucer. Sookie sniffed it and looked up at him in disgust.

      ‘What? You ate it last night.’ Harry held his hands up at the cat.

      ‘Last night it was at room temperature. It’s probably too cold for her at the moment.’ Maddy had appeared in the kitchen doorway, wearing only his shirt, unaware how sexy she looked, with her hair tousled and barelegged. Wow!

      ‘Good morning,’ Harry said, quickly turning and busying himself. Why hadn’t he slipped a T-shirt on himself? He flicked the switch on the kettle and pulled two mugs from the cupboard.

      ‘Morning.’ Maddy sounded grumpy, splashing cold water over his hot thoughts.

      ‘You sure your name’s not Moody, rather than Maddy?’ He teased over his shoulder. Maddy scowled.

      ‘I’m not a great morning person at the best of times,’ Maddy said, curtly. ‘But if you haven’t forgotten, my house was on fire last night. Not exactly something to wake up to and put you in a good mood.’

      Maybe she had a point. ‘Did you sleep okay?’

      ‘Not bad. It was broken sleep, but the bed was comfortable, thank you.’

      ‘Maybe you should take a shower while I get us some breakfast on.’ Harry focussed on her green eyes, and tried not to let his

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